Whitefish boys tennis claims state title, girls take third

All around excellence propelled the Whitefish tennis teams to the podium this season. The boys claimed first place while the girls took third at the Class A State Tennis Tournament in Billings last week.  

“The Whitefish boys came out and displayed a phenomenal team spirit throughout the tournament,” said boys coach Doris Puglisi. “As a coach, you couldn’t ask for any better - very proud.” 

Patrick Dryden, girls coach, spoke on how the program as a whole has made huge strides.  

“The program was in a freefall two years ago,” Dryden said. “The kids brought it back quickly. The future is so bright.”  

For the relatively young teams, the girls qualified one senior, one junior, one sophomore and two freshman for the state tournament. The boys brought one senior and three juniors.  

Leading the way for the boys team title was Jack Oehlerich, who took second in singles after falling to reigning champ Libby’s Ryan Beagle, a senior, in the championship match, 7-5, 6-1. 

Oehlerich had battled through three straight-set victories to reach the final, including a gritty three-set semifinal win over Stevensville's Angus Trangmoe, 5-7, 6-1, 6-4. That victory avenged teammate Owen Erickson’s earlier loss to Stevensville's Riccardo Slanzi. 

“He battled, he fought and he played a great match,” Puglisi said. “Second behind a defending champion... we’re excited about it.”  

Oehlerich, a junior, placed sixth at the state tournament in 2024. 

“Everyone has grown a tremendous amount to compete at this level,” Puglisi said. 

She said they called Erickson, fifth place in singles, the “money man” because his match against Slanzi, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 determined a final point that would give them the team title.  

The team was trying to calculate the points to see if they could do it while the match was happening – all the while not telling Erickson, trying to keep the pressure off.  

Prior to that match, Erickson rebounded in the consolation bracket with a three-set win over Polson’s Ruger Ellis (6-2, 7-6) and edged Butte Central’s Owen McPartland (6-2, 4-6, 6-3).  

In doubles, the Whitefish pair of Walt Seigmund and Aaron Anderson picked up a first-round win over Hardin (6-2, 6-3), and later knocked off Billings Central 6-4, 6-3 in the consolation bracket. Though they fell to Hamilton late in the bracket, their efforts helped round out the point total needed for the Bulldogs to clinch the team title. 

Between Oehlerich’s runner up and Erickson’s fifth place finishes, the Bulldogs accumulated 21 points to top Stevensville by one point.  

In the end, Stevensville had also tallied 21 points but was assessed a one-point deduction due to a player infraction, handing the Bulldogs the 2025 championship. Libby and Havre tied for third with 16 points. 

Whitefish was the only school to bring home hardware for both girls and boys.  

On the girls side, the Lady Bulldogs won 20 points for third place, behind Miles City (34) and Hamilton (29). In fourth was Hardin with 17 points. 

Leading the way in doubles was power punch duo Maggie Mercer and Camry Kelch, placing third after winning against Morris - Sloan of Miles City.  

“The bad news is that they weren’t challenged enough,” Dryden said. “We hadn’t lost a set all year, and got into a tough match on Friday, and it was by far the best team they faced all year.

“After that defeat they really turned it on... followed the loss with a resounding win over Miles City’s No. 2.”  

Kelch, a junior, will look to return next year, but Dryden said Mercer, a senior, will be hard to replace. 

If there was a money-woman for the girls, it could be freshman Emy Hanson. Hanson came in as a No. 4 seed from the Northwest and knocked off the No. 1 seed from Central, a true player, Tayler Hadley, senior from East Helena. Hanson was down 6-5 in the first set, evened it and took it to a tie breaker, won that by 7-1, and then cruised to the second set.  

Hanson was later only knocked off of the podium by her own teammate, Liesl Brust. 

Fellow freshman singles players Allie Shors took down two opponents before falling to one of the top girls from Hamilton. A hamstring pull ended her tournament a bit early but still came out scoring a couple of points. 

After leading the team in singles all season, Liesl Brust’s goal was to make the podium. She delivered with an all-state fifth-place finish.  

Brust opened her tournament with a dominant 6-1, 6-1 win over Havre’s Kylee McNew. Brust later earned a thrilling 6-1, 1-6, 6-2 win over teammate Hansen in the consolation bracket before losing to eventual third-place finisher Kinzie Brimmer of Miles City. She bounced back to defeat Miles City's Ramsey Pryor 6-3, 6-1 for fifth place. 

A good effort for Brust, and she’s got two more years, Dryden said. 

    Whitefish girls tennis takes third place at the Class A State Tournament in Billings. (Photo provided) Allie Shors, Liesl Brust, Camry Kelch, Maggie Mercer, Emy Hansen, Audrey Talbot, Ainsley Grubb, Coach Dryden.