Welch takes home first boys’ singles state title in JDHS history
- Aurora Madsen
- Oct 14
- 6 min read
Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears place fifth overall in the championship
By Aurora Madsen
For the Juneau Independent
Editor’s note: Aurora Madsen is a member of the JDHS tennis team. She wrote this summary of the state tournament’s results as part of a student feature documenting her experience at the Anchorage event.
Elliot Welch won the first-ever boys singles state tennis title for Juneau-Douglas High School: Yadaa.at Kalé with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Dimond High School junior Todd Debenham on Saturday during the ASAA State Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Club East.
“It feels awesome,” Welch said. “There are no words for it.”
Welch started playing tennis at age 7 and has been playing competitively for eight years.
JDHS assistant coach Mona Mametsuka, Welch’s first Juneau youth coach, said, “Elliot’s title is an incredible accomplishment and brings a positive spotlight throughout the state on JDHS tennis.
Welch opened the 2025 ASAA tournament on Thursday against Service High School junior Hankyeol “Han” Keum, winning in straight sets 6-1, 6-2.
“It was a good match,” Welch said. “It was the first match of the whole tournament…a good start-up game to get me in that zone.”
Welch advanced to play West Anchorage High School junior Boden “Bodie” Mason on Friday. “That was a tough game…very mentally challenging,” he noted after the match.
Welch won the first set 6-2, but Mason won the second 6-4.
“I kind of lost my aggressive playing style and played more defensively, which led to Bodie winning the second set,” Welch said.
In a 10-point tiebreaker, Welch trailed 4-9, but steadily worked his way back to win, 15-13, taking the match.
“Coming back in that tiebreaker started the fire for the rest of the tournament,” he said.
Later on Friday, Welch played Dimond High School junior Todd Debenham in the semifinal, winning the match in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.
“Even though the score was uneven, the games were really close,” Welch said. “It was really fun to play against him.”
Elliot advanced undefeated to the tournament final. Diamond’s Debenham secured his spot in the final as well, defeating West Anchorage sophomore Adam Kaufman, in the bracket’s double-elimination format. Kaufman placed third.
The championship match concluded in another straight-set win for Welch, with a final score of 6-2, 6-2.
“They were really close, really good games,” Elliot said. “They were all really fun. Todd’s a really nice guy. He’s a good player…it was a really good way to end the tournament.”
After the tournament, the JDHS coaches reflected on Welch’s performance throughout his impressive high school tennis career. Welch never lost a high school match this year throughout both the regional and state tournaments.
“Elliot himself was dedicated to become his best…he leads the team by role modeling the outcome of hard work and dedication,” head coach Austin Stefanich said.
Coach Mametsuka said Welch’s skills “inspire and help others on the team to grow.”
JDHS placed fifth overall in the team standings. Scoring team points along with Welch were the girls’ doubles team of Aurora Madsen and Riley Dale. Madsen and Dale are both juniors and spent much of the 2025 season working together as a doubles team, placing first in the Region V Tennis Tournament and advancing to the ASAA Girls’ Doubles Tennis Championship.
Madsen and Dale played their first match on Thursday against Wasilla High School’s Jordyn Wold and Savannah Littlechief. JDHS won the match in straight sets 6-2, 6-0, and advanced to play West Valley High School seniors Emma Austin and Zia Siekmann, losing 6-4, 6-4.
On Friday, Madsen and Dale dropped down to the loser’s bracket, with short sets of four games, and won their next match, sweeping Kodiak’s Leah Flerchinger and Sabrina Eufemio 4-0, 4-0. “They were able to support one another, stay composed, and positive,” coach Mametsuka said. Madsen and Dale were eliminated in their next match against West Anchorage’s Audry Smith and Kira Bold and placed fourth. The first-place team of the 2025 Girls’ Doubles State Championships was Chugiak seniors Mary Jo Landon and Timber Fleischhacker.
“This past season is only going to make them more confident and resilient,” coach Stefanich said. “I can’t wait to see what these two can accomplish next year.”
JDHS senior Paige Kirsch placed fifth in the girls’ singles state championship.
“The hardest part about playing singles was not getting in my head,” Kirsch said. “Even when I was down.”
Kirsch opened play against South Anchorage High School senior Veronica Bogdziewicz. Kirsch would fall 6-2, 6-3 in a heated match, but won her next match in the loser’s bracket 4-1, 4-2 over Eagle River’s Rori Corrigan.
In Kirsch’s most intense match of the tournament, she next faced West Valley High School junior Leah Austin.
Kirsch lost the first set 4-0, but battled her way to a 4-4 tie in the second set and played a seven-point tiebreaker, winning the set with a score of 7-4 and forcing a 10-point tiebreaker. Kirsch battled, but fell 10-8 and placed fifth. West Anchorage junior Lana Cebrian took the girls' singles title.
JDHS boys’ doubles team of junior Dan Degener and freshman Isaac Kirsch, and the mixed doubles team of senior Bella Reyes-Boyer and junior Isaac Hill, placed ninth in their respective tournament brackets, earning them invaluable experience and preparing the returning players for success next season.
The first-place boys’ doubles team champions were Lathrop seniors Trevor Sabey and Bode Leonelli, and Eagle River’s Evan Dimmick and Emery Bryan won the mixed doubles title.
“What I saw from this season was a development of a unique bond between the players,” JDHS assistant coach Annie Kincheloe said of the Crimson Bears. “Which translated to support on and off the court. They took that bond up to state to produce some incredible achievements.”
