Glacier tennis set to defend court; Whitefish sending 9 to State A

Home-court advantage awaits the seven Glacier singles and duos who qualified for the State AA tennis tournament that begins today at FVCC.

Flathead also placed one into the tournament in boys singles runner up Rowan Alexander. Flathead coach Kaitlyn Schelbert informed the Daily Inter Lake Wednesday that Alexander will miss the tournament due to a torn meniscus suffered during the divisional championship match last weekend. 

“We are all super bummed,” Schelbert said. “Hoping for a speedy recovery and looking forward to next season.” 

Alexander is still listed in the bracket, but will become an injury default against Helena Capital’s Cooper Laslovich. 

Glacier’s Colton Mantovani is the lone competing Kalispell athlete in boys singles. He is slated to battle Capital’s Evan McClain. 

The Wolfpack also see a pair of boys doubles duos. Josh Klippenstein and Axel Rauscher square off with Billings Skyview’s Karsh Woller and Isaac Mosser. Ethan Ronngren and Karson Stafford duel with Belgrade’s Grey Pommerville and Gonzalo Cannivell. 

The Wolfpack girls have two singles and two doubles pairs taking the courts. 

In singles Leilani Lennarz makes another state appearance after placing sixth in 2025. She is joined by Autumn Bashara. Lennarz faces Billings West’s Mia Hatzell, while Bashara battles 2025 third-place finisher Billings Senior’s Bella Rogge. 

North divisional champions Cassidy and Cadence Daniels lead the charge in doubles. They face off with Gallatin’s MacKenzie Campos and Amaya Plumley. Quinn Berkram and Rowyn Speer also earned a spot. They will battle with the Raptors’ Alex Mansour and Raena Wilson. 

Weather may play a factor with high temperatures slated for today and a chance of thunderstorms on Friday. 

Whitefish the team(s) to beat at State A 

State A tennis may be in Hardin, but there will be a strong Whitefish feel. 

Nine Bulldogs qualified at the Northwest A divisional in Polson a week ago out of the 16 available spots. 

Three boys singles — divisional champion and 2025 state runner up Jack Oehlerich, Owen Erickson and Eli Erickson — along with two doubles pairs, Aaron Anderson and Marcus Mercer and Jake Shors and Cole Moses, give Whitefish a strong chance at repeating as boys team champions. 

The Bulldogs send the most players to the tournament; Havre sends two singles representatives and a pair of doubles teams. Host Hardin could play a factor in the results as well. 

“Our guys understand that it is a privilege to go to the state tournament,” Bulldogs boys coach Chris Schwaderer said. “Even though the team had a lot of success throughout the season, when they step on the courts in Hardin they still need to ‘show up.’ The state tournament always comes down to who shows up and I really believe in my guys.”  

The Whitefish girls see Liesl Brust and Emy Hansen in singles after a 1-2 finish at divisionals, while the duos of Camry Kelch and Allie Shors and Lucy Marzo and Aubrey Talbot lead the charge. 

Only Corvallis matches the number of Bulldogs making the trip. The Blue Devils send a trio of singles players and one doubles pair to Hardin. Defending champion Miles City also sends two singles and a doubles pair hoping to defend its title. 

Polson has representatives in each bracket as well with Ruger Ellis and the duo of Teague McElwee and Marcus Lucas on the boys side. Baylee Lemm and the pairing of Greta Lund and Hinkley Moss earned spots in the girls competition. 

Pirates coach Bob Hislop hopes the weather won’t have too much influence. 

“I hope the heat isn’t the big winner, but it could have an impact in the outcome,” Hislop said. 

Forecasts call for temperatures in the high 80s and low 90s on Thursday and Friday with thunderstorms potentially impacting Saturday’s matches. 

Bigfork has a qualifier in both girls competitions. Grace Holtmeyer secured her spot with a fourth-place finish at divisionals while the duo of Gwenna Lustig and Payton DeSpain also nabbed a fourth-place finish to lock in their place to the state tournament. 

Columbia Falls has one duo that earned a place in Hardin. Jackson Scholz and Blake Perry finished fourth in Polson to become the lone Wildcats representatives; they open against the Havre pair of Max Sprangler and Carter Chagnon.