Cedar Rapids Prairie’s Dylan Schulte opens day 1 with 2 victories

IOWA CITY — Make some room for little brother.

Throughout the boys’ tennis season, Cedar Rapids senior Anthony Schulte has rightfully garnered much attention. After all, Schulte is the top-seeded singles player at the Class 2A state tournament.

But the player who opened the most eyes on the first day of 2A state competition was his younger brother, Prairie freshman Dylan Schulte.

“I really have high expectations for myself to be here,” Dylan Schulte said after winning both of his 2A state singles matches Tuesday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. “I knew I was going to make it this far.”

Cedar Rapids Prairie freshman Dylan Schulte advanced to the semifinals of the Class 2A boys’ tennis state singles tournament with a pair of convincing wins, including a 6-0, 6-1 win over third-seeded Garrett Bauermeister of Linn-Mar in the opening round. #iahstennis pic.twitter.com/Xfyb0ABphm

— Douglas Miles (@douglasmilesCRG) May 27, 2025

Dylan Schulte opened the tournament against third-seeded Garrett Bauermeister, a Linn-Mar junior. In the first meeting between the two players this season, Schulte was impressive in a dominant, 6-0, 6-1 victory.

“I felt one of the main things was, ‘Don’t be nervous at all, play your game and live life,’” Schulte said. “Keep your composure, mentality, don’t get mad at yourself and just play ball.”

In the quarterfinal round, Schulte faced a fellow freshman in Johnston’s Srihari Kumaresan and dazzled again, 6-1, 6-0 to advance to the state semifinals.

“Dylan, I think, surprised everybody at how easily he went through,” Prairie Coach Eric Modracek said. “Because his two matches were incredibly tough. I’ve never seen him play that well.”

Anthony Schulte joined his younger brother in the state semifinals by getting by Cedar Falls’ Ben Smalley in the first round (6-4, 6-3) before overwhelming Iowa City West freshman Pierce Hribar in the quarterfinal, 6-0, 6-1.

Inspired by his older brother, Dylan Schulte started playing tennis at the age of 6 and to date, his only victory over Anthony was in a practice match when Dylan was 9 years old.

“He got me playing,” Dylan said. “He was winning a lot and I didn’t think that he was that good, so I just took a challenge and I was better than him almost.”

These days, the Schulte brothers are coached privately by Phil Williams, an assistant for the Coe College men’s tennis team. Dylan’s only singles loss this season was to Anthony in the finals of a 2A district tournament May 14. A rematch can only occur in today's state championship match, provided both can get past opponents from Waukee Northwest in the 10 a.m. semifinals.

“(It would) probably mean a lot,” Dylan Schulte said. “Especially to not just us, but our family members. We have been hoping for this our whole careers, so it would be nice.”

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Iowa City West advanced its fourth-seeded doubles tandem of seniors Anthony Medina and Derek Hua to today’s 2A state semifinals. At the 1A tournament in Waterloo, Cedar Rapids Xavier advanced second-seeded Charlie LeGrand in singles and the duo of Jacob Schmit and Bennett Link – the top seed in doubles – to the semifinals.