WINFIELD – Buhler’s Davian Spies didn’t waste any time.
 
Hesston’s Asher Deutschendorf and the doubles partner he joined forces with last year had to work overtime.
 
Whatever the method, the two accomplished senior tennis players achieved desired results in their final high school matches Saturday in the Class 4A boys state tournament at the Vaughan Tennis Center.
 
Spies won his third 4A singles title, overpowering Parsons junior Wyatt Shultz 6-2, 6-0 in a rematch of last year’s final. Deutschendorf, the winningest player in Hesston tennis history, and junior Braiden Liechty outlasted Winfield’s senior duo of Jackson Davis and Adam Everett 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2) for the doubles crown in a spirited seesaw battle. It was Deutschendorf’s second state doubles title in three years.
 

Spies, who will play at McPherson College, dropped just five games in eight sets during the two-day tournament. His high school swansong was a 57-minute tour de force, as he dominated the last matchup in a state tournament trilogy with Shultz – now a three-time state runner-up – after splitting their first two meetings.
 
“There was a little bit of nerves at the beginning of the match, especially the first two games,” said Spies, who had his first service game broken to trail 0-2 before turning things around. “After I got broke, I was like I really need to play my game here. I was too nervous. But after that, I was really locked in out there.”
 
Playing on the same court where he defeated former Independence standout Kale Groff to win his first state title as a freshman, the top-seeded Spies completed a 29-2 senior season with his 122^nd career singles victory. While Shultz, who derailed Spies’ title bid in their first meeting two years in the 4A semifinals in Pratt, got off to a strong start Saturday, he couldn’t regain momentum once Spies started rolling.
 
“I’ve been playing really well this whole year and there’s been a lot of talk about how I’m going to do well and how I’ve really improved,” Spies said. “There was a lot of pressure just naturally. I try to take it as it is, that pressure is a privilege.”
 

Spies fell to Shultz in straight sets at the 2023 state tournament, finishing third in a season that was delayed by triceps tendonitis. Shultz notched his first second-place finish that year, falling to Groff in the championship match.
 
Spies and Shultz were state finalists last spring, with Spies completing a 35-4 campaign with a hard-fought 7-6 (7-1), 3-6, 6-2 victory over Shultz in Topeka that helped Buhler capture its first 4A team title.
 
Spies quickly removed the drama from Saturday’s championship duel.
 
“The thing that got him into a little bit of trouble last year is you could pick on his forehand a little bit and he would spray it under pressure,” Buhler coach Matt Babcock said. “There was none of that this year. This was his best season by far.
 
“He pulled out all the stops against Shultz because obviously that's a very good player he beat 6-2, 6-0. He shored up that forehand and his confidence was just tremendous.”
 
Shultz, who rolled through Friday’s first two rounds without dropping a game, reached the title match with a 6-3, 6-4 semifinal victory over Bishop Miege’s regional champion Luca Marrello. But after getting off to the 2-0 start against Spies, Shultz won just two points over the next three games and faced an uphill battle the rest of the way.
 

“He has gotten a lot better this year,” said Shultz, who finished 32-5. “I was a little scared in the semis. I wasn’t playing very good.
 
“I actually had a lot more fun in the finals. Even though I got … kicked, it was a very good match. We had good points. He just took it away.”
 
Spies has rarely been void of emotion during his career. And Saturday, after storming into the title match with a 6-0, 6-0 semifinal victory over Independence senior Keith Sanders, Spies punctuated several of his winning points against Shultz with a yell and a fist pump.
 
That included match point, which Spies punctuated with an overhead, backhand volley and a loud “Come on!” that could be heard throughout the tennis complex.
 
“It is a surreal kind of feeling,” said Spies, who finished 15-1 in four state tournaments. “It’s kind of a relief. All of us – not just me – we all put in so much work and a lot of it doesn’t get noticed. That goes for players and coaches.
 
“I don’t know how to describe it. It’s just a great feeling. It’s just a good reminder of how much work you put in and how much work everyone puts in.”
 
Spies’ finish, coupled with a third-place doubles finish by teammates Reuben Harder and Von Woleslagel, gave the Crusaders a third-place team finish in their title defense. Shultz did enough to help Parsons earn a share of the 4A team title with Winfield, its first since the Vikings won four straight from 1999-2002.
 
“Davian played an exceptional match and outmuscled us a little bit,” Parsons coach Jane Posch said. “Even though we have been playing tougher competition, we’re not at that level. He plans on being at that level next year.”
 
The competition could come from Marrello, who bounced back to defeat Sanders 6-3, 6-3 in the third-place singles match.
 

 HESSTON’S DEUTSCHENDORF, LIECHTY DEVELOP WINNING PARTNERSHIP
 
Two years after sending out his original partner Micah Dahlsten with a Class 3-2-1A doubles championship, Deutschendorf’s own career ended with a title, thanks to two seasons of jelling with Liechty.
 
“They were both super-consistent,” Deutschendorf said of his two court mates. “I think the key for us building chemistry was just playing all the time, and that’s exactly what we did.
 
“Right after I won the state championship with Micah, I was out there hitting with Braiden the very next day, basically. We played so much that summer and that is definitely what contributed to winning today.”
 
