Some of the best Watertown and Milbank's best boys tennis players since December of 1984

Editor's Note: Sports writer Roger Merriam is compiling a "20 Favorites" series highlighting some of his favorite athletes in a variety of high school sports since he started working at the Watertown Public Opinion in December of 1984. The series is about northeastern South Dakota athletes, but some played at colleges all over the state and others have moved to other areas.

Yesterday we released the "20 Favorites" story on Watertown and Milbank girls tennis and we're going back-to-back today with Watertown and Milbank boys tennis story.

Four state championships have been won by Watertown's boys and cutting the list down was no easy task.

Next up in the series will be Watertown Post 17 Legion Baseball.

Others

We found only one Milbank player who reached the semifiinals or better since December of the 1984 and you'll see his name below along with another Bulldog you've probably heard of.

Here's some other Watertown players of note, including many who were state place winners in either singles or doubles. The group includes Matt Gauger, Charlie Jacobson, Austin VanDerWeide, A.J. DeLange, Curtis Sneden, Brandon Lindner, Jeff Moffatt, Brian Woldt, Grey Jensen, Dave Linngren, Dan Sherrill, Jon Rude, Erik Hanson, Mike Heller, Darren True, Steve Morgans, Collin Zent, T.J. Beadnell, Joe Dorale, Jordan McPeek, Joe Steska, Ryan Zeeb, Tyler Spilde and Tyler Hegge. Again, my apologies if we missed somebody. So many players, only so many spots.

Again most of the results below are from state tournaments and many Arrows also enjoyed success in the Eastern South Dakota Conference tourneys.

20. Trevor Ewald

Most of these stories are about trying to list the 20 best players since in various sports since I started working at the Public Opinion in December of 1984 but the title "20 Favorites" allows for some special mentions. Yes Trevor is Scott Ewald's son and he did team with Ryan Zeeb for a third-place finish at No. 3 doubles for Watertown as a senior in 2002.

I'm putting him here because of a photo. We ran a photo of Trevor of April 2002 with shades and dark hair that made him look like Elvis Presley had reappeared at, of all places, Highland Park in Watertown. Turns out I took the photo, but I just always remembered calling it the "Elvis" photo.

19. Kalen DeBoer

I knew, and many of you also did, that the new University of Alabama head football coach was a star football, basketball and baseball standout in high school. Turns out he also ran track (pretty darn well) and played No. 1 singles for Milbank High School's tennis team in 1992 and 1993.

I didn't have any luck tracking down a tennis photo of Kalen and I know his senior year he didn't play in a dual at Watertown. I did find a track relay photo showing him competing in the Region 1A track meet the day before he competed in the 1993 state tennis tournament. Yes, he played both sports at the same and five overall. He turned it quite well as an athlee and an as a coach without focusing on one sport.

18. Charlie Timm

Judge Robert Timm was a Watertown High School graduate who spent 28 years as a Third Circuit Court judge before retiring in 2015. His son Charlie was a solid doubles player for the Arrows, placing fourth at No. 3 doubles with Travis Alvine in 2001, fourth at No. 2 doubles with Alvine in 2002 and fourth at No. 2 doubles with Ryan Schoenefeld in both 2003 and 2004.

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

17. Tommy Nealon and Heath Rydell

Not sure why I listed these two guys together, but they both deserve a spot on the list.

Nealon finished fifth at No. 3 doubles with Hegge in 2011, fifth at No. 3 doubles with McPeek in 2012 and second at No. 2 doubles with Mark DeSpiegler in 2013.

Rydell placed third at No. 6 singles and third at No. 3 doubles with Rude in 1998 and added a state runner-up finish at No. 4 singles in 1999.

16. Scott Erickson and Jared Johnson

Same deal here, no connection, but two more deserving players.

Erickson finished second at No. 4 singles in 2000 and third at No. 3 singles and third at No. 2 doubles (with Joe Steska) in 2001.

Johnson was at least a four-year varsity regular who took second at No. 3 doubles with David Brandsrud in 2009 and fourth at No. 2 doubles with Andrew Towle in 2010. He also took fourth at No. 4 singles in 2010 and played No. 2 singles the next two years.

15. David Brandsrud

David is the son on former WHS assistant principal and principal Brad Brandsud, but don't call this a who-you-need-to-know list.

