There wasn’t a whole lot of drama in Friday’s quarterfinals of Class 4A singles draw at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.
 
In fact, there wasn’t any to speak of.
 
Three of the four quarterfinal matches were shutout routs as Parsons’ Wyatt Shultz, Buhler’s Davian Spies and Buhler’s Amos Harder all took 6-0, 6-0 victories. Of the three, only Harder’s was a mild surprise with the Crusader going into the tourney as the No. 5 seed. But a 1-6, 7-5, 10-7 upset by Pratt’s Jack Bushnell (the tourney’s No. 20 seed) knocked out No. 4 seed Avry Noll of Scott City and Harder was too much for Bushnell.
 
Shultz, who will meet Harder in the semifinals, blanked Independence’s Carson Merrick while Spies blanked Wellington’s Hunter Worley. Bishop Miege’s Daniel Sullivan was the only semifinalist to be mildly tested, taking a 6-2, 6-1 win over Independence’s Keith Sanders, who was coming off a marathon 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 10-7 win over McPherson’s Pau Gonzalez in the second round.
 
Shultz was state runner-up a year ago, beating Spies in the semifinals after Spies captured the state singles title in 2022 as a freshman.
 
With two singles semifinalists, Buhler positioned itself well for a team championship by also advancing a doubles team to the semifinals. Von Woleslagel and Reuben Harder took a 6-3, 6-3 win over Chanute’s Ethan Burnett and Ayden Cummings in the quarterfinals and will take on top-seeded Camdon Julian and Aiden Denney of Independence in the semifinals.
 
Julian and Denney took a 6-3, 6-0 win over Augusta’s Logan Pfeifer and Logan Ruddle in the quarterfinals as Julian inched closer to his third straight doubles state championship, the previous two coming with different partners – Brecken Bertie in 2022 and Easton Morris last spring.
 
No. 2 seed Jackson Davis and Adam Everett of Winfield claimed a 6-2, 6-4 win over Parson’s Conner Barcus and Mason Morris in the quarterfinals and will meet No. 3 seed Bryson Archer and Alex Berger of McPherson, who outlasted Parsons’ Cole Kennett and Davion Holman 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the quarterfinals.
 
 

 
CLASS 6A
 
BLUE VALLEY WEST PUTS STRANGLEHOLD ON BACK-TO-BACK TITLES
 
After ending Shawnee Mission East’s reign in Class 6A last year, Blue Valley West has spent the entire 2024 season with a target on its back.
 
The Jaguars have worn it well and Friday’s first day at the state tournament at Wichita’s Riverside Tennis Complex, there was no stopping the Jaguars. All four of West’s state entries easily advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, giving the Jaguars half of the tourney’s semifinalists.
 
In singles play, Francisco Landeras continued his undefeated season, dropping only one game on the day, that coming in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Shawnee Mission East’s Christopher Long in the quarterfinals. Now 26-0, Landeras will take on Blue Valley’s Blake Brellenthin in the semifinals after Brellenthin topped Olathe South freshman standout Nolan Fosha 6-1, 6-3.
 
On the other side of the bracket, Landeras’ teammate, sophomore Jonah Stolte – last year’s state runner-up – cruised 6-0, 6-0 in his first match before getting a major test from Blue Valley Northwest’s Luca Ospina in the quarterfinals. Stolte pulled out a 7-5 win in the first game before rolling 6-2 in the second game. In the semifinals, he’ll take on Blue Valley Northwest’s Luke Pennington, who dominated SM East’s Christian Clough 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals
 
West’s undefeated doubles team of freshman Anish Poojari and sophomore Aarya Anjankar easily made their way to the finals, dropping only four games. In the quarterfinals, the duo handled Washburn Rural’s Lawsen Lobatos and Dylan Willingham 6-3, 6-0.
 
That set up an all-West semifinal with Jaguar teammates Mark Kessens and Ethan Kumar having an even easier time reaching the semifinals. They lost only one game, taking a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Blue Valley’s Joaquin Acosta and Nicholas Lavid in the quarterfinals.
 
The other semifinal will also pit teammates against each other as Shawnee Mission East got both its doubles entries into the semis – each getting pushed in a big way in the semifinals. George Kahl and Gregor Wiedeman took a 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) win over Blue Valley North’s Connor Engram and Nathan Lokko while teammates Aiden Bush and Jake Hanson had to rally to beat Blue Valley Northwest’s Krrish Sanjanwala and Srinivasa Vel, rebounding from a 7-6 (7-3) loss in the first set to take 6-4, 6-4 wins in the next two sets to advance.
 
