SIOUX FALLS -- The Mitchell High School tennis team has two players still alive for individual state championships after the first day of the state tennis tournament Thursday.
Senior Tyler Osterloo, the No. 2 seed in the top flight of singles, had a bye in the first round and beat a Madison opponent in the second round. Osterloo went on to beat Nathaniel Cherry, of Rapid City Central, in the third round 6-2, 6-2.
Osterloo, who has lost only one singles match all season, will play Watertown sophomore Jordan Feige in a championship semifinal today. Osterloo won his only meeting with Feige this season.
Many of today's originally scheduled matches were played Thursday in preparation of bad weather over the weekend. Play started at 8 a.m. Thursday and Mitchell coach Gayle Klein said her kids played all through the day.
"We finished up about 7:30 or 8 (p.m.)," Klein said. "We had some people playing as many as six matches (Thursday).
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"It was a long day and a lot of tennis was played."
No. 6 singles player Beau Brown, an eighth-grader for the Kernels, also is in the championship semifinals today.
Brown had a bye in the first round and beat a Brookings opponent in the second round. Brown then had to come back on two occasions to win a third-round match against Dan Schultz, of Sioux Falls Lincoln.
Brown lost the first set in a tiebreaker and was down 5-4 in the second set before coming back to force a third-set tiebreaker. He also trailed in the third set before rallying for the win.
"He had quite the dramatic match," Klein said of Brown's third-round match. "It was a match of comebacks against Lincoln."
Jesse Gebel (No. 2 singles), Taylor Moore (No. 3), Tate Crago (No. 4) and Jacob Cersosimo (No. 5) all are still alive in the consolation bracket.
All three of Mitchell's doubles teams are in the consolation bracket. Osterloo and Gebel are the No. 1 flight of doubles for the Kernels, while Moore and Cersosimo are at No. 2 and Crago and Brown team up at No. 3.
Klein said the weather held off for much of Thursday, but the tournament schedule has been altered from its original plan.
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"We had some sprinkles (Thursday) afternoon, but nobody panicked and we were able to stay put and it didn't disrupt anything," Klein said.
Championship semifinal doubles matches begin at 8 a.m. today.
Mitchell's first action of today will come when the consolation semifinals of the doubles bracket begins at 9 a.m.
