Frazier Back to the Podium in Mixed Doubles

Dylan Frazier will be on the mixed doubles podium for the first time since February coming up Sunday.

It’s been that long.

Thanks to an impressive run in a good field at the Beer City Open in Grand Rapids, Mich., Frazier and partner Lauren Stratman will be playing Sunday for gold. 

Kind of hard to believe we haven’t seen Frazier with a mixed medal since winter considering he’s been one of the most prolific winners on the PPA Tour in the past year.

Overall, Frazier has medaled 18 times. He has two golds and four silvers this season alone, playing alongside men’s partner J.W. Johnson. Frazier is a popular player, co-hosts a podcast, and does it all while being a part-time student at the University of Missouri.

By all accounts, it’s been a great season for Frazier. 

“Yeah, I feel like I’ve had a good season,” he said. “The me from the end of last year would be excited about how I’ve performed so far. If you ask ‘present me,’ though, I think the results could be better. I’m going to keep raising the bar to a level that I haven’t reached yet because that’s how you get better, at least for me anyway.”

Well, the second half of the PPA season is on and while the Beer City Open isn’t a PPA Tour event, it’s a strong field. He and Stratman will face Frazier’s friend and partner, Johnson, and his sister Jorja in the mixed final on Sunday.

Frazier and Stratman didn’t drop a game on the way to the final, including an 11-4, 11-3 win against Jessie Irvine and Zane Navratil in the semifinals. Not bad for a new pairing and a good sign for things to come as they will be teammates in the upcoming MLP season.

“I really like playing with Lauren,” Frazier said.”I think we complement each other well. We are both on Team Chicken N Pickle and we are now both on the same MLP team (Texas Ranchers) for the second season of 2023. I’ve mixed it up a lot with mixed partners this year. I’m getting a feel for who I play well with and who I may want to play with next year. Hopefully I’ll have fewer partners that I play more tournaments with. I feel like that is a big part of forming a dominant team, lots of tournaments together.”

And it’s not like Frazier hasn’t had any mixed doubles success, it just hasn’t come at the same level as his men’s side’s success. Part of that is a change in partners, part of that is playing alongside Johnson, his regular partner.

“I’ve mixed it up with mixed partners this year which makes it a little tougher to put up consistent results,” Frazier said. “I feel like I’ve done a decent job of finishing deep in the draw in most tournaments. A couple strong fourth and fifth-place finishes. Obviously the goal is to be on the podium a little more consistently and that’s something I feel is well within reach at this point as long as I keep pushing. Lauren and I made it to the finals of this tournament today in a fairly strong field, so I’m excited about that.”

He should be, and despite not knowing how many medals he’s won, Frazier should be excited about that, too.

“I hadn’t kept up with my medal count and I’m happy with the number 18,” Frazier said. “But I think it could be even better. The expectations keep rising as the year goes on and as the results gradually improve.”