15 6A/5A TENNIS PLAYERS TO WATCH
 

 
CARTER COOL, TOPEKA WEST

Cool handled the No. 1 singles spot for the Chargers all last season as a sophomore and handled it well. He captured the title at the Topeka City Meet, helping the Chargers to their first city title in more than three decades and was runner-up at the Centennial League meet to eventual Class 6A state champion Daniel Harkin of Manhattan. Cool claimed a Class 5A regional championship and went 1-2 at the state tournament, finishing the season with a 25-15 record.
 

MATT CROSSLAND, BLUE VALLEY NORTH

Crossland returns for his senior campaign looking to build off fifth-place finish in Class 6A doubles at state. Crossland and junior Zachary Armsterdam both return this season after going 15-4 as a pair last season. Crossland finished with an overall record of 23-9.
 
 

 
GRAHAM FARIS, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST

Faris will look to build off his Class 6A runner-up finish during his first trip to the state tournament as a sophomore. He went 30-5 last year, with 2 of 4 singles losses coming against eventual state champion Dan Harkin of Manhattan. Graham also won his regional championship  

  
 
GAGE FOLTZ, MILL VALLEY
 
Foltz finished as the Class 5A singles runner-up during his junior campaign. Foltz finished with a 24-6 record. His only 5A losses were against the eventual state champion in his class, Russell Lokko of Aquinas. His four other losses were against 6A competition, with three of those against players who finished in the top four of that class. 
 
DELVIN KO, BLUE VALLEY WEST

Ko heads into his senior season after taking third place in Class 6A doubles last season. He will try to improve on his 20-4 campaign without his doubles partner following the graduation of Dylan Yan. Ko and Yan also took runner-up during the 2019 state tournament.   
 

 
RUSSELL LOKKO, ST. THOMAS AQUINAS

Lokko returns as the reigning Class 5A singles state champion. He finished his sophomore season with a 31-1 record. Lokko had a perfect singles record, with the lone defeat being in one of his two doubles matches last season.  
 

 
ALEX MOJICA AND GABE SMITH, BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST

Mojica, a senior, and Smith, a sophomore, return from a Class 6A runner-up finish at state last season. Mojica built up a 23-4 record while Smith went 9-3 during his first high school season. The pair should have room to improve after just 11 doubles matches together.  
 

 
PEYTON PECK, SHAWNEE MISSION SOUTH

Peck made a major leap between his freshman year and his return to the court as a junior following the pandemic-canceled 2020 season. Peck improved from a 9-10 mark to go 23-9 last year. He completed the season with a fifth-place finish in Class 6A singles at state. Peck will return for his third year of No. 1 singles for the Raiders.  
 
AKSHATH POOJARI, BLUE VALLEY WEST

Poojari missed last year's Class 6A state final after losing a third set tiebreaker to Graham Faris of Shawnee Mission East in the semis. He controlled his consolation match with CJ Smith of Blue Valley North, winning two 6-3 sets to take third place.  
 

 
VISHAL RAJKUMAR, BLUE VALLEY SOUTHWEST

Rajkumar returns for his junior season after leading the Timberwolves to their first regional championship as a team in the program's history. He took fifth place in Class 5A singles last year. More than half of his singles losses came against the two players who reached the state finals match.  
 
SAM RITCHIE, MAIZE

Ritchie ended his sophomore season with a fourth-place finish in the Class 5A state tournament last year. He reached the semifinals after wins over St. James' David Donaldson, Maize South's Harris Kossover and St. James' Charlie Rieke. He fell to eventual state champion Russell Lokko in the semifinals and dropped the third-place match to Maize South's Jaden Tredway to finish the tournament with a 3-2 record. Ritchie owned a 31-11 record for the season.  
 

 

CJ SMITH, BLUE VALLEY NORTH

Smith gave the Mustangs their top finish last season when he took fourth place in Class 6A singles at state. All but two of his losses were against competitors who reached the state semifinals in either Class 6A or 5A. Smith will return as the team's No. 1 singles.  
 

BARRETT STEVEN, BISHOP CARROLL

Steven will move to singles for his junior season after finishing third in Class 5A doubles with his older brother John a year ago. The duo posted an 18-4 record, taking second at the Arkansas City regional to Maize South's Garrison and Grayson Wright. At state, the Stevens posted a pair of straight-set victories to reach the semifinals, where they fell to eventual champions Reed McHenry and Max Shaffer of Salina Central. The Stevens rebounded with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Salina Central's Brady Stack and McCabe Green in the third-place match.
 
GRAYSON WRIGHT, MAIZE SOUTH

Last year as a junior, Grayson Wright teamed with his older brother Garrison Wright to take second place in Class 5A doubles. The Wrights took straight-set wins over Maize's Calvin Murell and Pierson Rogers, Newton's Jonah Scholoneger and Justin Franz and Salina Central's Brady Stack and McCabe Green to reach the state championship match. Salina Central's senior tandem of Reed McHenry and Max Shaffer defeated the Wrights 6-3, 6-4 in the championship match to cap their undefeated season. Grayson Wright and Garrison Wright, a senior last year, finished last season with a 25-3 record. The Wrights were regional champions at Arkansas City.