Numbers behind legendary Kansas career of Wichita Collegiate tennis coach Dave Hawley

Wichita Collegiate tennis coach Dave Hawley concluded a legendary career at his final Kansas high school state tournament on Saturday, as the Spartans’ boys tennis team finished in second place at the Class 3-1A state tournament at Riverside Tennis Complex.

Hawley finished with a combined 59 state championships between coaching the Collegiate boys and girls tennis programs since 1985. Hawley led the Collegiate girls to state titles in 33 of 38 seasons, including a 14th straight title this past fall. In total, Hawley won state a staggering 78% of the time — 59 titles in 76 seasons — during his career.

While the boys team was edged out by Kansas City Christian by five points in the team standings on Saturday, Hawley ended his career winning state (26 titles) more than double the amount he didn’t in 38 seasons.

For context of Hawley’s record-setting career, his 59 titles at Collegiate are more than double the next closest school, not coach — Shawnee Mission East with 27 combined titles — in terms of championship success in Kansas history. The Spartans’ 33 girls titles are followed by 16 titles from Blue Valley North and Kapaun Mt. Carmel, while the boys’ 26 titles are followed by 13 titles from Salina Central and SM East.

On Saturday, Collegiate was led by freshman Charlie Gentile, who bounced back from a loss to the eventual champion in the semifinals to win 6-4, 6-2 over Kansas City Christian’s Ian Garis in the third-place match. After dropping in the quarterfinals, Collegiate sophomore Carter Drumright rallied to win three straight consolation matches to claim fifth place.

In the doubles’ field, Collegiate senior Jude Cunningham and junior Sky Fujinuma lost their first match of the tournament but won their final five to finish in fifth place. Collegiate’s other doubles team of juniors Rahul Madhavan and Robby Rasberry won three matches on the back side of the bracket to take 11th place.

The lone Wichita-area champion of the weekend was the Hesston doubles team of senior Micah Dahlsten and sophomore Asher Deutschendorf, who capped a 28-5 season with a state title. After cruising to the state finals, Dahlsten and Deutschendorf were locked in an intense match with the Kansas City Christian pairing of James Vander Ark and Jackson Newman before their opponents had to retire due to cramping in the second set. The Hesston duo won the first set, 6-3, while the second set was tied, 4-4, on deuce point when the match ended.

In the singles final, Kansas City Christian junior Caleb Bartels won 6-1, 6-2 over Central Plains junior Peyton Ryan.

The Wichita Classical pairing of junior Charlie Graham and sophomore Isaac Yourdon reached the semifinals and took third place in the doubles field after winning 7-5, 6-4 over the Hutchinson Trinity duo of seniors Anthony Clennan and Garrett Hageman. Other Wichita-area doubles medalists included Trinity Academy pairing of senior Drew Bryant and sophomore Preston Sebits (seventh) and Smoky Valley sophomores Gabriel and Zeke Baker (12th).

Other Wichita-area medalists included Trinity Academy senior J.J. Henderson (sixth), Smoky Valley senior Max Bieker (eighth), Wichita Classical sophomore Noah Doom (ninth), Hesston junior Will White (10th) and Smoky Valley junior Keaton Leiker (11th) in singles.

Class 5A state tennis recap: Maize takes home team trophy

Maize senior Sam Ritchie finished his career on a high note, reaching the state singles championship match and leading the Eagles to a third-place finish as a team at the Class 5A tournament at Louderback Tennis Complex in Arkansas City.

Ritchie entered with a 25-4 record after winning a regional crown last weekend and prevailed in a 7-6 (2), 6-4 match over Blue Valley Southwest’s Sanjay Rajkumar to advance to the semifinals. In a showdown between two of the area’s best, Ritchie won 6-2, 6-1 over Andover’s Paul Jittawait to punch his ticket to the finals.

But St. Thomas Aquinas senior Russell Lokko proved to once again be on another level than his peers, completing his second straight undefeated season and winning his third straight 5A singles title with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Ritchie.

Bishop Carroll senior Barrett Steven finished third place in the singles field, winning by injury default over Jittawait in the third-place match. Other Wichita-area medalists in singles included Kapaun Mt. Carmel junior Jack Judkins (fifth), Maize South freshman Evan Goates (eighth) and Goddard Eisenhower sophomore Kyle King (10th).

