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Here are title contenders, players to watch and area qualifiers for the WIAA boys state tennis tournament

mike sherry, appleton post-crescent
·4 min read
Neenah's Khaled Saleh, left, and doubles partner Nolan Kubiak compete during the Fox Valley Association boys tennis meet May 19 at Appleton East High School. They are the No. 2 seed in Division 1 doubles for the state meet.
Neenah's Khaled Saleh, left, and doubles partner Nolan Kubiak compete during the Fox Valley Association boys tennis meet May 19 at Appleton East High School. They are the No. 2 seed in Division 1 doubles for the state meet.

The 99th WIAA boys state individual tennis championships return to Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison this week for the first time since 2019.

The tournament will be held Thursday through Saturday. Play begins at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, and 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Championship matches will be Saturday afternoon.

Tickets are $9 per day and must be purchased online.

Here’s a look at top contenders and qualifiers from the Appleton, Oshkosh and Fond du Lac areas.

Players to watch

Solomon Dunsirn, so., Neenah – The No. 2 seed in Division 1 singles, Dunsirn comes in with a 31-1 record. His only loss is to Ethan Bo of Middleton at the Nicolet Sweet 16 in early May. Bo is the No. 5 seed. Dunsirn won three matches at state last season before losing to the No. 2 seed in the quarterfinals. His 31 victories are the most in the state in singles, according to tennisreporting.com. Tyler Nelson of Waunakee (25-0) is the No. 1 seed ahead of Dunsirn.

Nolan Kubiak, sr., and Khaled Saleh, sr., Neenah – The No. 2 seed in Division 1 doubles, Kubiak and Saleh are unbeaten with a 31-0 record. Kubiak played singles last season and finished in fifth place at state, while Saleh played doubles with Cooper Moss and took fourth place. Their 31 wins are the most in the state in doubles and they were recently honored as the boys tennis players of the year at the Northeast Wisconsin High School Sports Awards. Defending champions Henry Irwin and Reed Scullen of Brookfield East, with a 15-2 record, are the No. 1 seed.

Henry Werner, sr., and Satchel Moss, jr., Neenah – Werner and Moss have a 25-1 record and earned the No. 11 seed in Division 1 doubles. Their only loss came to a team from New Trier (Ill.) at the Brookfield East Invite in late April. Their 25 wins are tied for the third-most in the state in doubles. Werner and Moss could face No. 6 seed Andrew LaBelle and Ryan LaBelle of Mukwonago in the round of 16.

Wesley Auth, fr., St. Mary Catholic – Auth is undefeated in his first varsity season, posting a 20-0 record. He has earned the No. 5 seed in Division 2 singles. Auth’s path to a state title includes potential matchups against No. 4 seed Dayne Lindow of East Troy in the quarterfinals and No. 1 seed Max Watchmaker of University School of Milwaukee in the semifinals.

MORE: Here are 44 boys tennis players to watch in Wisconsin this spring

MORE: High school photos from Fox Valley Association boys tennis conference tournament

Nick Bittner, so., and Nate Hall, so., Xavier – The sophomore duo for the Hawks has a 21-4 record and was given the No. 3 seed in Division 2 doubles. Their path to the finals includes potential matchups against No. 6 seed Calvin Sharpe and Jonathan Orth of The Prairie School in the quarterfinals and No. 2 seed Pranav Gogineni and Vibhu Guda of Brookfield Academy in the semifinals. Bittner played at state last year with Patrick Smith and they won their first-round match.

Grant Bergstrom, so., and Felipe Gaztelu, fr., St. Mary Catholic – Bergstrom and Gaztelu didn’t get one of the top eight seeds in Division 2 but have a sparkling 18-2 record. The Zephyrs’ duo has the chance to make an immediate statement with a first-round matchup against No. 8 seed Liam Houselander and Paul Yoon of New Berlin Eisenhower (15-6).

Neenah's Solomon Dunsirn competes during the Fox Valley Association boys tennis meet May 19. He is the No. 2 seed in Division 1 singles for the state meet.
Neenah's Solomon Dunsirn competes during the Fox Valley Association boys tennis meet May 19. He is the No. 2 seed in Division 1 singles for the state meet.

Qualifiers

Division 1 singles – Jacob Stinski, fr., Oshkosh West (16-12); Aiden Meixl, fr., Kimberly (17-7); Mihir Uberoi, sr., Appleton North (12-10); David Murphy, jr., Neenah (23-4); Logan Haferman, jr., Appleton West (11-8); Solomon Dunsirn, so., Neenah (31-1).

Division 1 doubles – Caleb Sippel, sr., and Kurt Mihm, sr., Appleton North (18-7); Henry Werner, sr., and Satchel Moss, jr., Neenah (25-1); Anders Larson, sr., and Patrick Gannon, sr., Oshkosh West (19-9); Kris Lee, sr., and Joseph Chau, sr., Appleton North (10-1); Nolan Kubiak, sr., and Khaled Saleh, sr., Neenah (31-0).

Division 2 singles – Joshua Horak, so., Xavier (12-13); Ben McGuire, jr., St. Mary’s Springs (13-5); Wesley Auth, fr., St. Mary Catholic (20-0); Nana Kofi Norman, so., Xavier (22-4).

Division 2 doubles – Grant Bergstrom, so., and Felipe Gaztelu, fr., St. Mary Catholic (18-2); Nick Bittner, so., and Nate Hall, so., Xavier (21-4); Mark Steinlage, jr., and Sean Utrie, so., Xavier (14-6).

Notable

Since 2001, the top seed in the Division 1 singles bracket has won 13 of the 20 state titles during that span, the top seed in Division 1 doubles has won 12 of the 20 titles, the top seed in Division 2 singles has won 14 of the 20 titles and the top seed in Division 2 doubles has won 13 of the 20 titles.

Contact Mike Sherry at msherry@postcrescent.com. Follow him on Twitter @MikeSherry14. 

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This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: WIAA boys state tennis: Title contenders, players to watch, qualifiers