Ian Kim joined the Mankato West tennis program as an eighth-grader and has slowly been working his way up the ladder. The flexible student-athlete has played doubles and singles almost every season and he wouldn’t be surprised if more of the same is on the docket for this year.
The senior has been concentrating more on singles, however, as his coach indicated after last season that that was where the team would probably need him this spring. After playing mostly third and fourth singles in 2024, along with some doubles, Kim is now challenging for the No. 1 singles position.
“Ian works really hard and is a smart kid,” West head coach Andrew Jelken said. “He’s able to figure out his game plan and see what his opponent is doing and make adjustments while he’s playing.
“He manages his emotions well. He’s a very coachable kid.”
Kim’s dad was a self-taught tennis player who coached his son as he grew up. That left him well prepared when he finally joined West’s program.
“I just like the game,” Kim said. “I knew from the time I was pretty young that this is what I wanted to do.”
In fact, Kim wanted to succeed at tennis so badly he joined cross country as an eighth-grader just to get in shape for tennis. It turns out he’s a pretty good runner, too, having competed in the section meet for the Scarlets the last four years.
“Ian is the kind of guy who will do whatever you ask him to do,” Jelken said. “No matter where he is in the lineup he’s going to give you his best.”
Kim will be pushed hard for the No. 1 spot by fellow senior Des Johnson, another five-year varsity player. Whichever one loses that battle should provide the Scarlets with an excellent No. 2 player.
Jackson Muehlenhardt is another top returning player who figures to play mostly singles in 2025. Juniors Calvin Downs and Colton Westberg are back, as well, and Jelken said both have improved a lot since last season. Downs and Westberg give him the flexibility to move people around in the lineup depending on who the Scarlets are playing.
The rest of the lineup is pretty wide open with close competition at all the spots.
West is coming off a 13-5 season in which it made it to the final four of the Section 2AA tournament. The Scarlets were 7-4 in the Big Nine Conference a year ago.
“We should be competitive again this year,” Jelken said. “We just have to keep working hard.”
Mankato East/Loyola
With head coach John Julian looking to replace his top singles players along with a few doubles players from a year ago, it would be natural to assume the Cougars will be going through a rebuilding year this spring. But Julian believes he has enough experience back to avoid that label.
“We graduated six seniors but we have some good juniors back and some talented younger players coming up,” Julian said. “We think we can be competitive again.”
Heading this year’s crop of returnees is senior Guillaume Bibbee who takes over the No. 1 singles spot.
“Guillaume started last year at fourth singles but jumped up to No. 3 when Kaleb Kim got hurt,” Julian said. “He ended up finishing second in the Big Nine tournament which was a big confidence booster.”
Bibbee is one of 21 players out for the team who figure to make up the Cougars’ JV and varsity rosters. Also back are senior Zach Asfaw and junior Jace Tonga who are expected to battle it out for the second and third singles spots.
Fourth singles will be manned by newcomer Jack Julian. The seventh-grader is the head coach’s son and is eager to begin his varsity career.
East’s top two returning doubles players are Ibrahim Ibrahim and Vaughn Wernsing. They should provide stability to a younger doubles crew that needs experience.
“We hope to be solid again,” Julian said. “Our goals remain the same: beat West, finish as high as we can in the conference and go as far as we can in the section meet.”