By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Seven Shawnee County schools will send a total of 25 players to state tennis tournaments Friday and Saturday, with the County represented in all four state events.
Class 5A regional team champ Topeka West and 6A runner-up Washburn Rural both qualified all six players for state while Hayden qualified five players for 4A state, Shawnee Heights four, Highland Park two and Seaman one entry in 5A and Rossville one qualifier in 3A-1A.
Topeka West swept the top two spots in both singles and doubles in Friday's regional at Kossover Tennis Center to qualify its entire team for Friday and Saturday's state tournament at Maize South while taking the regional team championship by a 26-13 margin over runner-up Shawnee Heights.
Sophomore Carter Cool and freshman teammate James Maag finished one-two in singles, while sophomore twin brothers Ian and Miles Cusick won the doubles title, topping junior Gavin Chavez and freshman Caden McGee in the doubles final..
Topeka West sophomore Carter Cool won the 5A regional singles title Friday at Kossover Tennis Center as the Chargers won the regional team title and qualified their entire team for this weekend's state meet at Maize South. [Submitted]
Miles Cusick (left) and his twin bother Ian have won city, Centennial League and Class 5A regional doubles titles this spring for Topeka West. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
Shawnee Heights qualified junior singles players Jaden Rodriguez and Paul Quidu and the doubles team of juniors Garrison Johnson and Ajay Sharma while Highland Park qualified the doubles team of seniors Eliseo Barreno and Azarion Perkins and Seaman qualified junior singles player Justin Kruse.
Kruse finished third in singles while Rodriguez was fourth and Quidu fifth..
Johnson and Sharma finished third in doubles while Barreno and Perkins finished fifth.
The 5A state tournament will be played next Friday and Saturday at Maize South.
Washburn Rural finished second to Centennial League rival Manhattan in the 6A regional at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Complex, with junior Nick Luetje and sophomore Mason Casebeer finishing second in doubles while juniors Jiyoon Park and Zach Willingham finished fifth.
Rural junior Kyler Knudtson and senior Aryamann Zutshi earned state singles berths for the 6A tournament at Prairie Village's Harmon Park with third and fourth-place regional finishes.
Hayden junior Michael Sandstrom teamed with sophomore Gus Glotzbach to win a 4A regional doubles title last weekend. [File photo/TSN]
Hayden, which will host the 4A state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center, finished one-two in doubles in the 4A regional at Harmon Park, with junior Michael Sandstrom and sophomore Gus Glotzbach topping senior Johnny Holloway and junior Patrick Gorman in the final
Wildcat junior Tyler Broxterman qualified for state in singles with a fourth-place regional finish as Hayden finished second as a team.
Rossville senior Alex Sherer, who competed during the regular season for Hayden as a co-op player, qualified for the 3A-1A state tournament with a second-place regional finish.
The 3A-1A tournament will be contested at Wichita's Riverside Tennis Complex.
