By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Tennis is the latest sport added to the All “A” Classic to give athletes from small high schools in Kentucky an opportunity to compete for region and state championships.
Gary Munsie, chairman of the All “A” Classic committee, said the first state tennis tournament that will have singles and doubles brackets for boys and girls is scheduled for April 30 and May 1 in Owensboro.
Each of the four brackets will consist of the winner and runner-up from sixteen region tournaments held around the state. A singles player or doubles team would have to win five matches to become a state champion.
The All “A” Classic already sponsors small-school state tournaments in golf, soccer, volleyball, basketball, archery, baseball and softball. Tennis will be one of five state tournaments held in Owensboro during the 2026-27 school year..
“There were some tennis people in Owensboro, because we’ve doing a lot down there, who asked us to consider (adding tennis) a year ago,” Munsie said. “We discussed it at different times and tried to get a feel for how many small schools would be involved. So we decided, ‘Yeah, let’s go ahead and try it.'”
Unlike other states, the majority of post-season playoffs in Kentucky are not separated into classes based on enrollment. The All “A” Classic was created to give high schools with smaller enrollments a chance to compete for state titles against each other.
Four years ago, Northern Kentucky tennis coaches organized a small school tournament of their own because players from larger schools were dominating post-season matches. Now the small-school players will have a better chance to compete for titles.
“It’s pretty exciting. We’re really happy about that,” said Holy Cross boys tennis coach Ralph Arlinghaus. “I’ve been writing to our local rep (on the All “A” Classic committee) about trying to get them to add a state tournament. We figured if we started doing our own region tournament they would do a state one.”
The singles champions in this year’s Northern Kentucky small school tournament were Shayaan Ahmad of Villa Madonna and Emma Ahlers of Beechwood. In doubles, Neil Reddy and Andrew Dunaway of Beechwood won the boys tournament with Lily Middendorf and Hailey Ryan of Newport Central Catholic taking the girls title.
Ahmad and Reddy graduated, but the other four champions will be returning next year to compete for berths in the first-ever All “A” Classic state tennis tournament. Another returning player will be the Holy Cross coach’s son, Tyler Arlinghaus, who made it to the semifinals in the local small school tournament.
“It’ll be pretty open,” Tyler said of next year’s field. “It would be cool to say you won the All “A.” That’s something real that you can say you won.”