David finished fourth at No. 3 doubles with Moffatt in 2007 and then took second at No. 5 singles and second at No. 3 doubles with Johnson in 2009.

14. Ian Marquardt

Marquardt took second in the fourth flight of singles in 1991 and returned the next year to help Watertown capture the first of three-straight state team championships by winning the fourth flight of singles and teaming with Adam Fox to win the second flight of doubles.

More: Post 17 scheduled to open its 2024 season with doubleheaders this weekend in Iowa

13. Tanner Heiser

Forget the rating Tanner, you could be much higher. Most of us remember Tanner as the boys basketball standout who finished his career as the fourth leading scorer in school history with 1,130 points but he also shined on the tennis court.

He finished third at No. 5 singles in 2012, fifth at No. 3 singles in 2011, won a state championship at No. 3 singles in 2012 and was second at No. 2 singles on another Arrow state championship team in 2013.

Heiser also took third at No. 3 doubles with DeSpiegler in 2010, fourth at No. 1 doubles with Jordan Feige in both 2011 and 2012 before teaming with Feige to win the first flight of doubles in 2013.

12. The Schoepps (Kirby and Marcus)

Kirby teamed with Alvine to capture the state title at No. 1 doubles in 2004. He also placed fourth at No. 5 singles in 2000 and third at No. 4 singles in 2001.

Younger brother Marcus took third at No. 6 singles and fourth at No. 3 doubles with Brett Schoenefeld in 2004, third at No. 4 singles and second at No. 2 doubles (with Brett Schoenefeld) in 2005 and fourth at No. 1 doubles with Schoenefeld in 2007. Marcus also played No. 1 singles his final two years.

11. Mark DeSpiegler

DeSpiegler was another talented player on the 2013 state championship team who enjoyed a notable career with the Arrows before playing in college at Augustana College.

He teamed with Heiser to take third at No. 3 doubles in 2010. He also placed fifth at No. 4 singles in 2011, second at No. 4 singles in 2012, second at No. 3 singles and second at No. 2 doubles with Nealon in 2013 before playing No. 1 singles in 2014.

10. Chad Struckman and Aaron Weippert

Struckman won the No. 4 singles state title and teamed with Weippert to win the No. 2 doubles title in 1998.

Struckman also finished third in the third flight of singles and third in the second flight of doubles with Weippert in 1997. Struckman and Weippert also finished second at No. 2 doubles in 1998.

Weippert also finished fourth at No. 5 singles in 1997, third at No. 3 singles in 1998 and fourth at No. 1 doubles with David Haggar in 1999.

9. The Schoenefelds (Ryan and Brett)

The two brothers had solid careers for the Arrows in the early 2000s.

Ryan took fourth at No. 5 singles in 2003, fourth at No. 4 in 2004 and second at No, 2 in 2005. In doubles, he teamed with Charlie Timm to take fourth at No. 2 in 2003 and 2004 and teamed with Alvine for a fourth-place finish at No. 1in 2005.

Brett took second at No. 5 singles in 2004, fourth at No. 3 doubles (with Marcus Schoepp) in 2004, fifth at No. 3 singles and second at No. 2 doubles (with M. Schoepp) in 2005, fifth at No. 2 singles and fourth at No. 1 doubles with M. Schoepp again in 2006.

I thought both brothers played in college but an online search only showed that Ryan played at St. Cloud (Minn.) State.

8. Jordan Feige

A six-year regular, Feige played for the Arrows from 2008 through 2013 before playing collegiately at Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa.

Feige finished third at No. 6 singles in 2008, fourth at No. 3 in 2009, fourth at No. 1 in both 2011 and 2012 and second at No. 1 in 2013.He also finished third at No. 2 doubles with Zent in 2009, third at No. 1 with Spilde in 2010, fourth at No. 1 with Heiser in both 2011 and 2012 and then teamed with Heiser to win the No. 1 doubles state title in 2013.

7. Travis Alvine

Alvine won a fifth-flight singles title as an eighth-grader in 2001 and also teamed with Timm to take fourth at No. 3 doubles.

He was fourth at No. 3 singles and fourth at No. 2 doubles with Timm in 2002, third at No. 2 singles in 2003, second at No. 2 singles and first at No. 1 doubles with Kirby Schoepp in 2004 and fourth at No. 1 doubles with Ryan Schoenefeld in 2005.

