2024 SEASON PREVIEW 
 

CLASS 6A
 
2023 State Champion: Blue Valley West
 
2023 State Runner-up: Blue Valley North
 
2023 Singles Champion: CJ Smith, Blue Valley North
 
2023 Doubles Champions: Akki Poojari and David Han, Blue Valley West 

2023 Review: Blue Valley West seniors Akki Poojari and David Han capped their careers with a Class 6A doubles championship, powering the Jaguars to a team title in the process. Poojari and Han beat Blue Valley seniors Caden Myers and Evan Myers 6-4, 6-3 in the final. Blue Valley West captured its first team title since being back-to-back champs in 2017 and 2018. The Jaguars finished with 42 points to top runner-up Blue Valley North at 36. Shawnee Mission East finished in third with 31 points, ending the Lancers’ three-year reign atop 6A. Blue Valley Northwest took fourth with 21 points while Free State was fifth with 17. Blue Valley North’s C.J. Smith overcame an ankle injury and a late start to his senior season to win the Class 6A singles title in a loaded bracket. Smith beat Blue Valley West’s Francisco Landeras 6-3, 6-2 in the state semifinals before securing the state title with a victory over freshman Jonah Stolte by the same score in the finals, preventing the Jaguars from taking a clean sweep of the 6A state titles.
 
2024 Contenders: New singles and doubles champions will be crowned this year after seniors captured last year’s 6A titles. Reigning team champs Blue Valley West return a pair of title contenders in singles in junior Francisco Landeras and sophomore Jonah Stolte. Landeras was runner-up in 2022 and took third place last year while Stolte was runner-up a year ago. The Jaguars will need a new doubles team to step up after the graduation of champions Akki Poojari and David Han. Blue Valley North was runner-up as a team last year, led by singles champion C.J. Smith. North will have some big shoes to fill after the loss of Smith and a fifth-place doubles team of Asher Kort and Aneesh Vasamreddy to graduation. The Mustangs may also be without sophomore Arjun Reiland, who took fifth place in singles last year but has not committed to play this season. Shawnee Mission East will look to return to the top of 6A, finishing third last year after winning team titles in each of the three previous seasons. The Lancers return senior Gregor Wiedeman, a 2023 state singles champion who finished sixth last year after battling injuries, as well as the doubles team of Jake Hanson and George Kahl, fourth-place finishers last year. Blue Valley Northwest, fourth as a team a year ago, brings back a strong doubles team in Luca Ospino and Luke Pennington, who took third last year. Lawrence’s Jack Bauch will look to follow up a solid freshman season in which he finished 10th in singles. Dodge City senior Oscar Alvarado took 12th place last year and is the reigning Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year. Wichita East’s Bo Lu took 11th in singles as a sophomore last year.   

CLASS 5A 

2023 State Champion: Topeka West
 
2023 State Runner-up: Blue Valley Southwest
 
2023 Singles Champion: Russell Lokko, Aquinas 
 
2023 Doubles Champions: Ian Cusick and Miles Cusick, Topeka West
 
2023 Review: Twin brothers Miles and Cusick closed their decorated careers with a second straight doubles title, powering Topeka West to its first ever boys' team championship. The Cusicks beat Arkansas City’s Oakley and Dawson O’Donnell 6-3, 6-4 in the final at Arkansas City. Topeka West, which got placings from all four of its state entries, finished with 34 points to top runner-up Blue Valley Southwest’s total of 28 points. Senior Carter Cool took seventh place in singles for the Chargers while West’s doubles team of Caden McGee and Caleb Weybrew took ninth, and junior James Maag placed 11th in singles. Blue Valley Southwest was led by a fourth-place doubles showing from Vishal Rajkumar and  Saket Jagannath. Maize and Aquinas tied for third place with 21 points, followed by fifth-place Arkansas City with 18. Aquinas’ Russell Lokko captured his third straight singles championship, beating Maize’s Sam Ritchie in the title match, 6-0, 6-1. Lokko went undefeated in each of his three seasons at Aquinas.
 
2024 Contenders: The graduation of Topeka West’s Ian and Miles Cusick in doubles and Aquinas’ Russell Lokko in singles will allow for new champions to step up in 5A. It could be a rebuilding year for Topeka West, which also lost seventh-place singles finisher Carter Cool. James Maag took 11th in singles last year as a junior. After last year’s runner-up showing, Blue Valley Southwest could be primed to contend for another title. Southwest returns its top singles players from last year in Emmett Wirth and Sanjay Rajkumar. Wirth placed sixth last year at state while Rajkumar was ninth. The Timberwolves also return Saket Jagannath, who as a freshman teamed with now-graduated Vishal Rajkumar to take fourth place in 5A doubles. Maize suffered heavy graduation losses including Sam Ritchie, last year’s runner-up in singles while Aquinas lost the three-time singles state champion Lokko. Maize South, champions in 2022, returns some firepower with Evan Goates, who took eighth in singles last year as a freshman, and Hudson Grizzell, who has placed in doubles in each of the last two seasons. Grizzell took fifth last year with now-graduated Mitch Krumm. Contenders to make a run at the singles state championship include Andover’s Paul Jittawait and Kapaun’s Jack Judkins. Jittawait took fourth place at state last year after rolling an ankle in his straight-set semifinal loss to Ritchie and injury defaulting in the third-place match. Judkins took fifth last year after dropping a hard-fought second-round match to Groates before winning five straight consolation matches. Cael Province is the lone returning state qualifier for DeSoto. He teamed with Colton Rhoads to take 12th place in doubles last year after the duo entered state with just two losses. Arkansas City’s Dawson and Oakley O’Donnell have their sights set on a state championship after coming up one match short last year, falling to the Cusicks after beating the Topeka West brothers three times during the regular season. The O’Donnells were 34-2 last year.
 

