Watertown, Aberdeen to host ESD Conference girls tennis, boys golf tourney this week

WATERtOWN — Watertown and Aberdeen Central's high school girls tennis teams are set to open their postseasons in the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament on Monday and Tuesday at the Highland Park Courts.

Play starts at 2 p.m. on Monday and 8 a.m. on Tuesday. The tourney is the final action for both teams before they compete in the state Class AA tournament on Oct. 11-12 at Rapid City.

Watertown head coach Ryan Zink considers Mitchell the favorite with Aberdeen, Yankton and Watertown along with Harrisburg potentially being in the mix. A number of other schools have good players in various flights that could affect who wins the team title.

"It's going to be a very competitive tournament," Zink said. "The girls will have to be ready to play every time they step on the court.

Watertown finished off a 15-4 dual season with 9-0 wins over Rapid City Central and Aberdeen Roncalli on Saturday in the Elliott Extravaganza at Aberdeen on Sept. 21 and a 5-4 loss to Mitchell on Tuesday.

On Saturday, Ellie Zink (No. 1), Leyla Meester (No. 2), Sophia Nichols (No. 4) and Jade Smith (No. 6) each went 2-0 in singles. Hannah Pesek won at No. 3 and No. 5, Faith Berg (1-0 at No. 3) and Savannah Sovell (1-0 at No. 5). Zink-Meester won two matches at No. 1 doubles, Berg-Nichols (1-0) and Smith-Nichols (1-0) at No. 2, and Pesek-Smith (1-0) and Pesek-Sovell (1-0) at No. 3. Against Mitchell, Zink and Berg each won in singles and Zink-Meester and Weiss-Smith each won in doubles.

Aberdeen Central (15-8) beat Pierre 8-1 and Roncalli 9-0 in the Elliott Extravaganza with Julia Knie (No. 1), Avery Tennant (No. 2), Reese Comstock (No. 3), Chloe Ladner (No. 4) and Sarah Knie (No. 5) each going 2-0 in singles. Knie-Tennant (No. 1), Comstock-Ladner (No. 2) and Mady Holman-Estelle Riggs (No. 3) each were 2-0 in doubles.

Roncalli (7-10) posted 6-3 wins over Lennox and Milbank on Tuesday in Milbank. River Haskell (No. 2), Raley Haskell (No. 3) and Keira Rivett (No. 4) each went 2-0 in singles. River Haskell and Rivett also went 2-0 at No. 2 doubles. Josie Mitzel and Gianna Cihak were 2-0 at No. 3 doubles. The Cavliers host Sioux Falls Christian on Saturday.

Milbank also fell 6-3 to Lennox on Tuesday to close out its regular season. Jenna Korstjens (No. 1) and Payton Lamp (No. 5) each went 2-0 in singles for the Bulldogs. Milbank and Roncalli will play in the state Class A tourney Oct. 7-8 at Rapid City.

Boys Golf

Watertown and Aberdeen Central closed out their regular seasons by playing in the Watertown Invite on Tuesday at Cattail Crossing Golf Course. The Arrows won a tiebreaker over Mitchell for the team title.

WATERTOWN BOYS GOLF INVITE: Watertown wins tiebreaker for team title in home invitational at Cattaill Crossing Golf Course

The Arrows and Golden Eagles play Monday in the Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament at the Moccasin Creek Country Club in Aberdeen. Watertown is three-time defending champion.

Area Class A golfers from Aberdeen Roncalli, Groton Area, Milbank, Redfield, Sioux Valley, Sisseton and Tiospa Zina will play in the Region 1A tournament on Monday in Milbank. It is the qualifying meet for the state Class A tournament Oct. 7-8 at the Central Valley Golf Course in Hartford.

A number of the area golfers competed Thursday in the Sisseton Invite at the Valley View Country Club. Sioux Valley edged Groton rea 348-349 for the team title. Jonathan DeBoer of Milbank shot a 5-over par to win medalist honors. Damon Uecker (80) and Tate Steffensen (81) of Sioux Valley and Brevin Fliehs (85) and Logan Pearson of Groton Area (86) rounded out the top 5.

Soccer

Watertown High School's soccer teams concluded their regular seasons on Thursday by posting 2-0 (boys) and 5-0 (girls) Eastern South Dakota Conference wins over Huron at Allen Mitchell Field. The Arrow boys (11-2-1 overall and 7-1-1 in the ESD) will host a first-round Class AA playoff game on Tuesday, Oct. 8. The Arrow girls (4-10, 3-6) are currently the 17th seed, but could move up. The top 16 teams qualify for the playoffs.

