Mitchell High School boys' tennis coach Pat Moller is looking forward to the start of today's state tournament play today in Rapid City.
He should, too, since it's the first time he's been the head coach of the boys at the state tournament.
The tournament starts at 9 a.m. at Sioux Park and at the Parkview Tennis Complex and continues through Saturday.
In singles, No. 1 Jacob Cersosimo is seeded eighth in his flight, No. 2 Beau Brown is seeded sixth, No. 3 Taylor Moore did not get seeded, No. 5 Tate Crago is seeded seventh and No. 6 Alex Hegg is seeded eighth.
In doubles, the No. 3 doubles team, consisting of Brown and Brenden Lehr, is seeded eighth. The No. 1 and No. 2 doubles teams are not seeded. Each flight is seeded one through eight and the rest of the teams are drawn into the tournament. There are 20 teams participating in the state tournament this year.
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"I look at all our first-round matches that we have and every match is a winnable match," Moller said. "At the same token, we could lose them all due to our youth and inconsistency, but I'm generally an optimistic person. I'm a rookie coach, so I may not know what I'm talking about, but I think we have a chance to really do well."
Moller said he was really pleased with how the flights were seeded and felt that it was a good way to start off the tournament.
"The kids rested easy (Wednesday night), because the seeding gods were smiling on us," he said.
Last year at the state tournament, the Kernels came in ninth place as a team. Cersosimo is the only returning player who placed at the tournament last year. He came in fifth place in the No. 5 flight.
Moller said a realistic goal he has for the state tournament this year is for the team to finish in the top 10 out of 20 teams. He knows the kids are young and can be inconsistent, but he feels the team has worked hard and can be a threat to other teams.
Moller said the team seemed focused and at its final practice Wednesday before the start of the tournament and showed a lot of confidence on the courts.
"I keep telling the kids that this is something they can't go back and ever re-do," Moller said. "They'll never be able to duplicate this tournament again, so they need to go out there with their heads held high and play the best tennis that they can."
