2025 BOYS TENNIS PREVIEW

 

CLASS 6A

2024 State champion: Blue Valley West

2024 State runner-up: Shawnee Mission East

2024 Review: Blue Valley West repeated as the 6A state champions, this time relying on all four of its state entries earning a top-4 finish to hold off state runner-up Shawnee Mission East. The Jaguars ended the Lancers 3-year run atop 6A by winning the state title in 2023 without its second doubles team in tow. Last year’s Blue Valley West squad brought its full contingent down to the Riverside Tennis Complex in Wichita. The Jaguars ended up swapping out a doubles champion for a singles champion. Francisco Landeras, who finished state runner-up as a freshman before sliding to third in 2023, turned out a perfect 24-0 record on his way to winning his first state title as a junior last year. He had hoped to face his teammate Jonah Stolte in the finals. Stolte had finished as the state runner-up in 2023, but last year he lost to Luke Pennington of Blue Valley Northwest in the semifinals 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 on his way to a third-place finish. Both of the Jaguars doubles teams also made it to the semifinals, but a tough draw pitted the teammates against each other. Sophomore Aarya Anjankar and freshman Anish Poojari ended up scoring the 6-3, 6-1 victory over juniors Mark Kessens and Ethan Kumar. Poojari’s older brother Akki brought home the doubles state title in 2023 alongside David Han as outgoing seniors, but Poojari and Kessens were unable to match that result against Shawnee Mission East’s George Kahl and Gregor Wiedeman. Kahl and Wiedemann won 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (8-6) in the finals. Wiedeman previously won a singles state title in 2023 by beating Landeras in the finals. Kessens and Kumar took third by beating Shawnee Mission East’s other doubles team of Jake Hanson and Aiden Bush. While the Lancers earned a one-point advantage from doubles, the Jaguars’ advantage in singles gave them the 54-43 advantage in the team race. Behind the strength of Pennington’s runner-up finish in singles, Blue Valley Northwest was able to score 32 points to take third. Blue Valley’s Blake Brellenthin took fourth in singles to help the Tigers finish fourth in the team race with 21 points. Washburn Rural finished 5th with 11 points, mostly from their doubles team of Lawsen Lobatos-Dick and Dylan Willingham earning a sixth-place finish. Blue Valley North was the only other team to reach double digits as Connor Engram and Nathan Lokko scored 10 points as they defeated Lobatos-Dick and Willingham 8-3 in their fifth-place match.

2025 Contenders: Blue Valley West remains stacked as the Jaguars pursue a three-peat this season. Francisco Landeras will return to defend his singles championship while the team’s third-place doubles team of Mark Kessens and Ethan Kumar also return for their senior campaigns. Jonah Stolte adds to the accomplished upperclassmen on this team, as does Aarya Anjankar. Along with Anish Poojari, that group could easily look to run it back in the same spots. Shawnee Mission East already had ground to make up on the state champs, but the Lancers will have a little more with the graduation of its state champion doubles team in George Kahl and Gregor Wiedeman. That doesn’t mean East will be short on talent and experience, actually far from it. Senior Jake Hanson and sophomore Aiden Bush return from their fourth-place finish in doubles. Christian Clough and Christopher Long took their lumps as freshmen playing in the two singles spots for a state title contending squad, but they proved themselves to be talented enough tennis players to use those tough first-year battles as growing opportunities. Both lost in the quarterfinals, with Long losing to the eventual state champion and Clough losing to the eventual state runner-up, before earning themselves state medals. Long reached the fifth-place match, but lost to Blue Valley Northwest’s Luca Ospino 8-2. Clough lost to Ospino 8-1 a round earlier, which also led to a 8-5 loss against Maize’s Hayden Herrera in the seventh-place match. Like Blue Valley West, Blue Valley Northwest returns all of its state competitors last year’s third-place finish for the Huskies. Senior Luke Pennington returns after winning a regional title and finishing state runner-up in singles. Ospino, a junior, lost to Stolte 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinals, but worked his way through the backside of the bracket to take fifth. Senior Krrish Sanjawala and junior Srinivasa Vel return from a seventh-place finish in doubles while senior Payton Marrs and junior Eddie Marrs reached state last year, but were unable to pick up a victory there. Washburn Rural returns half of its top doubles team with junior Dylan Willingham, along with junior Cale Deutscher and Brayden Kohls back after earning a single state victory last year. Junior Keegan Knudtson also reached state last year, but lost both of his matches. Blue Valley North only brings back one state returner in senior Nathan Lokko after his doubles partner Connor Engram graduated following their fifth-place finish. But the Mustangs are often very successful reloading quickly to at least be a threat to snag some hardware at state. Maize returns senior Hayden Herrera following a seventh-place finish in singles last year. The Eagles will also have seniors Alec Grill and Wyatt Nicol returning with state experience, but still looking for their first state victory.
 

