WICHITA – Blue Valley West’s Francisco Landeras has been waiting two years for a shot at redemption after coming up one win short of a state title as a freshman. 

When his moment arrived, Landeras was ready both mentally and physically to seize it. 

Landeras capped an undefeated season with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Blue Valley Northwest’s Luke Pennington in Saturday’s Class 6A singles final at Riverside Tennis Center.

“I had the same situation my freshman year,” said Landeras, who took runner-up as a freshman and third place last year as a sophomore. “I wasn’t mentally prepared (as a freshman), but I was mentally prepared this time.”

Landeras’ singles title highlighted Blue Valley West’s second straight team championship. 

After cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Blue Valley’s Blake Brellenthin in the semifinal, Landeras had plenty of time to gear up for the final. Pennington and Blue Valley West’s Jonah Stolte duked it out for over 3 hours in the other semifinal, with Pennington outlasting Stolte 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. 

“Having that long wait, you get more time to rest and see your opponent in the semis,” Landeras said. “Luke and Jonah they worked so hard to get this stage. They gave blood, sweat and tears. Just to play one of them in the final is honestly amazing. The experience, the love for the sport, everyone is here for a reason.”
 

Refreshed for the final, Landeras set the tone early. 

“(Pennington) came off a tired match, so I just kept grinding and grinding,” Landeras said. “Throughout the match, I was like, ‘One more, one more. You’re almost there.’ It was like climbing a mountain, you’ve got to reach the top.”

“His style is to grind,” Blue Valley West coach Alec Bergeron said of Landeras. “He’s going to make you hit 10, 20, 30 balls in play to win points. When you play that way and can keep it going, it’s really hard to beat. I was really proud of him, bringing that energy all tournament long. He had the energy to always keep himself pumped up. It was super, super awesome to see.”

Landeras finished 28-0. 

“To get over hump is amazing after two years of hard work,” he said. 
 

Pennington, a junior, showed great resolve in pulling out the grueling semifinal win over Stolte, the state runner-up last year as a freshman. Pennington trailed Stolte 5-2 in the third set before reeling off five straight games to secure his spot in the finals against Landeras. 

“Luke played insane,” Bergeron said. “He played really, really good, and he definitely earned it. Jonah had a couple of opportunities, but every time he had a chance, Luke slammed the door. I commend him for that.”

Pennington (21-4) did his best to get rejuvenated in a short period of time for the final.

“I only had an hour break, so you’re just trying to find all ways to refuel your body,” he said. “But it was fun, a good experience for sure. A lot of memories. 

“You’re pretty much numb, but it’s the adrenaline that washes it away.”

Pennington’s best spurt of the final came in the second set when he grabbed a 3-2 lead.

“I kind of felt a little bit that way in the semifinal match. The same rallies were there,” he said. 

However, Landeras controlled the rest of the match, taking the last four games and ending the match with a service break. 

“I get a little stressed and mad, but I was like, ‘Calm down. He’s playing his game. He’s here for a reason. You’ve got to keep grinding,' ” Landeras said. 
 

Blue Valley West put themselves in a strong position to defend its title after a perfect first day of the tournament, sending its two singles players and two doubles squads into the semifinals. 

The Jaguars’ doubles team of Anish Poojari and Aarya Anjankar nearly completed an undefeated season but were outlasted in a championship match thriller to Shawnee Mission East’s Gregor Wiedeman and George Kahl. The match was decided in a third-set tiebreaker with Wiedeman and Kahl pulling out a 7-6 (7-5), 4-6 , 7-6 (8-6) victory.

Stolte bounced back from the heartbreaking semifinal loss to claim third place with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) win over Brellenthin. 

The Jaguars’ No. 2 doubles team of juniors Mark Kessens and Ethan Kumar closed out a strong tournament with a 6-1, 6-4 win in the third-place match over Shawnee Mission East’s Aiden Bush and Jake Hanson. 

Kessens and Kumar fell 6-3, 6-1 to Poojari and Anjankar in the semifinals.

