RAPID CITY, S.D. — The Mitchell High School boys tennis team closed out its 2026 season with a seventh-place finish at the Class AA state tournament, which wrapped up Friday at Sioux Park.
The Kernels compiled 200 team points over the two-day tournament, finishing just behind sixth-place Rapid City Stevens, which totaled 210 points. Mitchell was led by strong performances in the lower singles flights, where Simon Wiese and Dayton Adams each earned fourth-place finishes.
At No. 5 singles, Wiese advanced to the semifinals with a pair of victories. He opened with a dominant 6-0, 6-0 win over Sioux Falls Washington’s Jacob Van Rooyen before defeating Watertown’s Tyson Lawrence in a tight quarterfinal match, 6-3, 1-6, 11-9. Wiese then fell to Harrisburg’s Ozil Sharma in the semifinals before dropping the third-place match to O’Gorman’s Finn Canfield, 10-2.
Dayton Adams followed a similar route in Flight 6 singles. Adams rolled past Sioux Falls Roosevelt’s Canon Petersen 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round and defeated Yankton’s Zane Becker 6-2, 6-0 in the quarterfinals to reach the semifinals. There, Adams fell to Sioux Falls Lincoln’s Myles Schellpfeffer before finishing fourth after a 10-5 loss to O’Gorman’s Reid Oakland in the third-place match.
Mitchell’s Dayton Adams hits a shot during the Class AA state boys tennis tournament on Friday, May 22, 2026 at Sioux Park in Rapid City.
Landon DeBoer / Photo courtesy of South Dakota Public Broadcasting
Mitchell also found success in Flight 4 singles, where Dawson Adams secured fifth place. Adams opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Sioux Falls Washington’s Andrew Lewis before dropping into the fifth-place bracket. He responded with an 8-5 win over Brandon Valley’s Titan Gross in the placement semifinals and capped the weekend with a 10-2 victory against Yankton’s Ethan Marsh in the fifth-place match.
At No. 2 singles, Asher Dannenbring picked up a first-round win over Yankton’s Luke Moeller by a 6-4, 6-4 score before falling in the fifth-place semifinals. Cooper Star mirrored that result in Flight 3 singles, opening with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Sioux Falls Washington’s Corey Schneider before also dropping his fifth-place semifinal contest.
In Flight 1 singles, Kernels’ Matthew Mauszycki battled back after losing his opening-round match. Mauszycki defeated Sioux Falls Roosevelt’s Samuel Markman 10-5 and Brookings’ Zachary Mueller 8-3 to reach the consolation championship before falling to Aberdeen Central’s Dawson Pederson, 10-5.
In Flight 3 doubles, the tandem of Wiese and Dayton Adams reached the third-place match after winning two matches and posting a 2-1 record heading into the placement round. The duo ultimately fell to Yankton’s Jack Pedersen and Zane Becker in a tightly contested 10-8 match to place fourth.
Dawson Adams and Dannenbring finished with a fifth-place effort in Flight 2 doubles. The pair finished 3-1 overall and secured the placement match with a 10-5 victory over Brandon Valley’s Travis Rowberry and Titan Gross.
At No. 1 doubles, Star and Mauszycki earned an opening-round win over Aberdeen Central’s Dawson Pederson and Alex Tarver, 7-5, 6-1, before ending their tournament in the fifth-place semifinals.
O’Gorman captured the team championship in dramatic fashion with 484 points, edging Harrisburg by just two points after the Knights secured the deciding Flight 1 doubles championship match. O’Gorman’s Will Koziara and John McDowell sealed the deal over Harrisburg’s Alexander Rallis and Jackson Hancock 6-4, 4-6, 12-10, to win the state title.
Behind O’Gorman and runner-up Harrisburg in the team standings were Sioux Falls Lincoln in third (437), Brandon Valley in fourth (234) and Yankton in fifth (222.5). Sioux Falls Washington placed eighth with 138.5 points, followed by Watertown in ninth with 134 and Sioux Falls Jefferson in 10th with 93.5 to round out the top-10 team scores.
Trey Houchin is a sports reporter for the Mitchell Republic. Trey graduated from Northwest Missouri State University in 2025 with a bachelor’s degree in sports media and covers a wide variety of topics. A Missouri native, Houchin can be reached at thouchin@mitchellrepublic.com.