Austin Collins finished his high school boys tennis career with a state medal around his neck.

Collins, who graduated May 16 from Excelsior Springs, placed seventh in the singles portion of the Class 1 state tournament, held May 15-16 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. The top eight finishers received medals.

Collins opened state with a closely contested loss to the top overall seed – Ridge Stagner of Benton, a St. Josephbased school. Stagner went on to place second, losing to Clayton’s Noah Gou in the title match.

“Austin played really well and surprised a lot of people in his opening match of the tournament,” Excelsior Springs coach Richie Marsh said.

Sent to the consolation bracket, Collins rebounded by defeating Lafayette County of Higginsville’s Colby Dickmeier 6-1, 6-1. He then defeated Mexico’s Boston Davolt 6-0, 6-1 in the consolation quarterfinals.

A 6-1, 6-3 loss to Bolivar’s Cy Douglas sent Collins to the seventhplace match. He then capped his prep career by downing Kir…