“They went out and earned that No. 2 (doubles spot) and they proved why they deserved it out here,” Bergeron said of Kessens and Kumar. 
 

Blue Valley West racked up 54 points to win the tournament by 11 points over Shawnee Mission East while Blue Valley Northwest took third with 32 points. 

“In my opinion, we have the best practice in the state. We’ve got 8 to 12 players that we can put on the court and can all compete with each other, and that’s what makes us great,” Bergeron said. “We can just grind and grind and grind together as a team. And that’s what this is, it’s a team effort.”
 

SHAWNEE MISSION EAST’S WIEDEMAN, KAHL RALLY TO DENY BLUE VALLEY WEST DUO PERFECT SEASON

Gregor Wiedeman will admit doubt was starting to creep into his mind during the third set of Saturday’s Class 6A doubles final. 

Blue Valley West’s doubles team of Anish Poojari and Aarya Anjankar looked well on their way to securing a perfect season, winning the first four games of the third set against Shawnee Mission East’s Wiedeman and George Kahl. 

“I was kind of done,” Wiedeman said. “I thought we were going to lose. I kind of accepted it. But George, he stayed with it and he brought me back up.” 

The Lancer duo found a spark just in time, winning five straight games to seize the momentum. Poojari and Anjankar later squared the set at 6-6 to pave the way for a thrilling finish. 

Wiedeman and Kahl led 6-3 in the tiebreak before the Jaguars won three straight points to even it at 6. 

The Lancers scored on serve to set up match point before the Jaguars double faulted to end the match. 

“When we got it back to 3-4, that’s when I knew we had a chance, even though we were still down a break,” Wiedeman said of the third-set rally. “They weren’t serving as well, and our returning was really great today.”

“In my mind I was like: ‘I got nothing to lose. I got to go out with a bang and more aggressively,’ ” Kahl said. “I played looser and we were able to get a few games of momentum going.”

Kahl said the key down the stretch was not hurting themselves with unforced errors. 

“In the tiebreak, we just made them play a lot of balls,” Kahl said. “We weren’t going to make the mistakes, we were going to make them win the points and make them earn each and every point.”
 

Wiedeman is no stranger to high-leverage matches, winning the state singles title two years ago as a sophomore. Although, the championship match in 2022  – against this year’s singles champion Francisco Landeras – wasn’t nearly as dramatic as the title match he found himself in Saturday. 

“It’s completely different,” Wiedeman said. “When I won singles, it wasn’t necessarily a blowout, but I won that last set 6-1. With this, we were fighting the whole time. To be able to come back, down 4-0 in the third set, it feels amazing, especially having a partner you can celebrate with.”

Wiedeman and Kahl (29-5) had lost both regular season meetings against Poojari and Anjakar (24-1). 

“The first match we kind of got blown out (8-2), which was a surprise,” Kahl said. “The second match was much closer (8-5). I think really it was just about confidence against that team.”

Blue Valley West coach Alec Bergeron tipped his cap to Wiedeman and Kahl and noted the future is bright for Poojari, a freshman, and Anjankar, a sophomore. 

“We always make the joke that it’s postseason Gregor,” Bergeron said. “That guy comes to play when it’s time to go. They went out there and they got it done. I mean, 6-8 in a third-set breaker is as close as it gets. 

“I’m really proud of my guys for fighting. We fought three match points off to get to 6-all. I’m really proud of them. Really looking forward to their future here and seeing that they get more opportunities – maybe in doubles, maybe in singles. We’ll see what happens.”
 

Wiedeman made the move to doubles this season after settling for sixth place in singles last year while battling injuries. It didn’t take long for Wiedeman and Kahl, both seniors, to mesh on the court. 

“I enjoy doubles,” Wiedeman said. “I see the court really well. I love volleying, I love serving – those are the two things I want to do in my matches, so doubles is perfect for me.”

“Obviously he’s a great player,” Kahl said of Wiedeman. “He taught me a lot throughout the year. He’s helped me with my serve a lot. I’m just glad we were able to win.”