Linn-Mar doubles team claims state tennis runner-up finish, ready for team tournament

IOWA CITY — Malcolm Rice and Garrett Bauermeister are a terrific tandem.

Rice is an experienced senior who has seen it all and oozes encouragement, while Bauermeister is a sophomore lefty with loads of talent.

Together, the Linn-Mar boys’ tennis teammates worked their exceptional chemistry all the way to a runner-up finish at the Class 2A state doubles tournament.

“They are our (Nos.) 1 and 2 players,” Linn-Mar boys’ tennis coach Chris Wundram said Wednesday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. “They are the two best players on our team. Because of that, they made a really strong doubles team. They had an incredible run for this season, but I think ultimately, they would trade a good performance back at the state team tournament in a week as opposed to today.”

Rice and Bauermeister — seeded third — began the morning with a 6-3, 6-1 state semifinal ouster of Waukee Northwest’s Gavin Leuck and Sean Sonoiki, which upset the second-seeded duo from West Des Moines Valley on Tuesday.

“Our determination and focus really carried us through to the finals,” said Rice, who will play at Division-III Wisconsin-Stevens Point after graduating from Linn-Mar. “We have been playing so well. … Just focus and enjoying the game and doing what we are doing really carried us here.”

The Linn-Mar twosome ran into a buzzsaw in the final against another team from Waukee Northwest — defending state doubles champions Kellan Croatt and Jake Nelson. Croatt and Nelson repeated in strong fashion, 6-2, 6-2.

“We had a really great season,” said Bauermeister, who before Wednesday had lost just one doubles match with Rice this season. “It was a lot of fun. We were able to get ourselves a seed. … We fought hard the first two days and were able to give ourselves a chance.”

This is the fourth runner-up finish in state doubles for the Linn-Mar program and its first since claiming three in a five-year span from 2014-18. Linn-Mar’s last state doubles title was in 1997.

The fourth-seeded Iowa City West doubles team of seniors Samir Singh and Patrick Selby placed third after defeating Leuck and Sonoiki in the third-place match, 6-2, 6-3.

In the singles’ bracket, Waukee Northwest senior Kaden Taylor repeated as state champion. Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Anthony Schulte finished third overall, while Cedar Rapids Jefferson freshman Parker Holland placed fifth.

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Following Tuesday’s weather postponement, the 1A tournament began Wednesday in Waterloo. Defending 1A singles champion Caden Branum of Decorah and the Cedar Rapids Xavier doubles pair of Charlie LeGrand and Jacob Schmit advanced to Thursday’s semifinal round.

Linn-Mar will now turn its attention to the aforementioned team state tournament May 30-31 at Waukee Northwest High School, which will include Cedar Rapids Washington and two-time defending champion Iowa City West.

“These guys have been motivated all year,” Wundram said. “They have always been team first, not individual first. While it is an honor to compete in the individual tournament, all of these guys are about the team. … We’ll be ready to go next week.”