Just a week removed from finishing up a perfect regular season, the Powell High School boys’ tennis team added a regional championship to its resume over the weekend in Casper.
Jesse Brown and Dylan Preator both avenged regular-season losses to claim individual titles at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while the Panthers’ No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams finished as runners-up. The No. 3 doubles team shook off an opening-round loss, battling back through the consolation bracket to finish third. And PHS head coach Joe Asay was named Wyoming North Conference Boys’ Coach of the Year.
The Panthers finished the tournament with 59 points, well ahead of runner-up Campbell County’s 37 points. Kelly Walsh was third with 34, Sheridan fourth with 30 and Thunder Basin rounded out the top five with 22.
The Lady Panthers finished seventh in the eight-team field with 12 points; Kelly Walsh was first with 53 points, narrowly beating Cody with 52. Sheridan rounded out the top three with 44 points.
“It was a good trip, it was fun to see them finish out regional play well after having a good conference season,” coach Asay said. “It was good to get down there and show everyone that, yeah, that’s where we should be.”
As for being named coach of the year, Asay was quick to deflect the praise to his players.
“Those accolades come pretty easy when you have such a good bunch of kids,” he said. “For me, those kids are just so darned talented, it’s just good and exciting to see them do so well.”
Panthers
Coach Asay called it a great weekend on the boys side of the tournament, featuring good energy and “just a bunch of great kids here in the north.”
“It was very competitive for our boys, so it was great to see them battle well,” he said, noting that four of the Panthers’ five competitors went all the way through the championship bracket.
At No.1 singles, Panther senior Brown opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Jackson’s Campbell Gervais. He followed that with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Campbell County’s Miles Veyna in the semifinals, setting up a rematch with Sheridan’s Ethan Kutz. Kutz won the first meeting between the two in straight sets.
“I was just excited to play the Sheridan kid the whole time,” Brown said. “We’ve been playing against each other since middle school, and he’s beat me the last two years; he improved so much. I just came in with the mindset that I just need to stay focused the whole way through. In a long match like that, a lot can happen.”
Brown won a hard-fought first set 7-5; Kutz answered with a 6-4 win in the second to bring the match back to even.
In the third set, Brown jumped out to a 5-0 lead, holding on to win the set and the match 6-3.
“At 5-0, I was focusing more on winning the match, and not so much winning points,” Brown said. “He came back a couple of games, but I got it done.”
Preator, last year’s state champion at No. 2 singles, also gained a measure of revenge against a Sheridan opponent that had his number in the last week of the regular season. After easily dispatching Natrona County’s Bridger Myers 6-0, 6-0, Preator squared off against Sheridan’s Reed Rabon in the semis. Rabon won the first meeting in three sets (7-4, 4-6, 6-3), but Preator won the rematch in straight sets, 6-0, 7-6.
“Beating Reed [Rabon] was difficult, but it wouldn’t be fair if it was easy to make it to the championship,” Preator said. “I’ve learned that to beat someone better than you, you have to make them play your game. I had to come out playing as hard as I could on every point.”
Preator faced Campbell County’s Tanner Lemm in the final, winning in three sets 6-4,1-6, 6-3.
“It felt good to win the title, but I don’t dwell on that much,” Preator said. “I am now trying to focus on playing my best at state.”
In No. 1 doubles, Powell’s Aidan Jacobsen and Justin Vanderbeek defeated Thunder Basin’s Joel Klassen and Mason Miller (6-2, 6-3) and Jackson’s George Gervais and Jackson Santomauro (6-4, 3-6, 6-4) to reach the finals. There, the senior duo lost in straight sets to Campbell County’s Jefferson Neary and Austin Robertson, 6-1, 6-2.
“It’s been a good opportunity for Aidan and Justin to play together, because Justin has really proven to be a tremendous player — he has as many shot selections as any kid out there,” Asay said. “He doesn’t quite have the power of Aidan or Dylan [Preator] or Jesse [Brown], but he hits that ball really well.”
The coach said he’s excited to see what Jacobsen and Vanderbeek do at state this next week.
The No. 2 doubles duo of Grant Dillivan and Ethan Bartholomew also advanced to the finals, losing to Kelly Walsh’s Parker Phillips and Colton Allaire 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.
