10 CLASS 6A BOYS TENNIS PLAYERS TO WATCH IN 2024
Dodge City's Oscar Alvarado
OSCAR ALVARADO, DODGE CITY
Alvarado established himself last year as one of the top players in western Kansas. He went 34-9 as a junior and finished 12th in singles at the Class 6A tournament. He won tournaments at Great Bend, Hutchinson, Dodge City and Garden City to earn WAC Player of the Year honors. Alvarado, who owns a career record of 42-13 in singles and 22-10 in doubles, will play singles again this year as he looks to close out his career on a strong note.
Lawrence's Jack Bauch
JACK BAUCH, LAWRENCE
Bauch fell to the backside of the bracket when he lost a 6-1, 6-0 battle against a fellow freshman in Blue Valley North’s Arjun Reiland. Bauch secured a couple wins before being eliminated by Free State senior Britton Snyder. Bauch had multiple wins over other state qualifiers throughout the regular season, including eighth-place finisher Josh Lee of Olathe South. He lost their best of three battles last year, but Bauch did get a big 8-7 (6) win over Lee in the second round of the Sunflower League tournament. Bauch also got multiple wins over another freshman standout from Lawrence, Free State’s Drew Harrison. Bauch took down Harrison 6-4, 4-0 with an early retirement for his opponent in their third-place match at regionals. Bauch went 24-12 last season as a singles player.
Shawnee Mission East's Jake Hanson
JAKE HANSON, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
Hanson has reached state twice in his first two seasons of high school tennis, both as a doubles partner with George Kahl. The duo took fourth place at state last year, losing in a tiebreaker against Blue Valley Northwest’s Luke Pennington and Luca Ospino in the third-place match. Hanson and Kahl finished 10th at state during Hanson’s freshman year in 2022. The duo finished 25-10 in doubles last year.
Lawrence Free State's Jake Hedges
JAKE HEDGES, LAWRENCE FREE STATE
Hedges has reached state in doubles each of the previous three seasons, but will give singles a try in his final season of high school tennis. After qualifying for state as a freshman in 2021, Hedges replaced Ben Melvin as George Thornton’s doubles partner after that duo had won a regional title. Hedges and Thornton accomplished the same feat while also going on to earn a fourth-place finish at state. As Thornton graduated, Hedges partnered with fellow junior Felipe Reina-Salas in doubles last year. The pair would give the Firebirds their third straight regional champion in doubles. Hedges was unable to reach the state semifinals again though, as the duo ended up finishing in seventh place. Instead of trying to run it back, Hedges will take on the new challenge of playing singles for the Firebirds. He did not play any singles last year and only has five singles matches listed for his high school career across his freshman and sophomore seasons, going 4-1.
Shawnee Mission East's George Kahl
GEORGE KAHL, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
Kahl and his doubles teammate Jake Hanson will try to build upon their career-best fourth-place finish at state last year. Kahl and Hanson reached the state semifinals before a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Blue Valley’s Myers twins sent the Lancers duo into the third-place match to finish off what ended up being a 25-10 campaign. Kahl and Hanson fell 7-5 in the first set to Blue Valley Northwest’s Luke Pennington and Luca Ospino, but rallied back with a 6-2 win in the second, only for the Huskies duo to close out with a 7-6 (3) finish. The fourth-place finish was still a big jump from the duo’s 10th place finish at state in 2022.
Blue Valley West's Francisco Landeras
FRANCISCO LANDERAS, BLUE VALLEY WEST
After finishing his freshman campaign with a state runner-up finish opposite Shawnee Mission East’s Gregor Wiedeman in 2022, it seemed Landeras' biggest threat to win the state title as a sophomore might actually be the Lancer he upset in the state semifinals. Wiedeman quickly left the state championship picture with injuries that limited him throughout the season. But his teammate, Graham Faris, took down Landeras 8-3 on two different occasions, avenging his 7-6, 7-5 semifinal loss that stood as his only defeat during his junior campaign. Of course, other top singles competitors in 6A quickly crowded the field, including eventual state champion CJ Smith of Blue Valley North. Landeras got his own revenge on Wiedeman with two victories during the regular season, but entered state without wins over Faris, a loss in his only full match against freshman teammate Jonah Stolte and no matches against Smith since losing to him in the regional semifinals in 2022. Smith defeated Landeras in the state semifinals, setting up one more battle with Faris in the third-place match. Landeras found a way to earn a 6-4, 6-4 victory, falling short of his state title goals but also helping his team take first at state.
Blue Valley Northwest's Luca Ospino
LUCA OSPINO, BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST
Ospino stepped in as freshman alongside sophomore teammate Luke Pennington, who was looking for a new partner after taking fourth at state alongside Aiyan Sanjanwala in 2022. The duo bonded quickly, heading into state with a 19-5 record and taking regional runner-up behind Blue Valley’s Myers twins, Caden and Evan. Ospino and Pennington reached the state semifinals before losing to eventual state champions Akki Poojari and David Han. In the third-place match, the duo was able to win a 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (3) tiebreaker victory over Shawnee Mission East’s Jake Hanson and George Kahl. If Pennington and Ospino stick together for another run at doubles this year, they would start the season as penciled-in favorites since all four competitors in the 6A doubles finals graduated last year.
Blue Valley Northwest's Luke Pennington
LUKE PENNINGTON, BLUE VALLEY NORTHWEST
Pennington has reached at least the state semifinals each of his first two seasons. Pennington took state runner-up in doubles as a freshman playing alongside Aiyan Sanjanwala in 2022. With freshman teammate Luca Ospino as his new doubles partner, Pennington was not able to get through to the state finals this time, losing 7-5, 7-5 to eventual state champions Akki Poojari and David Han of Blue Valley West. But the duo recovered to take down Shawnee Mission East’s Jake Hanson and George Kahl in a back-and-forth match that ended with Pennington and Ospino winning the tiebreaker to take third. The duo finished with a 22-6 record last season.
Blue Valley West's Jonah Stolte
JONAH STOLTE, BLUE VALLEY WEST
Stolte burst onto the Kansas high school boys tennis scene with authority as a freshman last season. In Stolte’s first singles match of the year, he took down the reigning 6A singles state champion by beating Shawnee Mission East’s Gregor Wiedeman 8-3. Stolte would follow up by beating the Lancers’ other top singles competitor Graham Faris twice during the regular season, along with trading wins against his own teammate, and the state runner-up behind Wiedeman in 2022, Francisco Landeras. After twice losing to Blue Valley North’s CJ Smith, Stolte avenged those losses by beating Smith 6-4, 6-4 in the regional finals. Stolte powered his way into another match-up with Smith in the state finals, only to lose 6-3, 6-2 and finish as the state runner-up. Stolte went 26-5 last season as a singles competitor.
Shawnee Mission East's Gregor Wiedeman
GREGOR WIEDEMAN, SHAWNEE MISSION EAST
After a breakout sophomore campaign that ended with him winning an individual state title, Wiedeman had a rough showing last year. He missed multiple stretches of the season with injuries, which also limited his game on the way to a 20-9 singles record during the year. Wiedeman still navigated his way to sixth-place finish at state. He’ll enter the year looking to build upon his 82 career wins and try to get his Lancers back to the top of the mountain after last year’s third-place finish marked the end of the team’s three-year reign atop 6A.