That consistency even showed in state tournament finishes.
 
Dahlsten and Deutschendorf claimed their title a year after opening their partnership with a third-place finish in 3-2-1A. The 2023 championship came in their third meeting that season against Kansas City Christian’s James Vander Ark and Jackson Newman, one that ended in the second set with Newman defaulting due to cramping.
 

 That spring, Liechty qualified for state in singles as a freshman, helping the Swathers to a third-place team finish. His next move was joining Deutschendorf.
 
“When we first started playing, it felt like we’d never lose,” Liechty said. “And then we came across that Buhler team that got third today (Harder and Woleslagel). That actually lit a spark in me and showed me how far I had to come.”
 
Deutschendorf and Liechty capped their first season with a 3-2-1A regional title and third-place finish at state, falling to Wichita Classical’s Charlie Graham and Isaac Yourdon in the state semifinals on the way to a 24-3 record.
 
With Hesston moving up to 4A this spring, a new set of challenges awaited. Deutschendorf and Liechty proved Saturday they were up to meeting them.
 
The Swather duo repeated as regional champions this month, outdueling Winfield’s Davis and Everett 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 to claim the title at Buhler. The stage was set for a rematch on the Vikings’ home court after Deutschendorf and Liechty thumped Hayden seniors Chase Blaser and Evan George 6-1, 6-2, and Davis and Everett fended off Harder and Woleslagel 7-5, 7-5 in Saturday morning’s semifinals.
 

 Playing in front of a large crowd boosted by numerous hometown supporters of Davis and Everett, the Hesston duo took the first set from last year’s 4A runners-up 6-3. And after dropping the first two games of the second set, Deutschendorf and Liechty scored a pair of service breaks and won four consecutive games to appear to be in control.
 
“I wasn’t expecting us to walk through it,” Deutschendorf said. “That would have obviously been nice. But I knew it was going to be a dogfight. We kind of had to dig deep. We had many chances, but we let them back in it.”
 
Davis and Everett countered the Swathers’ run by winning the next four games to take the second set 6-4. The teams stayed on serve early in the third set before Liechty’s smash gave Hesston a break for a 4-3 lead.
 
After Liechty held serve to put the Swathers up 5-3, Davis and Everett fought back again. They tied the decisive set at 5-5. After Deutschendorf and Liechty regained the lead with a service break, Davis and Everett returned the favor to force the tiebreaker.
 
Hesston took the lead for good in the tiebreaker at 3-2 on a Winfield shot that Deutschendorf called out, just beyond the baseline. The Swathers went on to win the next four points, with Liechty sending an overhead backhand volley to Davis’ feet on match point.
 
Deutschendorf and Liechty’s 29-3 record raised their two-year mark to 53-6. Davis and Everett completed their four-year run together with their second straight 28-win season, a career mark of 104-38 and as 4A state placers each season.
 

 “We definitely had to start over,” said Deutschendorf, who finished his career with a school-record 127 victories in doubles and singles. “You’ve got to start from the bottom and build your way up. That’s definitely how we started our partnership last year.
 
“We knew we were going to have to work as hard as we could in order to win a state championship.”
 
Harder and Woleslagel posted their second consecutive third-place finish in 4A, defeating Blaser and and George 6-2, 6-4 in the consolation match.
 
CLASS 4A STATE TENNIS
 
At Vaughan Tennis Center, Winfield
 
TEAM SCORES
 
Parsons 29, Winfield 29, Buhler 28, Hesston 26, Independence 21, McPherson 17, Bishop Miege 13, Clay Center 12, Hayden 12, Chanute 9, Fort Scott 9, El Dorado 8, Wellington 7, Scott City 3, Circle 2, Concordia 1, Iola 1.
 
SINGLES
 
Championship – Davian Spies, Buhler def. Wyatt Shultz, Parsons, 6-2, 6-0. Third place – Luca Marrello, Bishop Miege def. Keith Sanders, Independence, 6-3, 6-3. Fifth place – Janmejay Patwardhan, Hesston def. Joshua Moore, Winfield, 8-5. Seventh place – Jaxen DeMott, Fort Scott def. Maverick Peterson, Wellington, 8-3. Ninth place – Copeland Quiett, Winfield def. Eli Pfizenmaier, Clay Center, 8-4. 11^th place – Reece Knight, El Dorado def. Cooper Bohme, McPherson, 8-5.
 
DOUBLES
 
Championship – Asher Deutschendorf/Braiden Liechty, Hesston def. Adam Everett/Jackson Davis, Winfield, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (2). Third place – Von Woleslagel/Reuben Harder, Buhler def. Chase Blaser/Evan George, Hayden, 6-2, 6-4. Fifth place – Bryson Archer/Alex Berger, McPherson def. Ethan Burnett/Ayden Cummings, Chanute, 9-7. Seventh place – Cole Bennett/Conner Barcus, Parsons def. Davion Holman/Mason Morris, Parsons, 8-0. Ninth place – Matthew McLenon/Zach Scott, Independence def. Anthony Davies/John Alton, Clay Center, 8-5. 11^th place – Theron Mays/Lane Eck, El Dorado def. Brody Strine/Brody Stoecklein, Scott City, 8-2.