CLASS 5A

2024 State champion: St. James Academy

2024 State runner-up: Andover Central

2024 Review: Last year’s 5A state tournament provided one of the closest team battles you're ever going to see. When the smoke cleared, it was St. James Academy that stood victorious by a single point over both Andover Central and Blue Valley Southwest. Both of the Thunder’s doubles teams earned the final victory at last year’s state tournament via tiebreaker after storming back from 7-4 deficits, including Peter Wirtz and Jonathan Brazil pulling out a 9-8 (8-6) win over Bishop Carroll’s Jackson Rosa and Gabriel Weber in their fifth-place match. Eli Donaldson had the best finish for St. James by taking fourth place in singles. Cullen Knipp took eighth place in the Thunder’s other singles spot. Andover Central had its top doubles team of Isaac Huber and Trevor Sagehorn reach the finals, where they lost 6-2, 6-2 against Arkansas City’s Oakley O’Donnell and Dawson O’Donnell. That result left the door open for Blue Valley Southwest to tie Andover Central for second place in the team race with the results of the singles final. Following the 2023 graduation of Aquinas’ Russell Lokko, the 5A singles field was open for the first time in four years. Southwest’s Sanjay Rajkumar ended up being the one to take advantage of that power vacuum, winning his finals match 6-3, 6-3 of Maize South’s Evan Goates. Maize South ended up finishing seven points back of the runners-up, where the Mavs were also tied with Bishop Carroll. Rock Steven, who was a freshman last year, lost to Goates in the semifinals before winning his third-place match against Donaldson. In the third-place match for doubles, Andover’s Isaac Homan and Lad Oborny earned a 7-5, 6-1 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Johnny Korfhage and Trey Lacy. At the Ark City regional which sported both teams from the doubles finals, Homan and Oborny had finished fourth while Korfhage and Lacy finished sixth. Those results helped Andover finish sixth in the team race while Kapaun finished a point behind Ark City to take eighth.

2025 Contenders: After St. James Academy pulled off a state championship that required every last point, the Thunder should be happy with their chances of staying in the mix again this year. Senior Eli Donaldson returns following his fourth-place finish. While their fifth-place doubles team graduated Peter Wirtz, junior Johnathan Brazil returns along with the Thunder’s other doubles team of sophomores Luke Niesen and Alec King. Blue Valley Southwest graduated its No. 2 singles and half of its No. 2 doubles, but will return the singles state champion in senior Sanjay Rajkumar. The Timberwolves also have junior Saket Jagannath and sophomore Vidhu Reddy returning. Jagannath and Reddy went 10-5 before winning their regional title, followed by a trip to the state quarterfinals before losing back-to-back matches for an unexpected early exit in an extremely competitive 5A doubles bracket. Andover Central graduated its state runner-up doubles team, but will return freshmen Henry Walker and Elias Kachelmeier after taking 10th in their first state outing. Senior Jaxon Post is also back after taking sixth as the Jaguars’ only singles competitor at state. Bishop Carroll will be without last year's third-place singles finisher Rock Steven, who is homeschooling. But junior Gabe Weber returns after finishing sixth in doubles with Jackson Rosa, who graduated. Andover will not only return senior Isaac Homan and Lad Oborny from a third-place finish in doubles, but also senior John Rather coming off a single victory in his state outing last year.
 