CLASS 4A 

2023 State Champion: Independence
 
2023 State Runner-up: Parsons
 
2023 Singles Champion: Kale Groff, Independence 
 
2023 Doubles Champions: Easton Morris and Camdon Julian, Independence 
 
2023 Review: Independence captured its third straight state team championship, sweeping the titles at the Class 4A tourney in Pratt. Kale Groff closed his career as a two-time champ, beating Parsons freshman Wyatt Shultz 7-5, 6-3 in the final. In doubles, Easton Morris and Camdon Julian beat Parsons’ Conner Barcus and Davis West 6-4, 6-4 in the title match. It was the second doubles title for Julian. Independence finished with 44 points, six ahead of Parsons. Buhler was third with 32, followed by McPherson (20) and Winfield (18). The third-place singles match was an all-Buhler matchup that saw Davian Spies beat Amos Harder 6-4, 6-1. Spies was a state champion in 2022.
 
2024 Contenders: Independence will have to replace Groff, the singles state champion in 2021 and 2023, and Easton Morris, who teamed with Camdon Julian to win the doubles title last year. But Julian returns after winning doubles titles in each of the past two seasons. He teamed with Brecken Bertie for a championship in 2022 before reuniting last year with Morris, who Julian took third with in 2021. The Bulldogs will also bring back Tucker Gregory and Aiden Denney, a sixth-place doubles team last year. Parsons will look to make a run at dethorning the three-time reigning champs. The Vikings’ lost just one senior, Davis West, off last year’s runner-up team. Conner Barcus teamed with West to reach the doubles title match while Wyatt Shultz made a run to the finals as a freshman before losing to Groff. Buhler’s Davian Spies joins Shultz as top contenders in singles, having already won a state title in 2022 and placing third last year after falling to Shultz in the semifinals. The Crusaders could factor into the team title picture, also returning fourth-place finisher Amos Harder. Buhler junior Von Woleslagel teamed with now-graduated Brock Hilger to take seventh place last year in doubles, and the Crusaders qualified a second doubles team in Eli Biggs and Marick Manns, who are seniors this year. McPherson also could make some noise as a team. Alex Berger is back after earning fourth place in doubles last year with Kayden McVicker, who was a senior. Ethan Elder and Bryson Archer placed 10th and 11th, respectively, in singles last year as sophomores for the Bullpups, but Elder won't be playing tennis this year to focus on track. The Bullpups also qualified a second doubles team in Viggo McHenry and Hunter Mendez at state last year. Winfield’s Jackson Davis and Adam Everett could be contenders for a double championship after placing third last year and eighth in 2022. Hayden’s Joseph Luke took fifth in doubles last year with Gus Glotzbach, but will have a new partner this year after Glotzbach graduated. Chapman’s Ian Wooldridge will look to build on last year’s eighth-place finish in singles. Scott City will move up to Class 4A this year and could be a team to watch for with previous state placers Avry Noll, Sage Stoecklein and Houston Frank. 
 

CLASS 3-2-1A 

2023 State Champion: Kansas City Christian
 
2023 State Runner-up: Collegiate
 
2023 Singles Champion: Caleb Bartels, Kansas City Christian 
 
2023 Doubles Champions: Micah Dahlsten and Asher Deutschendorf, Hesston
 
2023 Review: Kansas City Christian broke through to capture the team title last year after powerhouse Collegiate had won the last three 3-2-1A championships. KC Christian's Caleb Bartels won the singles championship, beating Central Plains’ Peyton Ryan 6-1, 6-2 in the final to deny Ryan’s bid for a perfect season. Hesston’s Micah Dahlsten and Asher Deutschendorf won the doubles title against KC Christian's James Vander Ark and Jackson Newman. The Swathers took the first set 6-3 and the Panthers were forced to retire with the second set squared at 4-4 when Newman couldn't continue after cramping. KC Christian, with the first-place finish from Bartels, a fourth-place singles finish from senior Ian Gariss and the Vander Ark-Newman runner-up finish, scored 41 points. Collegiate finished with 36, followed by Hesston (22), Wichita Classical (18) and Wichita Trinity (17). It was the final tournament for legendary Collegiate coach Dave Hawley, who retired with 26 boys state tennis titles and 33 girls titles.
 
2024 Contenders: Kansas City Christian’s Caleb Bartels will look to defend his singles championship after clinching the title with a win over Central Plains’ Peyton Ryan in the final last year. Bartels won a doubles championship the year before with James Vander Ark. Collegiate could be a favorite to regain its familiar spot at the top, led by singles players Charlie Gentile and Carter Drumright. Gentile took third place last year as a freshman while Drumright was fifth last season as a sophomore after taking third as a freshman. Both Gentile and Drumright were defeated in last year's tournament by Ryan, who will take another shot at a state championship as a senior. Ryan, a two-time runner-up, has never lost a regular-season match. Sky Fujinuma teamed with now-graduated Jude Cunningham to place fifth in doubles last year for Collegiate, while Rahul Madhavan and Robby Rasberry were 11th in doubles last year as juniors for the Spartans.  Asher Deutschendorf is the top returner for Hesston after teaming with Micah Dahlsten to win the 3-2-1A doubles title last year. Deutschendorf is one of four state returnees for the Swathers, who finished third a year ago. Wichita Classical’s Charlie Graham and Isaac Yourdon are Class 3-2-1A’s top returning duo after placing third last year. Marysville’s Blake Spicer teamed with Simeon Wassom to place ninth in doubles last season. Spicer may get a new doubles partner or could play singles this year.