Carter Cool was chomping at the bit to get some state singles redemption last spring.
 
As a sophomore in 2021, the Topeka West standout had a strong debut season in singles play after his freshman campaign was wiped out by COVID. Cool captured the Topeka City Championship at No. 1 singles and was runner-up in the Centennial League to state champion Daniel Harkin of Manhattan.
 
After adding a regional crown as well, Cool went into his first Class 5A state tournament with high hopes. Instead, he bowed out on the tourney’s first day, going 1-2.
 
“It still motivates me to this day,” Cool said of the premature finish to a sophomore season that saw him go 25-15 overall. “In my mind I can still see the point at state that kicked me out and knowing I wasn’t going to Saturday with my teammates.”
 
Coming back as part of a veteran Topeka West team last spring, Cool was ready for redemption. Instead, Charger coach Kurt Davids asked him to make a bit of a sacrifice for the team’s sake.
 
Looking at the 5A landscape and potential for West to challenge for a team title, Davids pitched the idea of Cool switching to doubles during his junior season to pair with senior Gavin Chavez, the duo filling the Chargers’ No. 2 spot behind the twin brother No. 1 team of Ian and Miles Cusick.
 
At first, Cool was a bit hesitant.
 
“I’ve always been a singles player,” Cool said. When coach last year was ‘Play doubles,” I was like, ‘OK.’ In doubles the pool was pretty weak last year. We wanted to do what was best for our team and stacking doubles looked like it could get us the most points.”
 
Cool made the move and it did pay off for the Chargers. With the Cusicks capturing the Class 5A state doubles championship and Cool and Chavez placing sixth, West finished runner-up in Class 5A to Maize South.
 
And Cool admitted, he rather enjoyed the change of scenery.
 
“I like singles and I think I’m a singles player, but I had a lot of fun in doubles,” he said. “It was way more fun than I thought it would be.”
 
With Chavez graduating after last season, Cool has returned to singles play for his senior season, once again holding down West’s No. 1 spot. He’s nearly to his sophomore win total, posting a 22-7 record after taking the No. 1 singles title at the Topeka City Championships on Thursday at Topeka’s Kossover Tennis Center.
 
Cool beat Washburn Rural’s Mason Casebeer 8-5 in the finals, helping West cruise to its third straight city team championship.
 
“It’s nice to be back home, to settle back in to what I’ve always been used to,” Cool said. “I have pretty high expectations for myself and I want to continue that through the rest of the season. Singles has always been my game and I want to finish my senior year out with a really good season.”
 
Cool -- who recently was named a KSHSAA/CapFed® TrueBlue® scholarship winner -- said he’s a much improved player from his last season in singles play, crediting last year’s doubles play as a big reason for that.
 
“My movement is so much better,” he said. “In doubles, you learn so much at the net and you learn to move with the ball. I’ve translated so much of my doubles game to my singles game this year. It’s been very impactful.”
 
Of Cool’s seven losses, most have come to top-notch competition, including the past two Class 4A state singles champions – Buhler’s Davian Spies and Independence’s Kale Groff. Only three of his losses have come against 5A competition, those to Andover’s Paul Jittawait, Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Jack Judkins and Eisenhower’s Kyle King. Judkins took eighth at last year’s state meet while Jittawait finished ninth.
 
After playing at the United Kansas Conference meet next week, Cool will compete in a loaded regional that includes two-time reigning Class 5A state singles champion Russell Lokko of St. Thomas Aquinas as well as Blue Valley West’s strong brother tandem of Sanjay and Vishal Rajkumar, who finished fifth and sixth at state, respectively, last spring.
 
But Cool is looking forward to the challenge and trying to help West take another step and capture a 5A team championship.
 
“(Lokko’s) a great guy – they’re all great guys,” Cool said. “We’ve got so many strong players in 5A but I think I can compete. It all depends how the bracket lines up but I think I can place in the top eight and maybe the top four. I like the odds for me personally and our team. I think it will be a good year.
 
“My sophomore years, I was going into it not really knowing what was going on. I was a young sophomore and was kind of like, ‘What am I doing here?’ Now I’m way more ready for it. It’s been a huge motivation for me to work hard, place high – not just for me per say, but I want to win a title for our team this year.”
 
Cool was one of three Charger champions at Thursday’s City Meet as West topped Washburn Rural by four points for the team crown. The Cusicks cruised to their third city No. 1 doubles championship, beating Rural’s Kiefer Von Lintel and Dylan Wittingham 8-0. James Maag added the No. 2 singles title with an 8-1 win over Rural’s Dawson Lobatos in the finals.
 
Rural denied West a clean sweep of the championships with Dylan Dodge and Keegan Knudtson topped West’s Caden McGee and Caleb Weybrew 8-7 (7-4) in the No. 2 doubles championship.
 
OTHER TENNIS STANDOUTS
 

• Kansas City Christian made a serious statement that it very well could be the favorite to win the Class 3-2-1A state championship next month with a strong showing at the Wichita Collegiate Tournament of Champions. The Panthers finished second as a team to Blue Valley North in the team standings. Caleb Bartels placed second in singles, losing 8-7 (7-2) to North’s Chris Smith in the championship match. The doubles team of James Vander Ark and Robert Newman finished third, their only loss coming to Blue Valley’s Evan Myers and Joaquin Acosta 8-4 in the semifinals. Bartels is 25-3 overall this season, his other losses coming to Aquinas’ Russell Lokko and Blue Valley West’s Jonah Stolte, while Vander Ark and Newman are 23-4.