Topeka West won its first team state championship in program history, spearheaded by the senior brotherly duo of Ian and Miles Cusick winning the doubles title. The Cusick brothers avenged three losses from the regular season to top Arkansas City brothers Oakley and Dawson O’Donnell in the state finals in a 6-3, 6-4 victory.

The Newton senior duo of Otis Musser and Justin Franz battled back to win a 6-7 (2), 6-4, 6-4 marathon match over Andover Central’s Isaac Huber and Trevor Sagehorn in Friday’s quarterfinals, then pushed the Cusick brothers in the semifinals in a 7-6 (5), 6-2 loss. Musser and Franz claimed third place with a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 victory over Blue Valley Southwest’s Vishal Rajkumar and Saket Janannath.

Other Wichita-area medalists in the doubles field included Maize South senior Mitchell Krumm and sophomore Hudson Grizzell (fifth), Andover Central senior Blake Wilson and senior Cameron Strickland (sixth), Andover Central’s Huber and Sagehorn (seventh), Maize senior Hector Baleriola-Lopez and sophomore Hayden Herrera (eighth) and Arkansas City senior Jacob Arnett and junior Aidan Brantley (11th).

Class 4A state tennis recap: Buhler takes third in team race

Behind both of its singles entries reaching the semifinals, Buhler collected the third-place team trophy from the Class 4A state tournament at Blake Tennis Complex in Pratt.

After losing in the semifinals, the Buhler teammates squared off in the third-place match with sophomore Davian Spies taking a 6-4, 6-1 victory over junior Amos Harder. Spies, who won the singles title last year, finished the season with a 23-5 record.

Buhler was also bolstered by its doubles team of senior Brock Hilger and sophomore Von Woleslagel, who reached the quarterfinals and then rallied on the back side of the bracket to take seventh place.

With both the singles and doubles champions, Independence had little issue winning its third straight Class 4A team championship. Independence senior Kale Groff won a 7-5, 6-3 match over Parsons freshman Wyatt Shultz in a rematch of their regional finals from last weekend, then the Independence duo of senior Easton Morris and junior Camdon Julian topped Parsons’ Davis West and Conner Barcus in a 6-4, 6-4 victory in the doubles final.

The Winfield pairing of sophomores Jackson Davis and Adam Everett, regional champions from last weekend, bounced back after a loss in the semifinals to win a 6-4, 6-3 match over McPherson senior Kayden McVicker and sophomore Alex Berger in the third-place match.

Other Wichita-area medalists included Wellington senior Jax Cornejo (seventh), McPherson sophomore Ethan Elder (10th) and McPherson sophomore Bryson Archer (11th) in singles, then Augusta juniors Logan Pfeifer and Logan Ruddle (eighth), Wellington seniors Jack Wright and Hunter Worley (ninth), Winfield junior Jackson Palmer and sophomore Matthew Norton (11th) and Circle seniors Asher Bleich and Dylan Foes (12th) in doubles.

Class 6A state tennis recap: Wichita area has two medalists

Blue Valley West won its fourth Class 6A team championship in program history, all coming in the past eight seasons (2015, 2017, 2018, 2023). Shawnee Mission East, the three-time reigning champions, finished in third place, while Blue Valley North was runner-up, sixth points behind West in the team competition at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.

Blue Valley North senior C.J. Smith avenged his only loss of the season, in last weekend’s regional final, with a tidy 6-3, 6-2 victory over Blue Valley West freshman Jonah Stolte in the singles championship match. Smith, who took fourth last year, concluded a 24-1 senior year.

The Blue Valley West pairing of senior Akki Poojari and senior David Han came out of the first round of play, after finishing third at last weekend’s regional, to claim the doubles championship. The duo won a grueling 7-5, 7-5 match over Blue Valley Northwest’s Luke Pennington and Luca Ospino in the semifinals, then capped off their title run with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Blue Valley seniors Caden and Evan Myers.

Wichita East sophomore Bo Lu was the lone Wichita-area medalist in the singles field, winning three consolation matches to finish in 11th place. The Derby pairing of senior Isaak Bowman and junior Hayden Carrillo, which entered with a 27-3 record and regional champions, finished in 11th place after winning three matches on the back-side of the bracket.