ANDOVER – A year ago, Maize South’s Evan Goates won the Class 5A singles title without a single teammate competing alongside him at state.

This year, the Mavericks arrived with a full contingent ready to make noise. 

With all four entries contributing points, Maize South totaled 42 points to capture the Class 5A team title Saturday at the Andover Public Schools Tennis Complex.

“It was pretty weird that I was the only one that qualified last year,” Goates said. “I just didn’t think we had the depth. But everyone played this summer and put in the work in the offseason. Now, we’re here with everyone placing and holding the state plaque.”

Goates led the Mavericks with a runner-up finish in singles while the doubles teams – Jacob Kurniadi/Tucker Lowe and Preston Heard/Jack Pringle – placed third and fifth, respectively. No. 2 singles player Landon Cook added a ninth-place showing.

“This was entirely a team effort,” Maize South coach Frank Reyes said. “We knew at the beginning of the season we had a squad we could do business with.

“Throughout the season, we didn’t necessarily have the wins that could prove we could do it, but we kept building.”

After capturing a regional title, the Mavericks kept the momentum with a huge first day at state on Friday, putting them in strong position for Saturday.

“I knew we had to win some matches. There were definitely some times where we were sweating,” Reyes said. “(Andover’s Harsha Maradana) played Evan phenomenally in the semifinal. Lowe and Kurniadi came up big taking third, and Heard and Pringle fought through some tough matches to get all the way to the fifth-place match and win that one.”

Goates had to fight off a match point in the second set against Maradana before rallying for a 6-7 (1), 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over the Andover freshman to return to the title match.

Carroll’s Brandon Steven never let Goates find his rhythm in the title match, avenging last year’s semifinal loss to Goates with a 6-2, 6-1 victory. Goates, who will continue his college career at Emporia State, finished his senior season with a 34-3 record.

“He really dug deep and came up huge for his team,” Reyes said of the semifinal win. “Brandon is such a heck of a player. Even last year could’ve gone either way. It was a tough one, but at the end of the day, Evan knew what his goal was and he accomplished it.”

The Maverick doubles teams were a driving force behind the title.

Seniors Lowe and Kurniadi fell in the semifinals, 7-6 (2), 6-3, to Blue Valley Southwest freshman duo Hamza Khan and Sabinth Kathiresan, but bounced back in the third-place match, defeating Southwest’s Saket Jagannath and Vidhu Reddy to complete a 29-9 season.

Heard and Pringle lost an all-Maverick quarterfinal against Lowe and Kurniadi before going undefeated the rest of the tournament. Heard, a senior, and Pringle, a sophomore, closed their run with an 8-3 win over Piper’s Johnny Vogel and Baird Greenamyre in the fifth-place match.

“Those doubles teams put in so much work competing against each other,” Reyes said. “People ask me all the time: 'Who's the one, who's the two?' I don’t know, because they’ve both beaten a bunch of good teams. They're definitely a special group of kids.”

Cook, a junior, was also a key contributor, closing his tournament with an 8-3 win over Valley Center's Gabriel Tamayo to secure ninth place.

“Landon was key. We knew we needed all four (entries) to get there,” Reyes said. “Landon was the most underrated kid in 5A this year. We went to so many tournaments where he was playing top guys in the second round. He just kept working and grinding and by the time we got to regionals, he had all the wins he needed to get him the spot. He showed everyone what he’s got.”

It was Maize South’s second state title with the first coming in 2022. Blue Valley Southwest took second with 33 points while Carroll, despite having the singles and doubles champions, finished third with 32 points.

“Last year was probably as low as we could get with only getting Evan to state,” Reyes said. “Going from that, to qualifying all four spots and winning state, that’s the best feeling in the world.”
 

 

 

 

 

 

CLASS 5A STATE TENNIS 

SINGLES 

Championship – Brandon Steven, Carroll, def. Goates, Maize South, 6-2, 6-1. Third place – Henry Walker, Andover Central, def. Harsha Maradana, 6-4, 6-2. Fifth place – Luke Niesen, St. James, def. Breckin Martin, Spring Hill, 8-5. Seventh place – Nidhish Padmanaban, Blue Valley Southwest, def. Andrew Chan, Andover, inj. Ninth place – Landon Cook, Maize South, def. Gabriel Tamayo, Valley Center, 8-3. 11th place – Nick Neff, Valley Center, def. Brett Baltuska, Aquinas, 9-8 (6). 

DOUBLES 

Championship – Gabe Weber/Braeden Dugan, Carroll, def. Hamza Khan/Sabinth Kathiresan, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-1, 6-2. Third place – Jacob Kurniadi/Tucker Lowe def. Saket Jagannath/Vidhu Reddy, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-3, 6-2. Fifth place – Preston Heard/Jack Pringle def. Johnny Vogel/Baird Greenamyre, 8-3. Seventh place – Braxton Nicholson/Gabriel Shaffer def. Will Felski/Will Nash, Aquinas, 9-8 (3). Ninth place – Collin McGee/Zander Rice, Topeka West, def. Dayton Schneider/Owen Stewart, default. 11th place – Johnny Korfhage/Andrew Korfhage, Kapaun, def. Brady Harley/Alec King, St. James, 8-5. 

TEAM SCORES 

Maize South 42, Blue Valley Southwest 33, Carroll 32, Andover 19, Valley Center 19, St. James 17, Aquinas 13, Andover Central 12, Piper 11, Spring Hill 9, Seaman 7, Topeka West 6, Kapaun 4, Salina Central 2, Newton 1.