CLASS 4A

2024 State champion: Buhler

2024 State runner-up: Independence

2024 Review: On the strength of a singles state champion and two other entries reaching the state semifinals of their brackets, Buhler was able to bring home the 4A state championship. The Crusaders scored 40 points, distancing themselves by 5 points over state runner-up Independence, which saw its three-year run atop the classification come to an end. Buhler’s Davian Spies won the singles bracket, earning a 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-2 win in the finals to force Wyatt Shultz of Parsons into settling for state runner-up finish for a second straight season. This is the second state title for Spies, having also won as a freshman in 2022. Spies suffered a shoulder injury that knocked his sophomore campaign off course, leading to a third-place finish at state that year. He beat teammate Amos Harder in their third-place match. Harder finished fourth again last year, losing 6-2, 6-4 against Bishop Miege’s Daniel Sullivan in that third-place match. Harder’s brother Reuben teamed up with Von Woleslagel to take third doubles. Independence’s Camdon Julian and Aiden Denney won the doubles bracket, earning a 6-7(2), 7-6(3), 7-5 win over Winfield’s Jackson Davis and Adam Everett in the finals. Julian won his third doubles state championship, each with a different doubles partner. The Bulldogs’ other doubles team of Tucker Gregory and Matthew McLenon took fifth despite needing to win five straight matches, and six total at state, after getting sent to the backside of the bracket early. Keith Sanders had the top finish for the Bulldogs in the singles bracket by placing ninth. On the strength of Shultz’s runner-up finish in the singles bracket, Parsons narrowly edged out three other teams for the third and final team trophy. Parsons scored 24 points, one ahead of Miege and two ahead of both McPherson and Winfield. Cole Kennett and Davion Holman had the Vikings’ best finish in the doubles bracket as they took 10th.

2025 Contenders: Although Buhler graduated its No. 2 singles and both members of its No. 2 doubles team, the Crusaders will return a lot of talent with their other three state qualifying returners. Senior Davian Spies will be pursuing a potential third state championship in singles. Senior Von Woleslagel and junior Reuben Harder also return following a season where they won a regional title and took third at state. Independence graduated four of its six state competitors, including the doubles state champions. But senior Keith Sanders showed a lot of promise with his ninth-place finish last year. Junior Matthew McLenon will need to find a new partner after Tucker Gregory graduated. Parsons might be in the best shape with all six of its state competitors returning from last year’s third-place finish. Junior Wyatt Shultz will look to reach his third straight singles final. Senior Davion Holman and junior Cole Kennett kicked off state with a win by rallying back from a first set loss by tiebreak and ultimately winning via third-set super tiebreaker, only only to get bounced to the backside of the bracket in two sets, including a second set tiebreak, against McPherson’s Alex Berger and Bryson Archer. Holman and Kennett would go on to finish 10th. Seniors Mason Morris and Conner Barcus reached the state quarterfinals before losing to the eventual state runner-up team. Morris and Barcus were not able to pick up a win on the backside of the bracket on the way to a 12th-place finish. Senior Tanner Nolting returns after having won two matches last year before finishing one win short of earning a state medal. Bishop Miege graduated its top placer in Daniel Sullivan, who finished third in singles, but the Stags will return four of its six state competitors. One of those returners is sophomore Luca Marrello, who ended up winning four straight matches on the backside of the bracket, and five total matches at state, to earn a sixth-place finish. The Stags top doubles team of seniors Joseph Schmidt and Mathew Morris will return after having won two state matches, but not placing last season. Junior Leo Gill will also return for the Stags after he and his now-graduated doubles partner qualified for state, but were unable to pick up a victory before their exit. McPherson graduated its No. 2 singles player, but returns its other five state performers who are all seniors this year. Berger and Archer had the best finish for the Bullpups with their fourth-place finish. Winfield will return seniors Jackson Davis and Adam Everett following a state runner-up finish in doubles. Senior Matthew Norton and his now-graduated doubles partner Jackson Palmer finished seventh at state. Hesston moves up to Class 4A this season and will also return its top performing state entry with senior Asher Deutschendorf and junior Braiden Liechty coming back after a third-place finish in 3-2-1A doubles, although the Swathers will need to replace the now-graduated Will White and their No. 2 doubles team of Kaden Quin and Eli Miller.
 

