2026 BOYS TENNIS PREVIEW
Blue Valley West
CLASS 6A
2025 State champion: Blue Valley West
2025 State runner-up: Shawnee Mission East
2025 Singles champion: Anish Poojari, Blue Valley West
2025 Doubles champions: Francisco Landeras and Aarya Anjankar, Blue Valley West
2025 Review: Blue Valley West cruised to its third straight Class 6A championship in dominant fashion, sweeping the singles and doubles titles at Junction City. Anish Poojari captured the 6A singles state title while Francisco Landeras and Aarya Anjankar clinched the doubles title. The Jaguars finished with 55 points to finish comfortably ahead over runner-up Shawnee Mission East, which finished with 39 points. It was the Jaguars’ sixth state team title in program history. Landeras and Anjankar closed an undefeated doubles season by rallying for a 5-7, 6-2, 6-0 win over Shawnee Mission East’s Jake Hanson and Christopher Long in the title match. Landeras also won the singles title as a junior in 2024 with a perfect season. After taking runner-up in doubles with Anjankar in 2024, Poojari capped an undefeated run in singles with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over teammate Jonah Stolte in the final. Blue Valley West’s other doubles team of senior Ethan Kumar and sophomore Ishaan Musti took sixth place.
Shawnee Mission East placed all four entries, led by the runner-up effort from Hanson and Long. Aiden Bush and Christian Clough added a fifth-place doubles showing while Brody Feldman and Aidan Lashley placed fifth and 10th, respectively, in singles.
Blue Valley Northwest took third place with 23 points. Luke Pennington took third for the Huskies in singles while Krrish Sanjanwala and Srinivasa Vel were fourth in doubles.
Maize finished fourth in the team standings followed by
Olathe South and
Manhattan.
2026 Contenders: Blue Valley West returns plenty of firepower as it looks for a fourth straight state championship. The Jaguars will have to replace now-graduated Francisco Landeras, who won the 2024 singles championship and teamed with Aarya Anjankar to claim the doubles title last year. But Anjankar, Anish Poojari and Jonah Stolte will help anchor a proven and experienced lineup. Poojari and Anjankar played doubles together in 2024, suffering a heartbreaking loss to Shawnee Mission East in the state final. They both earned redemption in different forms last year. Anjankar and Landeras built a dominant doubles squad, while Poojari captured the singles championship with a 23-0 record, defeating Stolte in the final. Stolte, a two-time state runner-up in singles, and Anjankar are both seniors while Poojari is a junior. Ishaan Musti, a junior, will also factor into the mix for the Jaguars after taking sixth place in doubles with now-graduated Ethan Kumar. Christopher Long returns for Shawnee Mission East after making a run at a doubles state title with now-graduated Jake Hanson last year. Long and Hanson took the first set against Landeras and Anjankar in the state title match before the Jaguar duo rallied to complete a perfect season. Long and fellow juniors Christian Clough and Aidan Lashley look to lead the Lancers. Clough took fifth place in doubles last year with Aiden Bush. Lashley placed 10th in singles. Bush and Brody Feldman, a fifth-place singles finisher last year, are not playing tennis for East this year. Blue Valley Northwest took third a year ago. The Huskies’ top returner is Srinivasa Vel, who teamed with now-graduated Krrish Sanjanwala to take fourth place in doubles last year. Nolan Fosha helped Olathe South tie for fifth as a team last year by taking fourth in singles last year as a sophomore. Manhattan’s James Hoke is coming off a strong freshman season in which he placed seventh in singles at state and helped the Indians tie for fifth. Shawnee Mission South’s Ryder Heaven and Carson Mower will look to contend in doubles after taking third place last year. Other returning state-placing doubles teams are Washburn Rural’s Dylan Willingham and Cale Deutscher (seventh) and Olathe Northwest’s Bryan Branstrom and Aidan Messerly (eighth). Northwest’s Mitchell Terhune is also back after placing 10th in doubles last year with William Stewart, who was a senior. Topeka High’s Christian Sink took 12th in doubles with Alex Raymond last year and will have a new doubles partner this year in Victor Arriaga. Mill Valley’s Dalton Parde returns after finishing eighth in singles in 2025.
Andover
CLASS 5A
2025 State champion: Andover
2025 State runner-up: Bishop Carroll
2025 Singles champion: Evan Goates, Maize South
2025 Doubles champions: Andrew Chan and Isaac Homan, Andover
2025 Review: Andover’s Isaac Homan and Andrew Chan remained calm and steady en route to a 6-3, 6-4 win over Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Trey Lacy and John Korfhage in the doubles final at Salina Tennis Center. Homan and Chan helped lead Andover to its first team state championship since 2003. The Trojans had the title locked up early on Day 2 and finished with 33 points, topping runner-up Bishop Carroll by 10 points. Andover’s No. 2 doubles team of seniors John Rather and Pierce Anderson took sixth place. Lad Oborny added a seventh-place showing in singles for the Trojans. Bishop Carroll’s second-place showing was fueled by Brandon Steven’s third-place finish in singles and a fourth-place effort from Gabe Weber and Braeden Dugan in doubles. Maize South’s Evan Goates powered through a tough field to claim the singles title, defeating
Arkansas City’s Dawson O’Donnell 6-1, 6-2 in the finals after finishing runner-up as a sophomore in 2024. Jaxon Post and Elias Kachelmeier took third place in doubles to power
Andover Central to a third-place team finish.
