Mitchell High School avenges season-opening loss to Yankton, sweeps boys tennis quad

The Daily Republic, Mitchell, S.D.
·5 min read

May 4—The Mitchell High School boys tennis team avenged a loss to Yankton in the season opener, while sweeping a quadrangular Monday.

The Kernels dropped a 5-4 dual to the Bucks in their first meeting on March 29 but rebounded Monday with a 6-3 win at Hitchcock Park. Mitchell also blanked Vermillion 9-0 and capped the day with a 7-2 win over Pierre.

Although all three duals were one-set Monday, Yankton won the first set in six matches during the first meeting. This time, the Kernels won all three duals by two points or less, while two of their three singles wins came by at least seven points.

"That's kind of more of where we expected to be against (Yankton) at the beginning of the year," MHS head coach Pat Moller said. "That first loss was the first match of the year and we had a lot of jitters, but today the team showed maturity against a younger Yankton team and came out with a win, despite losing Macon (Larson) for the day. Macon's been fighting a shoulder injury and we pulled him for the day. Jack Vermeulen came in and got a big win at No. 1 doubles."

Yankton's Gage Becker defeated Macon Larson, 10-5, at Flight 1 singles, while Ryan Schulte defeated Connor Thelen, 10-6, at Flight 4 singles. Harrison Krajewski beat Jack Vermeulen, 10-4, at Flight 5 singles. Mitchell's Tyler Loecker topped Keaton List, 10-2, at Flight 2 and Aidan Patrick scored a 10-3 win over Zac Briggs at Flight 3. Luke Jerke also scored a 10-8 win over Miles Krajewski at Flight 6.

In doubles play, Vermeulen and Locker won an 11-9 match at Flight 1. Meanwhile, Patrick and Thelen and Cameron Miller and Drake Jerke won 10-8 matches at Flights 2 and Flight 3, respectively.

Loecker scored an 11-9 win over Pierre's Blake Judson at Flight 2 singles and Patrick won a 10-7 match against Pierre's Luke Leingang at Flight 3 singles, while Thelen scored an 11-10(1) win at Flight 4. Vermeulen (Flight 5) and Luke Jerke (Flight 6) won 10-3 and 10-1 matches, respectively. The Patrick-Thelen tandem earned a 10-6 win at Flight 2 doubles and the Miller/Drake Jerke duo won 10-1 at Flight 3 doubles.

Mitchell (10-5) eighth-grader Sutton Thompson earned an 11-9 win over Vermillion's Ramiro Lafuente at No. 1 singles, while Tanner Puetz topped Caiden Mandernach 10-3 and seventh-grader Sam Mullenmeister took down Lucas Green, 10-3, at Flight 3 singles. Aiden Beckstrom (Flight 4) won 10-1, Marshall Widstrom (Flight 5) won 10-8 and Caden Olegario (Flight 6) won 10-6, as the Kernels used junior varsity players to rest varsity players in the match.

Thompson and Mullenmeister won a 10-6 match at Flight 1 doubles, while Puetz and Beckstrom won 10-2 at Flight 2 and Widstrom and Nathan Wagner won 10-1 at Flight 3.

"To be able to give those guys an opportunity to play in a varsity situation is going to be a valuable experience going forward," Moller said. "I had no idea how we would do when we did that, but for them to come through and win and there were some close matches. I'm sure there were some nerves, but they really played well."

Mitchell plays Sioux Falls Roosevelt and Harrisburg in a triangular at noon Tuesday at Kuehn Park in Sioux Falls.

Mitchell quadrangular

Monday at Hitchcock Park

Mitchell 9, Vermillion 0

Singles: Flight 1: Sutton Thompson (M) def. Ramiro Lafuente (V), 11-9; Flight 2: Tanner Puetz (M) def. Caiden Mandernach (V), 10-3; Flight 3: Sam Mullenmeister (M) def. Lucas Green (V), 10-3; Flight 4: Aiden Beckstrom (M) def. Caleb Reins (V), 10-1; Flight 5: Marshall Widstrom (M) def. Tyler Mann (V), 10-8; Flight 6: Caden Olegario (M) def. Theo Wittmuss (V), 10-6.

Doubles: Flight 1: Sutton Thompson/Sam Mullenmeister (M) def. Ramiro Lafuente/Caiden Mandernach (V), 10-6; Flight 2: Tanner Puetz/Aiden Beckstrom (M) def. Tyler Mann/Lucas Green (V), 10-2; Flight 3: Marshall Widstrom/Nathan Wagner (M) def. Caleb Reins/Theo Wittmuss (V), 10-1.

Mitchell 6, Yankton 3

Singles: Flight 1: Gage Becker (Y) def. Macon Larson (M), 10-5; Flight 2: Tyler Loecker (M) def. Keaton List (Y), 10-2; Flight 3: Aidan Patrick (M) def. Zac Briggs (Y), 10-3; Flight 4: Ryan Schulte (Y) def. Connor Thelen (M), 10-6; Flight 5: Harrison Krajewski (Y) def. Jack Vermeulen (M), 10-4; Flight 6: Luke Jerke (M) def. MIles Krajewski (Y), 10-8.

Doubles: Flight 1: Jack Vermeulen/Tyler Loecker (M) def. Gage Becker/Quentin Moser (Y), 11-9; Flight 2: Aidan Patrick/Conner Thelen (M) def. Ryan Schulte/Keaton List (Y), 10-8; Flight 3: Cameron Miller/Drake Jerke (M) def. Harrison Krajewski/Zac Briggs (Y), 10-8.

Mitchell 7, Pierre 2

Singles: Flight 1: Matthew Hanson (P) def. Cameron Miller (M), 10-1; Flight 2: Tyler Loecker (M) def. Blake Judson (P), 11-9; Flight 3: Aidan Patrick (M) def. Luke Leingang (P), 10-7; Flight 4: Connor Thelen (M) def. Spencer Kelly (P), 11-10(1); Flight 5: Jack Vermeulen (M) def. Carter Schulz (P), 10-3; Luke Jerke (M) def. Josh Ryckman (P), 10-1.

Doubles: Flight 1: Matthew Hanson/Blake Judson (P) def. Jack Vermeulen/Tyler Loecker (M), 10-6; Flight 2: Aidan Patrick/Connor Thelen (M) def. Spencer Kelly/Luke Leingang (P), 10-6; Flight 3: Cameron Miller/Drake Jerke (M) def. Jacob Mayer/Denton Beck (P), 10-1.