For the first time since 1996, the Tremper boys tennis team is a winner at State.

On Friday, the Trojans gutted out a 4-3 victory over De Pere in the first round of the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division-1 State Team Tournament at the University of Wisconsin’s Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

With the win, Tremper (9-4) advanced to the semifinals of the single-elimination tournament. The Trojans will take on Middleton (15-7) at 9 this morning. Middleton defeated Madison East 4-3 on Friday. Brookfield Central (23-2) takes on Marquette (20-1) in the other semifinal this morning.

The semifinal winners meet in the championship match at 2 p.m. today.

Tremper, ranked honorable mention in Division-1 in the latest Wisconsin Tennis Coaches Association poll, got dominant performances from junior David Carswell (26-7) and freshman Jake Humphreys at Nos. 1 and 2 singles respectively as well as a stellar performance from the No. 1 doubles team of Tomas Goldsmith and Connor Hildebrandt (24-3).

The No. 2 doubles team of sophomore Adam Gagliardi and junior Jake Riley recorded the closest contested point in the the swing match. The duo defeated De Pere’s team of Casey Brice and Adam Chmielewski in the first game 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker. The Trojans made it a straight-set victory with a 7-5 win in the second set.

Carswell, who advanced to the third round of last week’s WIAA State Individual Tournament, recorded a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Redbirds’ Michael Gillespie. Humphreys blanked Miles Jeon, 6-0, 6-0.

Tenth-ranked De Pere got victories from Tommy Christie (over Tremper’s William Horn, 6-4, 6-2) at No. 3 singles and Alex Glover (over Tremper’s Andrew Fields, 6-2, 6-3) at No. 4 singles.

Goldsmith and Hildebrandt took a tough first game, 6-4, from Spencer Strand and Matthew Zellner before controlling play to the tune of 6-1 in the second set.

De Pere, making its first ever State berth, won at No. 3 doubles as Leo Zehren and Logan Thiem defeated the Trojans’ Zach Cooper and Jake Larsen, 6-2, 6-1.