Blue Valley Southwest’s fourth-place finish was led by singles player Sanjay Ranjkumar, who finished fourth after winning the 2024 title.
Aquinas took fifth while
Maize South was sixth on the strength of Goates’ singles title.
2026 Contenders: Reigning champion Andover will rely heavily on junior Andrew Chan, who is the Trojans’ only returner from last year’s state tournament. Chan and Isaac Homan went 34-3 in their first year playing doubles together, defeating Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s John Korfhage and Trey Lacy to clinch their title. Homan has graduated along with Andover’s sixth-place doubles team of John Rather and Pierce Anderson. Lad Oborny isn’t playing tennis this year after placing seventh in singles a year ago. Bishop Carroll figures to be a contender for the team title. The Golden Eagles finished 10 points behind Andover for the crown a season ago. Brandon Steven will look to build on a strong freshman season that saw him place third in singles and finish 25-2. His only losses came to singles champion Evan Goates from Maize South and 2024 champion Sanjay Ranjkumar from Blue Valley Southwest. Gabe Weber and Braeden Dugan are also back for the Golden Eagles after placing fourth at state in doubles last year. Andover Central, third a year ago, also returns a strong core in third-place doubles team Jaxon Post and Elias Kachelmeier as well as sixth-place singles placer Henry Walker. Aquinas returns doubles squad Will Nash and Will Felski after their ninth-place finish. Blue Valley Southwest will look to fill the void left by the graduation of Ranjkumar. The Timberwolves' top returners all played doubles last year. Saket Jagannath and Vidhu Reddy teamed to place 10th while Nidish Padmanaban and now-graduated Jacob Cook placed 11th. Maize South’s Goates will look to defend his singles championship after his 29-2 junior season. Arkansas City graduated Dawson O’Donnell, the singles runner-up last year after he won the 2024 doubles title with older brother Oakley. Piper’s John Vogel and Baird Greenamyre will look to improve on last year’s seventh-place showing in doubles. Kapaun Mt. Carmel’s Korfhage is back for the Crusaders after reaching the doubles title match with now-graduated Trey Lacy. Valley Center’s eighth-place doubles team is still intact with Braxton Nicholson and Gabriel Shaffer. St. James’ Luke Niesen returns for the Thunder after placing fifth in doubles with now-graduated Sam Niesen.
Winfield
Parsons
CLASS 4A
2025 State champion: Parsons and Winfield
2025 Singles champion: Davian Spies, Buhler
2025 Doubles champions: Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty, Hesston
2025 Review: It was the year of the Vikings.
Parsons and Winfield shared the team state championship, with Parsons winning its first title in 23 years and Winfield capturing its first title in program history. Parsons, with its quartet of doubles players and singles runner-up Wyatt Shultz, and Winfield, with doubles runners-up Jackson Davis and Adam Everett and a pair of singles underclassmen, each scored 29 points at the 4A tournament in Winfield. Because Parsons and Winfield had the same number of medal-earning entries (3) and all their qualifiers advanced to the second day of the tournament, a tie was declared. Kansas City Christian and Sacred Heart shared the Class 3-2-1A girls title in 2020, the only time prior to last year that KSHSAA awarded team co-champions in tennis. Buhler’s Davian Spies won his third singles title, defeating Shultz 6-2, 6-0 in a rematch of last year’s final. Hesston’s Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty outlasted Winfield’s Davis and Everett 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (7-2). It was Deutschendorf’s second state doubles title in three years. Parsons got a seventh-place finish from senior Conner Barcus and junior Cole Kennett, and an eighth-place finish from seniors Davion Holman and Mason Morris in doubles. Winfield’s Davis and Everett finished runners-up for the second straight year. Winfield singles players Joshua Moore and Copeland Quiett finished sixth and ninth, respectively. Buhler finished third with 28 points and Hesston took fourth with 26 after moving up from Class 3-1A. Independence and McPherson took fifth and sixth, respectively.
