By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Eric Buchenau and Drew Fay used a gritty second-set comeback to give themselves a chance to win Cair Paravel Latin's first-ever state tennis championship Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center.
Cair Paravel juniors Eric Buchenau (left)and Drew Fay posted a runnerup state doubles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
But like they had all season, Wichita Collegiate senior Carter Drumright and his sophomore brother, Maddox, found a way to get the job done, dominating the third set to take a 6-2, 6-7 (5-7 tiebreaker), 6-0 victory in the state final.
The three-set victory capped off a perfect 25-0 season for the Drumrights while Buchenau and Fay, both juniors, went 29-2, with both losses coming against Collegiate's top team.
Cair Paravel junior Drew Fay returns a shot in Saturday's Class 3A-1A state doubles final at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"The end didn't finish how we wanted, but I'm proud of how we played,'' Fay said. "We played hard and gave it our all and I don't have any regrets personally.
"We definitely did better this time around. It was 8-2 the first time so I'm proud of how we played today.''
Cair Paravel junior Eric Buchenau (above) teamed with Drew Fay to post a runnerup doubles finish in Class 3A-1A state doubles Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
"It didn't end how we wanted it to,'' Buchenau said. "We believed we had a shot and we never stopped believing it.''
A foreign exchange student from Germany, Buchenau was disappointed that he couldn't end his stint in the United States with a storybook finish.
"I had one shot at a state championship and I didn't make it, but of course I'm proud of how we did,'' he said.
Buchenau and Fay, the No. 3 seed, opened their day with a 6-4, 6-3 win over No. 2 seeds William Farha and Vihaan Ganganola of Wichita Collegiate in the semis.
Cair Paravel freshman Cole Fay posted a 10th-place state singles finish Saturday at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Cair Paravel freshman singles player Cole Fay also earned a state medal in his first state tournament, finishing 10th in singles.
Wichita Trinity senior Alex Hobson took an 8-1 win over Fay in the ninth-place match.
Wichita Collegiate rolled to the team championship by a 58-24 margin over Conway Springs, with Collegiate junior Charlie Gentile and freshman Amir Khisha finishing one-two in singles as Gentile took a 6-2, 3-6, 6-1 win over his teammate.
Cair Paravel tied for fourth place with 19 points.
Hayden's Blaser and George fourth in 4A semis
Hayden seniors Chase Blaser and Evan George posted a fourth-place Class 4A doubles finish Saturday in Winfield to close out their high school tennis careers.
The fourth-seeded Wildcats won both of their Friday matches to advance to Saturday's semifinals before dropping a 6-1, 6-2 decision to top-seeded and eventual state champions Asher Deutschendorf and Braiden Liechty of Hesston.
Blaser and George then came up on the short end of a 6-2, 6-4 decision to Buhler's Von Woleslagel and Reuben Harder in the third-place match.
Hayden tied for eighth in the team standings with 12 points while Blaser and George finished the season with a 25-8 record.
Parsons and Winfield tied for the team title with 29 points while Buhler was third with 28 points.
Rural, High doubles teams earn 6A state medals
Washburn Rural juniors Cale Deutscher and Dylan Willingham finished seventh in Class 6A doubles Saturday at Junction City while Topeka High senior Alex Raymond and junior Christian Sink finished 12th.
Regional champions Deutscher and Willingham, the No. 7 state seed, went 3-2 on the weekend, including a win over Topeka High, to finish the season 25-4.
Deutscher and Willingham took an 8-4 win over Olathe Northwest's Bryan Branstrom and Aidan Messerly in the seventh-place match.
High's Raymond and Sink exceeded their No. 16 seed with their 12th-place finish, going 3-4 at state to finish 21-14 on the year.
Raymond and Sink dropped an 8-4 decision to Olathe East's Jackson Hyer and Jackson Janeway in the 11th-place match.
Blue Valley West swept the singles and doubles titles en route to winning the state team championship by a 55-39 margin over Shawnee Mission East while Washburn Rural finished ninth with 9 points and High tied for 12th with 5 points.