CLASS 5A
 
KAPAUN MT. CARMEL DUO SHAKES UP DOUBLES DRAW WITH RUN TO SEMIFINALS
 
While chalk held up in the Class 5A singles draw with the top four seeds all advancing to Saturday’s semifinals at the Andover District Tennis Complex, the doubles draw was turned a bit on its head with two seeds No. 6 or lower reaching the semifinals.
 
And nobody was more disruptive to the status quo than the Kapaun Mt. Carmel duo of sophomores Bentley Trey lacy and John Korfhage. After finishing sixth at the regional held at Arkansas City last week, the Crusader tandem got on a roll Friday that ended with them reaching the semifinals as a No. 12 seed.
 
The duo began their day with a 7-5, 6-4 win over St. James Academy’s Luke Niesen and Alec King in the first round before taking out their Thunder teammates, No. 5 seeded Peter Wirtz and Jonathan Brazil, in the second round with a 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) win. It seemed like the run might end there as No. 4 seed Jackson Rosa and Gabriel Weber of Bishop Carroll rolled to a 6-1 win in the first set of the quarterfinals. But Lacy and Korfhage refused to let it go, pulling out a 7-6 (7-4) win in the second game before outlasting Rosa and Weber 7-5 in the decisive third set to reach the semifinals.
 
It will take even more from Lacy and Korfhage to continue their Cinderella run on Saturday with top-seeded and undefeated Oakley and Dawson O’Donnell awaiting in the semifinals. State runners-up a year ago, the O’Donnells improved to 37-0 this season with a pair of easy wins, including a 6-2, 6-0 win over Valley Center’s Nicolas Azcorra and Gabriel Shaffer in the quarterfinals.
 
While Kapaun’s duo was making their surprising run, Andover’s Isaac Homan and Lad Oborny had one of their own. After surviving an upset bid from Maize South’s Brady Crawford and Preston Heard in the second round with a 4-6, 6-4, 10-8 win, the Trojan duo stunned No. 3 seed Saket Jagannath and Vidhu Reddy of Blue Valley Southwest in the quarterfinals with a surprisingly smooth 6-2, 6-3 win.
 
Homan and Oborny will get No. 2 seeded Isaac Huber and Trevor Sagehorn of Andover Central in the semifinals. The Jaguar duo beat Newton’s Nathaniel Haines and Gage Marsh 6-4, 6-1 in the quarterfinals after rolling 6-0, 6-1 in the first match.
 
There were no surprises in the singles draw. Top-seeded Evan Goates of Maize South rolled 6-1, 6-2 over St. James’ Cullen Knipp in the quarterfinals and in the semifinals will take on Bishop Carroll’s Rock Steven, who beat Eisenhower’s Kyle King 6-4, 6-3 in the quarterfinals.
 
On the other side of the bracket, No. 2 seeded Sanjay Rajkumar cruised 6-0, 6-2 past Kapaun’s Jack Judkins in the semifinals. No. 3 seed Elijah Donaldson had the toughest quarterfinal, rallying to beat Blue Valley Southwest’s Emmett Wirth 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
 
 
CLASS 3-2-1A
 
KC CHRISTIAN’S BARTELS, CENTRAL PLAINS’ RYAN KEEP UNDEFEATED SEASONS GOING
 
After playing for the Class 3-2-1A state singles title a year ago, Kansas City Christian’s Caleb Bartels and Central Plains’ Peyton Ryan on one match away from a rematch as unbeatens on Saturday at Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village.
 
Bartels, who won the title last year with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Ryan, improved to 31-0 with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins on Friday. Ryan had nearly as easy of a time in moving to 30-0 on the season, posting a pair of 6-1, 6-0 wins.
 
Standing in the way of a rematch of Cair Paravel’s Drew Fay and Wichita Collegiate’s Charlie Gentile. Gentile lost only two games on his way into the semifinals against Ryan, taking a 6-0, 6-2 win over Hesston’s Will White in the quarterfinals. Fay, meanwhile, lost just three games and took a 6-1, 6-0 win over Sterling’s Jace Darnauer in the quarterfinals to get a rematch with Bartels of last week’s regional finals.
 
The top four doubles seeds also advanced to the semifinals without much resistance.
 
Wichita Collegiate’s Carter and Maddox Drumright lost only one game and beat Conway Springs’ Isaac Winter and Layne Whitney 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. They’ll face Marysville’s Titus Wassom and Blake Spicer, who won 6-2, 6-2 in their quarterfinal match against Central Plains’ Nethan Cauthon and Adien Metro.
 
Wichita Classical’s Charlie Graham and Isaac Yourdon took a 6-3, 6-2 win over Central Plains Paxton and Peyton Dody in their quarterfinal and will take on Hesston’s Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty, who beat Smoky Valley’s Gabriel and Ezekiel Baker.