Tigers' Teske qualifies for state tennis

BOONE- Sparked by a shocking first-round upset, junior Cauy Teske of South Hardin earned a berth to the state tennis tournament at a Class 1A district meet here Wednesday.

Teske ended the meet’s runner-up in singles and captured South Hardin’s first entry to the boys’ state meet in a decade. The last state qualifiers were the tandem of Alex Nelson and Alex Benson in doubles back in 2008.

The unlikely climb to the state berth opened with a three-set thriller over Boone’s Jackson Zehr. Teske derailed the No. 2 Zehr 6-1, 0-6, 7-5. After the top four netters are seeded, pairings are made by drawing names out of a hat, and left Teske with the short straw.

“When Cauy won that first set he was so pumped and his confidence began to increase. He lost the next set, but he know that if he just played his game he would be the kid and he did,” said South Hardin coach Thomas Howe.

Teske returned to the court and scored a 6-4, 7-6 (7-1 tiebreaker) win over Iowa Falls-Alden’s Angel Meijon in the quarterfinals, and then dominated in the semi-finals 6-1, 6-1 over Collin Anderson of Ballard.

The semi-final victory secured the state berth as the top two from each of the eight districts across the state advance. Anderson defeated the No. 3 seed Dalton Silver of Saydel in the quarters.

A weary Teske then fell in the championship match to top-seeded Peter Walkwitz of Saydel 6-2, 6-1. Walkwitz had a first-round bye followed by wins of 6-1, 6-4 and 6-3, 6-1. Teske battled through 78 games in all.

For the full story see Tuesday's edition of the paper.