Since 2014, boy’s tennis has been dominated by Sioux Falls Lincoln in South Dakota. This year was no different as the Patriots added another peg to its already existing dynasty, claiming their seventh straight state title.
For head coach Tom Krueger, he raves about the joy he got from coaching this year’s squad.
“They’re so much fun and they’re such awesome tennis players,” stated Krueger. “The practices that we have are just a blast, because the kids just focus and work hard, but they’re having a good time. I just shake my head at practice thinking “man, I can’t believe they just hit that shot.” It’s fun to watch.”
Going into the championship matches, Sioux Falls Lincoln had representation present in all six singles and all three doubles flights. Gage Gohl (singles flight 1), Rocky McKenzie (singles flight 2), Drew Gohl (singles flight 4), and River McKenzie (singles flight 6) all won individual state championships.
Gage Gohl and Rocky McKenzie also won doubles flight 1, while James Yousef and Preston Koski claimed the doubles flight 3 title.
In total, Sioux Falls Lincoln scored 561 team points. Sioux Falls Washington placed second with 441 points, Rapid City Stevens came in third with 391.5, and O’Gorman snagged fourth place with a point total of 360.
“We just talk a lot about; you have to play each match individually. And there’s a huge difference in the ability of different teams, because some play all year round and some don’t,” explained Krueger. “With these guys, they do tournaments all year round, so they’re use to that. The format where you’re playing somebody different every match. It’s not playing your buddy over and over again; you’re playing different competition. And they’re use to adjusting their game to get to that level they need to be at for that opponent.”
Lincoln’s culture in tennis extends further than just the current team. In attendance at this year’s state tennis tournament were a few alumni. The Dobbs brothers, Kaleb and Sam, were in attendance on Friday to watch the championship matches. Also watching from the stands was Rahul Giri, who last year as a senior didn’t get to have a season because of COVID.
“It’s a family, it’s that Lincoln tradition and they love playing with these guys. You hang out with kids in the summertime, and you play a lot of these same schools, you just play the kids, but you get the team atmosphere going and it’s really special,” Krueger stated.
The Patriots will graduate two seniors this month, Preston Koski and Gavin Schmit. This means Lincoln will have a lot of strength coming back in 2022 as they’ll look to win their eighth-in-a-row. Since 1971 when high school tennis became a sanctioned sport, Sioux Falls Lincoln has now won 19 state boys tennis championships.
For complete results of the 2021 'AA' boys state tennis tournament, click here.