6. The Towles (Mike, Danny and Andrew)

The Towle brothers were varsity players for the Arrows from 2005-2010.

Mike finished third at No. 5 singles in 2005 and fourth at No. 3 singles and third at No. 2 doubles with T.J. Beadnell in 2006. Danny took third at No. 3 singles and second at No. 2 doubles with A.J. DeLange in 2007. Andrew teamed with Jared Johnson to place fourth at No. 2 dou les in 2010.

5. Phillippe Sudan, Milbank

Winning a first-flight singles state title is no easy task but Sudan, a foreign-exchange student who played only one season of tennis at Milbank. He made the most of it, notching a runner-up finish in the spring of 1996.

He also teamed with current Watertown banker Brian Buisker to notch a fifth-place finish at No. 1 doubles that same year.

I was told by a reliable source (can't remember who, but I believe him) that Sudan ended up in Milbank because he wanted to play baseball and Milbank is the birthplace of American Legion Baseball. One problem, he was only in Milbank during the school year and Legion Baseball didn't start until the summer. So he went out for tennis.

4. The Haggars (Tom and David)

I got confused when I did the girls' story and forgot to list Tom along with David as brothers of Katie Haggar.

Tom teamed with Jason Meester to take second in the third flight o doubles in 1991 and came back the following year to team with Meester to win the No. 3 doubles title, leading Watertown to the first of three-straight state team championships.

David seemed to play forever for the Arrows. He finished second at No. 3 singles in 1994, first at No. 2 singles as an eighth-grader in 1995 and second at No. 2 singles in 1996. As a junior in 1998, he teamed with Charlie Jacobson to take third at No. 1 doubles and closed out his career with a fourth-place finish in No. 1 doubles with Weippeart in 1999.

3. Adam and Sam Fox

There have been more Foxes who played tennis for the Arrows, including Rory if not others. Adam and Sam were cousins, not brothers.

Adam won the No. 2 singles title and teamed with Marquardt to win at No. 2 doubles on Watertown's first state championship team in 1992 and came back in 1993 to win the third flight of singles and the second flght of doubles with Jason Meester.

Sam and Dorale took third at No. 3 doubles on the 1993 state champions. On another state title team in 1994, Fox finished second at No. 2 singles and third at No. 1 doubles with Todd Meester.

1B. The Meesters

We said yesterday that the Meesters were the most notable family of tennis players in Watertown program history (both boys and girls).

Brothers Jason and Todd were key members of the 1992, 1993 and 1994 state championship teams.

Jason teamed with Tom Haggar to take second at No. 3 doubles in 1991 before winning at No. 3 doubles in 1992. He also took second at No. 2 singles and teamed with Adam Fox to win at No. 2 doubles in 1993.

Todd won at No. 3 singles and at No. 1 doubles with Mike Murphy in 1992 and again won state titles at No. 2 singles and No. 1 doubles with Murphy in 1993. He also took third at No. 1 singles and third at No. 1 doubles with Sam Fox in 1994.

Jason's sons Jacob and Joey each have played for the Arrows. Joey is a sophomore on this spring's Arrow squad. Todd's daughters Leyla and Jahna each played along with son Evan, who a senior for the current Arrows. He placed fifth at state in No. 2 doubles with Justin Remmers last spring.

1A. Mike Murphy

The Meesters deserve top honors but so does Murphy, who won first flight singles state championships in both 1992 and 1993 and a first flight doubles title with Todd Meester in 1993. They were also second at No. 1 doules in 2022.

Murphy was born in Wichita (Kan.) and his father was an American coach who worked for the government of Bahrain — an island country (about half of the size of Codington County) located in the Persian Gulf near Saudi Arabia. That's where longtime WHS cross country and track coach Vic Godrey was an Olympic coach for Bahrain.

Godfrey's son Nathan and Murphy became friends before the Godfreys moved back to the U.S. The Murphys returned to the country in 1990 and after a year at boarding school in Kansas, Murphy was invited to spend his junior year with the Godfreys in Watertown.

He stayed two years and did his part to put Watertown's boys tennis program on the map.

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: 20 Favorites series' look at Watertown and Milbank boys tennis