Topeka West's Miles and Ian Cusick win 33 straight matches, capture 5A doubles tennis title

The Topeka West boys tennis doubles team of Ian and Miles Cusick capped off an incredible season on Saturday, culminating in a 5A state title at the Kossover Tennis Center that saw them end the year on a 33 match win streak.

Winning the City, League and Regional titles for the second year in a row after a COVID canceled freshman season, the Cusick brothers won all four of their matches on Friday and Saturday after a first-round bye to win the state title to finish with a record of 37-4.

Third time's the charm

The pinnacle of their tennis careers, thus far, for the Cusick brothers unfolded on Saturday when they beat Maize South senior Grayson Wright and junior Mitchell Krumm for the state title in their third meeting of the season.

The Cusick's, both juniors, started the season slowly, going 4-4, with two of their four losses coming to Wright and Krumm.

"Their ability to make consistent shots is really impressive," said Miles Cusick. "They don't miss very often, they're a really good team."

Despite winning the majority of their 37 matches quite handily, the two losses to Wright and Krumm were just the opposite, a 9-4 loss at the Salina Central Duals on Apr. 2 and an 8-3 loss at the Ark City Invitational on Apr. 5.

"Last time they beat us, it was mostly us beating ourselves," said Ian Cusick. "Not making the shots we needed to and missing early."

But on Saturday, it was the Cusick's who steamrolled their way to a 6-3, 6-2 win over Wright and Krumm to secure the state title.

"I think one of their strengths is playing the baseline and keeping you back," said Ian Cusick. "This time we were able to get on top of the net, really, our strength, and finish plays."

Head coach Kurt Davids said the focus was on reducing unforced errors and surviving the initial storm.

"The early break in the first set was critical and we rolled from there," said Davids. "The confidence was there, the intensity was there, and they didn't overthink things."

In control early, the Cusick's said they felt the momentum on the way to the first doubles state title for Topeka West since 2017 when Kyle Rice and Zach Shima, who were in attendance, claimed the doubles title.

"When you make a mistake, it's hard to get upset when you've been so dominant," said Ian Cusick on the chemistry with his brother that shined through at the best time. "When we made a mistake, we weren’t getting upset. We knew we could win."

Miles Cusick added that the high stakes of being in a state title game and making mistakes didn't matter because they were playing so well.

"It was like, 'Don't worry about that point we’ll get the next one,'" said Miles Cusick.

Ian Cusick said a state title was never openly discussed, and neither of them was really worried about comprising that chance until it got to the state semifinals when they beat Salina Central seniors Collin and Connor Phelps (6-1, 7-5)

"We've been playing well for a while now," said Miles Cusick. "Just building momentum every time we play. It came to a point in the finals where we were where we wanted to be and at the top of our game."

Davids said he wasn't sure the third matchup of the two teams would happen at the state tournament but knew if it did, the Cusick's would make it competitive no matter the outcome.

"Wright and Krumm are tough, one of them was part of the third-place doubles team last year," said Davids. "(Miles and Ian) rose to the occasion. They kept calm, they were intense but not overhyped, a tremendous sign of maturity as well."

Both yelled out in celebration after securing the final point with Miles Cusick saying a wave of emotions hit him.

"'Wow, I can't believe we did this, this is really amazing for us,'" said Miles Cusick on his initial thoughts after the win. "We've dreamed of this for a long time now, it's always been the goal, win state in high school. Now that we've done it, it's like we've reached a goal that almost felt unreal."

33 wins in a row

Although the Cusick's started the season 1-4, the losses came to top-tier talent.

The losses at those duals came to Wright and Krumm, the Phelps' and Ark City sophomore Oakley O'Donnell and freshman Dawson O'Donnell.

The Phelps' would defeat the O'Donnell's on Saturday (6-2, 6-4) at the state tournament for third place.

"I think we were going into it a little overconfident," said Miles Cusick. "We got humbled a little bit. After that day, we've just been trying to stay in the right mindset."

"Taking care of business when it needs to be taken care of," added Ian Cusick.

On Apr. 19, the Cusick's avenged their loss to the Phelps' at their own Invitational with an 8-7 (7-4) win and then beat them again in the winner's semifinals (6-1, 7-5) early Saturday to advance to the state title match.

"I don't think we ever got to a point where we thought we were gonna lose because we were so focused on winning," said Miles Cusick when asked about the win streak over the course of the year. "But I think the (second) Salina Central match was probably our toughest so far."

At All-City pictures earlier in the week, both agreed they were playing their best tennis of the season at the right time and cited the Salina Central win on Apr. 19 as a time they started to feel the synergy in their game.

Another year to go

After losing their freshman season due to COVID-19, the Cusick's responded during their sophomore season by winning City, League and Regionals before a ninth-place finish at the state tournament.

Despite COVID taking away a year and the jump from middle school to high school sports being quite the difference, both of them agreed it was alright for year one but they knew they could do better.

Over the summer they played in a lot more doubles tournaments together to increase the chemistry on the court.

"I think we wanted more," said Ian Cusick. "And we've wanted more this entire season. Losing to Maize South twice, we knew we could be better and we went out and did it."

After winning a state title on court four, the same court they've spent many hours practicing and playing on, the Cusick's reflected on the journey thus far.

"Seeing so many familiar faces is a nice thing to see on and off the court," said Ian Cusick. "We're very confident here, we've played a lot of tennis here

"We've received a ton of support from the tennis community over the six years we've been playing tennis," said Miles Cusick. "Especially from the Topeka Tennis Association, all the coaches at Genisis and just all the people in the tennis community in Topeka have been really supportive of us.

"We both really appreciate it and it means a lot to us. It's been really amazing."

Contact Seth Kinker at skinker@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @SethKinker

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Topeka West brothers win Kansas 5A doubles tennis state title