2026 Contenders: The Class 4A reigning co-champions both return a pair of key contributors. Three-time state singles runner-up Wyatt Shultz is back to lead Parsons, which also brings back Cole Kennett, who placed seventh in doubles with Conner Barcus. Barcus has graduated along with eighth-place doubles finishers Davion Holman and Mason Morris. Winfield must replace Jackson Davis and Adam Everett, a duo that earned a pair of state runner-up finishes in doubles. But the Vikings bring back singles players Joshua Moore and Copeland Quiett after they finished sixth and ninth, respectively. Buhler’s three-time singles state champion Davian Spies has moved on to McPherson College. Senior Reuben Harder will be a leader for the Crusaders. He has placed third in doubles with now-graduated Von Woleslagel in each of the last two seasons. Hesston graduated its winningest player in program history in Asher Deutschendorf, who won a doubles championship in two of the last three seasons. His doubles partner from last year, Braiden Liechty, is back after helping Deutschendorf end his career on a high note with a title last year. The Swathers also return a fifth-place singles placer in Janmejay Patwardhan. Independence and McPherson took fifth and sixth last year. They each return a state placer. Independence brings back Matthew McLenon, who took ninth in doubles last year with now-graduated Zach Scott. Cooper Bohme is back for McPherson following his 12th-place singles finish. El Dorado returns a solid core in Reece Knight, Theron Mays and Lane Eck. Knight took 11th place in singles a year ago while Mays and Eck finished 11th in doubles. Other returning state singles placers are
Wellington's Maverick Peterson (8th) and
Clay Center’s Eli Pfizenmaier (10th).
Chanute’s Ayden Cummings took fifth in doubles last year with Ethan Burnett, who was a senior.
Scott City’s Brody Stoecklein is also a returning state placer in doubles, taking 12th last year with now-graduated Brody Strine.
Wichita Collegiate
CLASS 3-1A
2025 State champion: Wichita Collegiate
2025 State runner-up: Conway Springs
2025 Singles champion: Charlie Gentile, Wichita Collegiate
2025 Doubles champions: Carter Drumright and Maddox Drumright, Wichita Collegiate
2025 review: Wichita Collegiate’s 2025 squad staked its claim as one of the most dominant teams in the Spartans’ storied tennis history. Collegiate finished 1-2 in singles with Charlie Gentile outlasting Amir Khicha for his first state title and then went 1-3 in doubles with the brother tandem of Carter and Maddox Drumright capping an undefeated season and second straight state championship with a three-set win over Cair Paravel’s Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay. William Farha and Vihaan Ganganala took third in doubles for the Spartans. It was Collegiate’s 28th team title overall. Collegiate finished with 58 points, 34 ahead of runner-up Conway Springs, which was led by a fourth-place finish from the doubles team of Layne Whitney and Isaac Winter. Wichita Classical was third with 21 points, led by third-place singles finisher Isaac Yourdon. Cair Paravel and Central Plains tied for fourth place while Sterling took sixth.
2026 Contenders: Collegiate is absolutely loaded once again. The Spartans return five of the six players who formed last year’s dominant squad that delivered Collegiate’s 28th team championship. Carter Drumright has graduated after teaming with younger brother Maddox to win the doubles title in each of the last two years. Senior Charlie Gentile is the reigning singles champion after defeating teammate Amir Khicha in a three-set match for the title last year. Maddox Drumright, a junior, will have a new partner this year after going undefeated with his brother last year. Khicha is just a sophomore after finishing one win short of a singles state title last year. William Farha and Vihaan Ganganala are also sophomores after placing third in doubles as freshmen. Conway Springs brings back 10th-place doubles finishers Joseph Beck and Eli Benge from last year’s state runner-up but graduated duo Isaac Winter and Layne Whitney after they wrapped up their careers with a fourth-place doubles showing. Cair Paravel, fourth a year ago, is led by Drew and Cole Fay. After taking fourth in singles at the Class 3-1A state tournament in 2024, Drew Fay teamed with foreign exchange student Eric Buchenau in doubles last year to compile a 29-2 record and take runner-up to the Drumrights. He will return to singles this year. Cole Fay, a 10th-place singles finisher a year ago, will move to doubles and team with freshman Jonah Arnold. Central Plains’ Camden Stiles will play singles again after going 27-3 last year and placing fourth at state. Peyton and Paxton Dody placed seventh in doubles last year. With Paxton’s graduation, Peyton is expected to play doubles with Alden Metro, a sophomore. Sterling brings back two state placers in Ben Bierstedt and Jace Darnauer. Darnauer took fifth in singles last year while Ben Bierstedt and Zac Wohler placed eighth together in doubles. Wohler will miss the season with an injury. Blane Farley is back for Wichita Trinity after placing fifth in doubles with now-graduated Preston Sebits. Other returning state-placing doubles teams are Ellinwood’s Ty Hammeke and Ethan Schlochtermeier (9th) and Smoky Valley’s Jack Bieker/Pierce Keller (11th). Hoisington’s Jasper Pawlowski returns after placing eighth in singles last year but Brady Rossman, a 12th-place finisher in singles for the Cardinals last year, is not playing. Meade’s Samuel Lynn will look to build last season’s 11th-place state finish in singles.