Watertown's season slated to open Thursday with home triangular at Highland Park
It isn't that far-fetched of an idea to believe that 2024 Watertown High School's boys tennis team can at least match, if not exceed, the performance it had last spring.
The Arrows return four regulars in both singles and doubles from a team that went 11-7 in duals last spring and finished fourth in the Eastern South Dakota Conference and eighth out of 14 teams in Class AA.
Watertown is slated to open its season Thursday by hosting Aberdeen Central at 10 a.m. and nine-time defending state champion Sioux Falls Lincoln at about 3 p.m. in a triangular at Highland Park.
"It looks like Harrisburg and Yankton are going to be tough in the ESD with Brandon Valley, us, Mitchell and Huron kind of in the middle," Watertown head coach Ryan Zink said. "Lincoln, by far, is the favorite in the state. Rapid City Stevens might be down a little but Harrisburg, Yankton, Brandon Valley, Sioux Falls Washington and O'Gorman should all be decent."
Sizing up the Arrows' lineup
Watertown was ahead of the game before last week's snow pushed things back a little bit. Temperatures are expected to rise later this week and it's expected that Thursday's opening matches will be held and outdoors at that.
Seniors Curtis Sneden, Evan Meester and Justin Remmers will kick off Watertown's singles lineup with sophomore Joey Meester, junior Skyler Stanton and freshman Matthew Bertsch rounding it out.
Sneden played No. 1 singles, Evan Meester No. 3, Remmers No. 4 and J. Meester No. 6 last spring. Sneden and E. Meester each each four-year starters and Remmers a three-year regular.
"Curtis knows what to expect at No. 1, Evan and Justin each moved up a spot and Joey two spots," Zink, who is being assisted by Parker Young and 2023 graduate Mark Mahowald, said.
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Sneden-E. Meester, Remmers-Stanton and J. Meester-junor Sam Karst are the expected doubles' teams. Sneden and Mahowald were at No. 1 last winter, followed by E. Meester-Remmers and J. Meester-Karst.
"We need to focus on doubles this week as we get ready for Thursday," Zink admitted.
The schedule and other thoughts for Watertown
Watertown's schedule, which could change because of the weather, also calls for other home triangulars on Tuesday, April 9 (Milbank and Sioux Falls Jefferson); Monday, April 15 (Aberdeen Roncalli and Sioux Falls Roosevelt); Friday, April 19 (Lennox and Sioux Falls Washington) and Thursday, May 9 (Aberdeen Central and Madison).
The ESD tourney is set for Monday and Tuesday, May 6-7 at Pierre with the state Class AA tournament on tap for Thursday and Friday, May 16-17 at Rapid City.
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Senior Rocky McKenzie (No. 1), senior Drew Gohl (No. 2), sophomore River McKenzie (No. 3), sophomore Christopher Tao (No. 5) and junior Jacob Husser (No. 6) are each returning singles' state champions for SF Lincoln. Rocky McKenzie-Gohl also won at No. 1 doubles. River McKenzie was part of the No. 2 doubles' state champions and Tao-Husser won at No. 4. O'Gorman senior Liam Sarmiento is won at No. 4 singles last spring.
Rapid City Christian is the defending Class A state champion and turns state singles' champions in sophomore Jack Hancock (No. 4), freshman Noah Geyer (No. 5) and sophomore Henry Beckloff (No. 6). Hancock played the No. 1 doubles' state champions last spring and Geyer and Beckloff won at No. 3 doubles.
The state Class A tourney is Monday and Tuesday, May 13-14 at Rapid City.
Aberdeen Central
Coach Trent Kurtz's squad did lose a lot of its regular lineup off a team that went 10-10 in duals and finished 10th in the state Class AA tournament last spring.
The Golden Eagles went 2-2 in the West River Duals at Rapid City on March 21-22 and fell 9-0 to Sioux Falls Christian and Harrisburg in matches on Tuesday. Christian nis led by the Golden Eagles' No. 1 player from last season (Mitchell Hofer).
Junior A.J. Prehn played No. 2 singles last spring and has moved up to No.1 singles this year with junior Brock Anderson at No. 2, eighth-grader Dawson Pederson at No. 3, freshman Aric Tennant at No. 4, junior Mika Dannen at No. 5 and sophomore Gannon Pederson at No. 6.
Junior Gracen Casper, who played No. 2 singles against Christian on Tuesday, and sophomore Wyatt Kiesz, who played No. 2 doubles, have also saw action as the Golden Eagles try to finalize a lineup.
Aberdeen Roncalli
Class A Roncalli returns an experience bunch for head coach Jason Haskell. The Cavaliers went 6-9 in duals and took fifth in the state Class A tournament.
Roncalli went 4-0 in the West River Duals and also played Tuesday against Class A Sioux Falls Chrisrtian and Class AA Harrisburg on Tuesday. The Cavs lost both duals 9-0.
Senior Cason Hellwig (no. 1), senior Palmer Johnson (No. 2), junior Gannon May (No. 3), senior Landon Zikmund (No. 5), senior Jayden Reecy (No. 5) and sophomore Ezra Feickert (No. 6) made up the singles' lineup against Christian on Tuesday. Johnson-May, Hellwig-Zikmund played No. 1 and No. 2 doubles, respectively, with Feickert and freshman Will Haskell at No. 3 doubles.
Milbank
Coach Abbey Trapp's Bulldogs return a good share off their lineup off a team that went 2-14 duals and placed eighth in the state Class A tournament last spring.
Senior Joe Schulte played No. 1 singles, junior Gregory Grabow No. 2, junior Charles Whitesitt No. 4 and senior Daniel Shelstad No. 6 last spring and are back. Grabow-Whitesitt played No. 2 doubles. Schulte was part of the No. 1 doubles team and eighth-grader Will Muellenbach No. 3 doubles a year ago.
The Bulldogs are slated to open their season Friday in the Sioux Falls Jefferson triangular.
Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com
This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown, Aberdeen Central, Aberdeen Roncalli and Milbank boys tennis
