—Submitted photo: Micah Flaherty of Fort Dodge stands with his singles bracket after earning a district championship on Wednesday in Sioux City.

SIOUX CITY — The pressure never touched Micah Flaherty, as the Fort Dodge senior punched a fourth ticket to the state tennis tournament here Wednesday.

Flaherty, who placed fourth last year in singles at state, claimed a Class 2A district title. He advances to the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center in Iowa City for individual championship play on May 27-28.

In pursuit of a fourth state medal, Flaherty lost just one game over his two matches yesterday, including a 6-0, 6-1 victory versus West Des Moines Dowling’s Brady Frye in the finals. The Dodger standout placed in doubles as a freshman and has finished in the Top-8 in singles each year since.

“This year, I’m super pumped because it’s a loaded state tournament field with no clear favorite,” Flaherty said. “I know it will be a dogfight every match.

“I’m ready to go win it all.”

Flaherty also posted a 6-0, 6-0 win over Dowling’s Rob Beecher in the semifinals after receiving a bye as a No. 1 seed.

“Micah is just locked in right now,” FDSH head coach Scott Messerly said. “He played phenomenal tennis all day. Many of the top kids went singles (in 2025), so it is shaping up to be quite the state meet.”

Dodger Tate Balkenende, also a senior, placed third in singles. Balkenende is the first alternate for state if the Top-2 cannot make it.

“Tate got the No. 3 seed, which showed that the coaches respected what he has done this year,” Messerly said. “He just couldn’t quite overcome Frye in the semifinals, but got a medal and was proud of that.”

In doubles, the FDSH tandem of Aidan Recker and Jaxon Price, as well as Jaxton Jones and Arthur Lund, fell in the first round.

“Aidan and Jaxon won the first set and lost in a tough tiebreaker,” Messerly said. “I thought both doubles teams played well and gave it everything they had.”

Fort Dodge will head to Cedar Rapids to play Urbandale in team substate on Saturday at 9 a.m.