CLASS 3-2-1A

2024 State champion: Wichita Collegiate

2024 State runner-up: Central Plains

2024 Review: Wichita Collegiate returned to the top of 3-1A, winning its fourth state title in five years and sixth in eight years. But last year’s title was the first for Simon Norman during his first season taking over for David Hawley, who had won 26 state tennis titles with the boys program, as well as 33 with the girls program. Carter Drumright and Maddox Drumright led the way by winning the doubles state championship, posting a 27-2 record on the season. Their performance helped spearhead a 44-point total for the Spartans, 12 points ahead of state runner-up Central Plains. In addition to the Drumrights, Collegiate picked up two top-5 finishes from their singles competitors. Charlie Gentile took third while Omar Al Tabbal finished fifth. Sky Fujinuma and Rahul Madhaven rounded out Wichita Collegiate’s performance with a ninth-place finish in doubles. Central Plains relied on Peyton Ryan, who took an undefeated 31-0 record into his finals match before losing to KC Christian’s Caleb Bartels, who completed his own undefeated state title run. Bartels also won the singles state title in 2023, also by defeating an undefeated Ryan in the finals. Paxton Dody and Peyton Dody added an eighth-place finish in doubles for the Oilers. Smoky Valley’s Keaton Leiker took sixth in singles while Gabe Baker and Zeke Baker earned that same place in doubles to help the Vikings take third, finishing two points ahead of both Wichita Classical and Hesston. Classical was led by Charlie Graham and Isaac Yourdon earning a state runner-up finish in doubles. Hesston paired a third-place finish in doubles by Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty with Will White earning a seventh-place finish in singles to help tie Classical for fourth with 20 points. KC Christian finished fifth with Bartels scoring all 16 of the team’s points.

2025 Contenders: Wichita Collegiate will graduate its No. 2 entries for both singles and doubles, but the Spartans will otherwise return the core of their state championship winning squad. In addition to senior Carter Drumright and sophomore Maddox Drumright returning to defend their state title in doubles, junior Charlie Gentile will look to build off his third-place finish following a 25-4 season last year. Central Plains will need to replace Peyton Ryan following two straight one-loss, state runner-up seasons. However, the Oilers will have sophomore Camden Stiles returning from a seventh-place finish in singles and senior Paxton Dody and junior Peyton Dody coming back from their eight-place finish in doubles. Senior Nethan Cathon and sophomore Alden Metro also got quality state experience by reaching the state quarterfinals before losing all their matches on the backside of the bracket on their way to a 12th-place finish. Smoky Valley graduated Keaton Leiker following his sixth-place finish in singles, as well as Per Nelson and Nate Nyquist following an 11th-place finish in doubles. But the Vikings still have seniors Gabe Baker and Zeke Baker coming off their sixth-place finish in doubles to give strong core coming off the team’s third-place finish. Wichita Classical brings back four of its six state competitors from last year, including 19 of the 20 points that earn them a tie for fourth-place in the team race. Most of those points were from senior Carter Drumright and sophomore Maddox Drumright taking state runner-up in doubles.