De Soto High School’s boys’ tennis team had a high turnout at State for the second year in a row. After last year’s team finished with two medals and multiple State qualifiers, the 2017 team followed up with another successful campaign.

Four players qualified for State after the team placed third at Regionals. Seniors Simon Couch and Jackson Allman took fifth and sixth in singles, while senior Nathan Kowynia and junior Kyler Gish took fifth in doubles.

“Nathan [Kowynia] and I were seeded pretty high at Regionals, so we had a pretty easy first round,” Gish said, further explaining that he and Kowynia had to play another DHS doubles team to earn a bid to State.

All players struggled at State, each going 0-2, but were proud that they earned the chance to represent DHS at the State tournament.

“Unfortunately for us, we got two tough matchups and lost both of our matches, so we got eliminated from the bracket,” Gish said. “However, it was a fun day and great to be around that many good players.”