Hall of Fame
A fierce and intense competitor on the court, John Kauss is among the all-time greats in the rich history of Gustavus men’s tennis.
During his freshman year, Kauss played almost every position in the singles and doubles lineups, while helping the Gusties to a 35-win season and a third place finish at the NCAA Championships. Kauss continued to elevate his game during his sophomore year, finishing the fall season as the runner up in both singles and doubles at the ITA Midwest Regional Championships. Again, he played a number of spots in the lineup throughout the 2007 season and helped the Gusties finish fourth at the NCAA tournament.
Portraying a quiet confidence, Kauss was vital to the Gusties winning the 2008 ITA Indoor National Championship, playing at the No. 2 singles and doubles spots. Kauss moved into the No. 1 singles and doubles roles his senior season, and made the most of it by winning the 2008 ITA singles national championship, while finishing as the national runner up in doubles. He was one of six players to represent the United States, and the only DIII student-athlete, at the International University Challenge of Tennis held in Poitiers, France in the fall of 2008.
Kauss entered the 2009 spring season as the No. 1 ranked singles player in Division III. At the 2009 NCAA tournament, Kauss [the no. 1 overall seed in both singles and doubles] reached the singles semifinals and the doubles quarterfinals, earning All-America honors in both. Loving the pressure-packed moments on the court, Kauss helped the Gusties win the MIAC championship all four seasons and he never lost to a conference opponent with a combined 35-0 record in singles and doubles. Kauss won a combined 161 career matches in singles and doubles.
Since graduating in 2009 with a major in business management, Kauss has remained active in the tennis community. He was a tennis pro and coach at the White Bear Lake Lifetime Fitness from 2009-13, the assistant boys tennis coach at Eastridge High School in 2010, and the assistant men’s and women’s tennis coach at UW-La Crosse in 2013. Since 2014, Kauss has been a tennis pro and coach at Rochester Tennis Connection. He has also been an archery and bow technician at Coyote Creek in Rochester since 2021. John lives in Rochester with his wife Marissa (Brown) ’09.