Dawson Hartman and Patrick Bednarczyk each scored goals for the Arrow boys. Skyler Stanton and Braxten Endres added assists and goalkeeper Owen Muller made six saves. Berkley Fligge and Brooklynn Randall each scored twice and Bo Meidinger once for the Arrow girls, who got saves from Maisa Sorsa and Megan Perez. Mya York and Alivia Ringgenberg each manned the net.

Watertown's boys posted a 2-0 win at Sioux Falls Washington on Sept. 21, getting goals by Endres and Stanton and assists from Riley Fischer and Muller. Muller also made five saves. Watertown's girls lost to Sioux Falls Washington 4-1, getting an unassisted goal from Meidinger. York tallied 18 saves and Katie Fischer three in net.

The Arrows also hosted Aberdeen Central's teams on Monday and Aberdeen Central's boys won a big ESD matchup 3-0. Tyler Bain and Bryson Burgard each scored for the Golden Eagles, who also scored on an own goal. Aberdeen Central (7-2-3 overall and 6-0-1) can win the ESD beating Yankton at home on Saturday and Mitchell on the road on Tuesday.

Watertown's girls beat Aberdeen Central 1-0 on Randall's goal with about 15 minutes left. Aberdeen is 4-6-2 overall with two matches remaining.

Groton Area's boys fell to 2-6-3 with a 7-1 loss at James Valley Christian on Thursday. The Tigers also beat Custer 5-1 and lost to Hot Springs 2-1 over the weekend. Logan Olson and Karson Zak each scored two goals and Ethan Kroll one against Custer. The No. 2 Class A Groton Area girls (6-1-1) didn't play and are off until Oct. 5 at Garretson.

Cross Country

Watertown and Aberdeen Central runners competed in the Clyde Cotton Invite on Saturday (Sept. 21) at the Broadland Creek Golf Course in Huron.

Watertown took third and Aberdeen Central fourth in the girls division with Watertown's Grace McElroy (18:58.6) winning the 5,000-meter race. Juna Ramey was fifth (19:58.65) and Allie Novstrup 10th (20:24.81) for Aberdeen. Kate McElroy took 11th (20:29.64) for Watertown.

Carlson Urlacher's runner-up finish (16:20.26) led Aberdeen Central to the boys division title. Patrick Severson was eighth (16;36.37) and Tate DeVries 10th (16:49.3) for the Golden Eagles. Dane Stark took sixth (16;29.09) and Ty Sullivan 10th (16:49.3) for Watertown.

Madisyn Gellhaus of Ipswich (girls, 19:11.83) and Wamni Kills Crow (boys, 16:41.72) won races in the Battler Invitational on Sept. 21 at Gettysburg.

Race winners in area meets this week included Carson Wosje of Sioux Valley (boys, 17:06.5) andMaci Licht of Sioux Valley (girls, 19:30.47) in the Deuel Invite on Monday at Clear Lake; and Ella Boekelheide of Northwestern (girls, 19:07.38) and Pierce Baumberger of Miller (boys, 17:59.10) in the Lakeside Invitational on Wednesday at Faulkton. Results from the Clark-Willow Lake Invite on Thursday were not posted in time for this story.

Claire Stoks of Canby-Minneota (20:22) won the girls' race on Thursday in the Yellow Medicine East Invite at Granite Falls, Minn. CM won the girls division and took second in the boys division.

Complete results for most area meets can be found at athletic.net .

20 FAVORITES: Links to the stories highlighting the best northeastern South Dakota athletes since 1984

Cheer-Dance

Watertown and Aberdeen Central's teams competed in the Brookings Invitational on Sept. 21 and the Brandon Valley Invitational on Sept. 24.

Watertown took fifth (246.5) and Aberdeen Central 21st (175.0)in cheer at Brookings. Class A Sioux Valley was seventh (238.0). In dance, Aberdeen Central took ninth (246.75) and Watertown 15th (216.25). Aberdeen Central had a score of 239.5 in hip hop and 254 in pom. Watertown's scores included jazz (220.5) and pom (212.0).

On Tuesday, Watertown's cheer squad placed fifth (241.5) and Aberden Central 14th (179.5). In dance, Aberdeen Central took 10th (226.75) and Watertown 11th (207.0). Aberdeen Central scored 217.5 in pom and 216 in hip hop. Watertown had a 214 score in jazzand a 200 score in pom.

Watertown's teams are slated to compete Saturday in the Harrisburg Invite.

Class A power Sioux Valley won its own cheer invite on Thursday with a score of 178, followed by Elkton-Lake Benton (136), Dell Rapids (120.5) and Faulkton Area (107.5).

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown, Aberdeen to host ESD Conference girls tennis, boys golf tourney this week