Polson Tennis wraps up season with gritty effort
The Polson High School tennis teams concluded their 2025 season with a strong showing at the State A Tournament in Billings, held May 22-24 at Castle Rock and Pioneer Park.
Though no players advanced deep into the tournament, several Pirates notched first-round victories and battled through the consolation brackets before bowing out against tough competition.
On the girls' side, sophomore Summer Newman earned Polson's lone win in the main bracket. Newman, seeded second out of the Northwest, opened her state run with a straight-sets victory over Havre’s Tyley Hammer, winning 6-4, 6-2. Her momentum was halted in the next round by Miles City’s Kinzie Brimmer, the top seed out of the East, who defeated Newman 6-1, 6-0. Newman then dropped her first consolation match to another Miles City standout, Ramsey Pryor, 6-0, 6-2.
In girl's doubles, Polson’s Hinkley Moss and Greta Lund, seeded third out of the Northwest, opened their tournament with a competitive three-set loss to Corvallis’s Brooke Child and Clara Tatacido, falling 6-3, 5-7, 6-3. Moss and Lund rebounded in the consolation bracket by defeating the Central No. 4 team of Emma Stapley and Abby Daum 6-4, 6-1. Their tournament came to an end in the next round, where they were edged in another three-set battle by Miles City’s Maggie Morris and Annaleis Sloan, 2-6, 6-3, 6-1.
On the boys' side, Polson’s Ruger Ellis, seeded fourth from the Northwest, dropped a tough first-round match to top East seed Florenz Keller of Miles City, 7-5, 6-1. Ellis regrouped in the consolation bracket with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Callen Sloan of Havre but was narrowly eliminated in the following round by Whitefish’s Owen Erickson, 6-2, 7-6 (5).
In boy's doubles, Branson Moss and Teague McElwee also picked up a victory in the consolation bracket. After a first-round loss to Hardin’s William Noteboom and Adrian Taganahan (6-3, 6-1), the Pirate duo bounced back with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Ferguson’s Quinn Phillips and Lane Reesor. Their tournament run ended in the next round with a 6-1, 7-6 (3) loss to Hamilton’s Finn Dufresne and Jason Chaplin.