Area athletes compete at state tennis
Garden City, Kan. (westernkansasnews.com)–The first spring sport is officially wrapped up, as the boys tennis championships were played on Friday and Saturday across four sites in Kansas.
In Class 6A at the Olathe College Boulevard Activity Center, Garden City and Dodge City saw their players compete, and saw one player come out a state placer. In Singles, Joshua Negron for Garden City would win his first match of the tournament 6-4, 6-2, but dropped his round of 16 match to eventual third place finisher Grahm Faris of Shawnee Mission East 6-0, 6-0. He would go to the consolation side, where he lost 9-3 to end his season. Logan Morren of Garden City placed 11th overall. Morren had a first round bye, but lost in the round of 16 6-1, 6-2. On the consolation side, he was able to pick up wins of 9-0 and 9-8 to advance to Saturday. On Saturday, Morren lost his first two matches 9-8 and 9-3, but won his final match to place 11th.
Dodge City’s Doubles team of Oscar Alvarado Martinez/Hayden Carrillo dropped their first match 6-1, 6-1, and in their consolation first round, they would fall 9-7. Garden City’s Carson Kraus/John Tran fell 6-0, 6-0 in their first match, and weren’t able to get a win in their consolation first round match in a 9-1 loss.
Shawnee Mission East won the Class 6A title with 41 points, while Blue Valley North and Blue Valley NW tied for second with 34 points. Garden City tied for 10th with five points.
Across the Kansas City metro, the Class 3-2-1A State meet at the Harmon Park Tennis Complex in Prairie Village saw several area players compete. It would be a tough tournament for the area teams. Scott City saw Dylan Duff drop his first match of the day 6-1, 6-2, and would fall in his consolation match to teammate Avry Noll 9-2. Noll had a first round bye, and fell to eventual fourth place finisher Max Klice of the Classical School of Wichita 6-3, 6-2. After defeating Duff, he would fall to Cole Matthews of Wichita Trinity 9-3, and was one match away from placing. Cimarron’s Luke Janzen won his first match 6-2, 6-5, before falling to eventual third place finisher Carter Drumwright of Wichita Collegiate 6-0, 6-1. He would win his next match 9-8, and fall one match shy of placing by falling to Keaton Leiker of Smoky Valley 9-4. Meade’s Vincent Lynn dropped his opening match 6-3, 6-1, and lost his first match on the consolation side 9-0.
In Doubles play, Scott City’s Dante Franco/Ayden Presson had a tough go of it, dropping their opening match 6-2, 6-0, and fell in the consolation first round 9-5. Also from Scott City, Houston Frank/Sage Stoecklein would lose their first match of the day 6-0, 6-1, but bounced back for a 9-4 win in their first consolation match. In their second match on the consolation side, they would fall 9-5. Meade’s doubles team of Nico Rodrigo-Coffe/Korben Clawson finished seventh place in the state meet. They won their first match following a bye 6-2, 6-0, before falling to eventual runner-up Charlie Dunne/Charlie Nolan of Wichita Collegiate 6-3, 6-3. On the consolation side, they would pick up a 9-2 win to start the day, before falling 9-7 in the consolation semi-finals, and bounced back for a seventh place finish with a 9-2 win over Hesston’s Trevor Gamble/Joshua Shirley.
Wichita Collegiate dominated the meet, as they took the title with 52 points, while Wichita Trinity was second with 20, and Central Kansas League schools Hesston & Smoky Valley tied for third with 19 points. Meade was 11th with eight points, Scott City finished in a tie for 14th place with three points, and Cimarron tied for 16th place with two points.
