By RICK PETERSON
TopSports.news
Topeka West senior doubles stars Ian and Miles Cusick had only lost four times all season, but three of those losses had come against Arkansas City junior Oakley O'Donnell and sophomore Dawson O'Donnell.
Topeka West's Class 5A state championship tennis team -- From left: Shon Daniels (assistant coach), Carter Cool, Caden McGee, Miles Cusick, Ian Cusick, James Maag, Caleb Weybrew, Kurt Davids (head coach). [Submitted photo]
Topeka West senior twin brothers Miles and Ian Cusick exchange a hug Saturday after winning their second straight Class 5A state doubles title and leading the Chargers to the state team championship. [Submitted photo by Scott Ritter]
But when it mattered the most, the Cusick twins were up to the challenge, capturing their second straight Class 5A state championship with a 6-3, 6-4 win on the O'Donnell's home courts while leading the Chargers to their first-ever boys state team title by a decisive 34-28 margin over Blue Valley Southwest.
The Cusicks, who went 4-0 at state to finish off a 38-4 season, advanced to the championship match with a 7-6 (7-5 tiebreaker), 6-2 semifinal win over Newton seniors Otis Musser and Justin Franz Saturday morning.
It was a huge weekend for Kurt Davids' Topeka West team overall, with all six Chargers taking home state medals as West completed a sweep of city, United Kansas Conference, 5A regional and state championhips.
Topeka West, which finished second as a team in the 2022 state meet, got seventh and 11th-place singles finishes from senior Carter Cool and junior James Maag while juniors Caden McGee and Caleb Weybrew added a ninth-place doubles finish.
All four of Topeka West's state entries ended state with victories in their final matches.
Cool took a 9-7 win over Maize South freshman Evan Goates in the seventh-place singles match while Maag rolled to a 9-0 win over St. James Academy sophomore Eli Donaldson in the 11th-place match.
McGee and Weybrew won a 9-3 decision over St. Thomas Aquinas sophomores Maverick Farrar and Patrick Lacy in the ninth-place match.
CLASS 5A AT ARKANSAS CITY
Team scores
Topeka West 34, Blue Valley Southwest 28, Maize 21, St. Thomas Aquinas 21, Arkansas City 18, Maize South 17, Andover Central 17, Bishop Carroll 14, Newton 12, Andover 11, Kapaun Mt. Carmel 10, St. James Academy 7, Eisenhower 5, De Soto 4, Bonner Springs 2, Hutchinson 2, Salina South 2, Valley Center 2.
Individual results
Singles
Championship -- Lokko, St. Thomas Aquinas, def. Ritchie, Maize, 6-0, 6-1.
Third -- Steven, Bishop Carroll, def. Jittawait, Andover, inj. def.
Fifth -- Judkins, Kapaun Mt. Carmel, Wirth, Blue Valley Southwest, 9-8 (7-4).
Seventh -- Cool, Topeka West, def. Goates, Maize South, 9-7.
Ninth -- Rajkumar, Blue Valley Southwest, de. King, Eisenhower, 9-3.
11th -- Maag, Topeka West, def. Donaldson, St. James Academy, 9-0.
Doubles
Championship -- I. Cusick/M. Cusick, Topeka West, def. O. O'Donnell/D. O'Donnell, Arkansas City, 6-3, 6-4.
Third -- Musser/Franz, Newton, def. Rajkumar/Jagannath, Blue Valley Southwest, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Fifth -- Grizzell/Krumm, Maize South, def. Wilson Strickland, Andover Central, 9-7.
Seventh -- Huber/Sagehorn, Andover Central, def. Herrera/Baleriola-Lopez, Maize, 9-2.
Ninth -- McGee/Weybrew, Topeka West, def. Farrar/Lacy, St. Thomas Aquinas, 9-3.
11th -- Arnett/Brantley, Arkansas City, def. Rhoades/Province, De Soto, 9-4.
Washburn Rural senior Mason Casebeer posted a ninth-place singles finish Saturday in the Class 6A state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center. [Photo by Rick Peterson/TSN]
CLASS 6A
Washburn Rural senior standout Mason Casebeer and the doubles team of senior Kiefer Von Lintel and freshman Dylan Willingham earned state medals Saturday in the Class 6A state tournament at Kossover Tennis Center.
Casebeer, a regional champion, earned the second state medal of his high school career with a ninth-place singles finish, capped by a 9-2 win over Lawrence freshman Jack Bauch in the ninth-place match.
Casebeer had earned a state doubles medalist as a sophomore and was a three-time state qualifier.
Von Lintel and Willingham finished 12th in doubles, dropping a 9-4 decision to Derby senior Isaak Bowman and junior Hayden Carrillo in the 11th-place match.
Washburn Rural finished seventh in the team standings with 12 points.
Hayden senior Gus Glotzbach and junior Joseph Luke posted a fifth-place doubles finish Saturday in the Class 4A state tournament at Pratt. [File photo/TSN]
CLASS 4A
Hayden's doubles team of senior Gus Glotzbach and junior Joseph Luke posted a fifth-place finish Saturday in the Class 4A state tournament at Pratt.
Regional champions Glotzbach and Luke capped their weekend with a 9-5 win over Independence juniors Tucker Gregory and Aiden Denney in the fifth-place match.
Glotzbach posted his third straight top-five state finish, while Luke earned a state medal for the second straight season.