“Having Grant and Ethan at the No. 2 spot really demonstrates the depth of our team, a senior and sophomore playing together,” Asay said. “Those guys have really started to click — everything’s coming together for them. Unfortunately they couldn’t quite get it finished against the team from Kelly Walsh, but it was great to see them in that runners-up spot.”
Choosing to forgo a first-round bye to get some match experience, Jay Cox and Logan Brown — the No. 1 seeds at No. 3 doubles coming into the tournament — dropped their opening-round match to Jackson’s Elliot Sanchez and Will Aepli 6-4, 6-7, 6-2.
But the pair battled back through the consolation bracket with wins over Sheridan and Thunder Basin to reach the consolation final. Playing against Cody’s TJ Smith and Tristan Dollard, Cox and Brown dropped the first set 7-6 before winning the next two 7-6, 6-3 to claim third place.
“They [Cox and Brown] have been a lot of fun to watch, another senior and sophomore pair,” Asay said. “Two tall, athletic kids, and they’ve been very dominant together. They were bummed about that first-round loss; they had the opportunity for a bye, but I felt the best option for them was to get out and play some tennis. They battled back and got third, so that was a good victory there.”
Lady Panthers
Powell senior Sloane Asay faced a pair of heavy hitters at No. 1 singles, losing to Sheridan’s Julia Kutz (6-0, 6-1) and Thunder Basin’s Kinsley Larson (6-3, 7-5).
“Sloane dropped her two matches against some tough competition, but once again that’s two matches of experience under her belt,” coach Asay said. “Now she’ll have the opportunity to come out and see what things look like when she gets to state. She’s played great tennis.”
Ashley Dunkerley fared a little better at No. 2 singles, losing her first match to Cody’s Torrie Schutzman (6-3, 6-3) before bouncing back against Thunder Basin’s Taylin Smith, winning in three sets (4-6, 6-4, 6-2). Dunkerley’s tournament ended in the consolation semis against Jackson’s Valerie Stevenson in straight sets 6-3, 7-6.
“Ashley is a good, scrappy competitor, and did well in that second match for the win and a chance to play on Saturday for a shot at third or fourth,” Asay said. “I think Ashley has done well there, and we’ll see what next week looks like for her.”
In No. 1 doubles, Powell’s Hailee Paul and Sophe Morrow dropped their opening-round match to Kelly Walsh, but bounced back with a win over Natrona County’s Elana Galles and Taylor Bundy in straight sets 6-2, 6-3. The duo was knocked out by Thunder Basin’s Alyson Borchers and Kim Kern 6-0, 6-2.
“It’s been fun to see those two girls come together [Paul and Morrow],” Asay said, adding, “They’ve played competitively, and we’ll look forward to how they can finish out the season.”
After losing in the first round, Powell’s No. 2 doubles team of Sami Cole and Sydnee Thompson knocked off Campbell County’s Taylor Kannapel and Mari Bouzis in the consolation bracket 6-4, 6-1. Cole and Thompson then lost in the consolation semis to Kelly Walsh.
At No. 3 doubles, Whitney Hull and Kaili Wizniewski won their opener against Natrona County’s Breanna Flesvig and Avery Olson 6-4, 6-5 to advance to the semifinals. The pair fell to Kelly Walsh in the semis, then beat Thunder Basin’s Katie Bruse and Ali Morgan 6-0, 0-6, 7-5.
The pair finished fourth, losing in the consolation final to Sheridan 7-6, 6-0.
“Hull and Wizniewski really battled back to get the win in that Thunder Basin match after getting out to a fast start,” Asay said. “They came up against a pretty strong Sheridan team in the consolation final, but battled well all the way through.”
The teams will have light practices this week, then head to Gillette for the state tournament beginning Thursday.
“I reminded the kids on the way home from Casper, that hey, we’re not done,” Asay said. “We have some more tennis to play. Hopefully we’ll be ready to show up and play some state tennis.”
Brown agreed.
“Having a group like this is super-special,” he said of the boys’ squad. “I love the atmosphere of this team — everyone is having a great time. We’re going for it at state. Regionals is one thing, but state is a whole different animal. We have to be able to execute.”
