TOPEKA, Kan. – After capturing a Class 4A regional title last week, the potential for adding a state championship became a distinct reality for the Hayden doubles team of Michael Sandstrom and Gus Glotzbach.
Following their performance at Friday’s opening day of the Class 4A state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center, it’s even more so.
Seeded third for the tournament in the doubles draw, Sandstrom and Glotzbach got a first-round bye via their regional title and then went out and controlled the action in both of their matches, reaching the state semifinals. Assured of no worse than a fourth-place finish, the Wildcat duo now have their sights set on the title.
“With expectations comes pressure, so you’re overcoming your opponent, you’re overcoming pressure,” Hayden coach James Sandstrom said. “Sometimes kids respond differently to that and thankfully Gus and Michael played real well and dealt with the pressure.”
Sandstrom and Glotzbach improved to 26-9 on the season with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Parsons’ Tanner Barcus and Davis West in their opening match and a 6-2, 6-4 win over McPherson’s Alex Houston and Wesley Wurm in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they will take on Circle’s Noah Allison and Drew Middleton, who are 14-3 on the season.
Sandstrom and Glotzbach won’t be Hayden’s only state placers.
The doubles team of Johnny Holloway and Patrick Gorman bounced back from a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Chanute’s Kaidan Frederick and Hayden Newton in their opening match to win two straight matches in the consolation bracket to clinch a top-12 showing. The first-year combo topped Abilene’s Isaac Barbieri and Elijah Prater 8-5 and then survived a 9-8 (7-5) battle with El Dorado’s John Ferley and Logan Foulkes to stay alive.
In the consolation quarterfinals, Holloway and Gorman (18-18) will face Houston and Wurm (15-10).
Hayden’s Tyler Broxterman went 0-2 in singles play, dropping a 6-3, 7-6 (7-1) decision to Pratt’s Micah Tatro in his first-round match and an 8-1 decision to Miege’s Andrew Ladwig in consolation play.
CLASS 5A
Winners of city, league and regional championships, Topeka West’s Ian and Miles Cusick saw their bid for a state championship come to an end on Friday in Maize. But the Charger duo will come away from the Class 5A state meet with a medal.
The twin brothers earned a first-round bye via their regional title and then started state play with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Maize South’s Landon Eskridge and Mitch Krumm. The Cusicks got off to a slow start in their quarterfinal match with Salina Central’s Brady Stack and McCabe Green, dropping the first set 6-2.
But a 6-3 win by the Cusicks in the second set forced a third set and it was back and forth the entire way before the Mustang duo pulled out a 7-5 win to end the Cusick’s state-title hopes.
In the consolation quarterfinals, the Cusicks again found themselves in a war with Kapaun’s Gavin Bhargava and Johnathan McIlvain, but fell 9-7. The Charger duo will take on Newton’s Max Musser and Ezekiel Thompson in consolation play and can finish as high as ninth.
West’s doubles team of Gavin Chavez and Caden McGee also went 1-2, dropping their first match to Arkansas City’s Chris Arnett and Oakley O’Donnell 6-0, 6-0 before beating Shawnee Heights’ Garrison Johnson and Ajay Sharma 9-7 in consolation play. Their day ended with a 9-4 loss to Kapaun’s Bhargave and McIlvain.
West’s singles entries Carter Cool and James Maag each went 1-2 and were eliminated. Cool opened with a 6-2, 6-1 loss to St. James Academy’s Charlie Rieke, bounced back with a 9-4 win over city rival Jaden Rodriguez of Shawnee Heights before losing 9-2 to Maize South’s Harris Kossover. Maag dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Blue Valley Southwest’s Vishal Rajkamar in his first match, beat Seaman’s Justin Kruse 9-1 and lost to Maize Bode Carter 9-6.
Rodriguez lost his first match 6-1, 6-1 to Andover’s Paul Jittawait before losing to Cool, while Heights’ teammate Paul Quidu also went 0-2, losing 6-0, 6-1 to Kapaun’s Trevor Sweat and 9-1 to Maize’s Carter. Johnson and Sharma fell 6-1, 6-2 to Newton’s Musser and Thompson before losing to Chavez and McGee.
Kruse lost his first match 6-2, 2-6, 10-6 against Eisenhower’s Braxton Roy before losing to Maag. Highland Park’s doubles team of Eliseo Barreno and Azarion Perkins went 0-2, losing 6-0, 6-1 to Emporia’s Brenden Kienholz and Taylor Moorman and 9-0 to Bhargava and McIlvain.
CLASS 6A
Washburn Rural will come away from the Class 6A meet in Prairie Village with a pair of state placers as singles player Kyler Knudtson and the doubles team of Mason Casebeer and Nick Luetje each went 2-1 on the day.
Knudtson bounced back from a 3-6 loss in the first set of his opening match with Free State’s Jared Loos to win the next set 6-0 before outlasting Loos 10-7 in the third set for the win. He then knocked off Campus’ Jacob Blush 6-0, 6-1 in the second round before falling 6-1, 6-0 to Shawnee Mission East’s Graham Faris in the quarterfinals.
Casebeer and Luetje got a first-round bye, but then were knocked off in the second round 7-6, 6-2 by Blue Valley Northwest’s Jackson Marrs and Cameron Parrish. They came back to beat Dodge city’s Oscar Arzaga and Aron Ponce 9-2 and Campus’ Alec Hinojos and Leyton Brown 9-1 to clinch a medal.
Knudtson (18-8) will take on Olathe Northwest’s Joseph Burnham 9-3 in the consolation quarterfinals, while Casebeer and Luetje (24-11) will face Blue Valley North’s Matt Crossland and Zach Amsterdam.
Jiyoon Park and Zach Willingham went 2-2 in doubles play, falling one win shy of placing as well. They beat Garden City’s Abraham Hernandez and Charles Stillian 6-3, 0-6, 10-6 in the first round before losing to top-seeded Blake Eason and Hudson Mosher of SM East 6-1, 6-0 in the second round. After beating Free State’s Jake Hedges and Minh Vu 9-3, they dropped a tough 9-7 decision to Olathe West’s Jake Atzenweiler and Aidan Sturdivan to end their tournament.
Aryamann Zutshi went 1-2 in singles play for the Junior Blues, winning his first match 3-6, 7-5, 11-9 against Free State’s Britton Snyder before losing 9-7, 7-6 (7-5) to Wichita Northwest’s Frank Reyes in the second round and 9-1 to Garden City’s Logan Morren in consolation play.
Manhattan’s Daniel Harkin went 2-0 to reach the singles semifinals, beating SM East’s Gregor Wideman 7-6 (7-5), 6-0 in his first match and Blue Valley Northwest’s Brent Fallon 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals. Harkin (29-1) will meet Blue Valley North’s CJ Smith (23-8), who dropped just one game in his two matches.
CLASS 3-2-1A
Alex Sherer’s one shot at winning a state championship is still alive.
The Rossville senior cleared a huge hurdle on Friday in Wichita, knocking off previously undefeated Peyton Ryan of Central Plains in the quarterfinals. Ryan came into the match with a 30-0 record, but Sherer dominated the first set 6-0 and then fought off Ryan’s comeback bid in the second for a 6-4 victory to advance to the semifinals.
Now 34-2 after also beating Conway Springs’ Colby Osner 6-0, 6-1 to start state play, Sherer will take on Smoky Valley’s Jake Lucas (30-5) in the semifinals. The other semifinal will pit KC Christian’s Caleb Bartels (25-4) against Wichita Collegiate’s Nick Grabon (17-4).
