By ARNE GREEN
Salina Journal
WICHITA -- The Salina Central Mustangs have one clear advantage today when they open defensive of their Class 5A state tennis title.
"It's big for us to have all four in," junior Will Exline said of the Mustangs' maximum contingent -- two singles and two doubles -- in the 5A tournament, which gets under way at 12:30 p.m. at the Wulz Riverside Tennis Center in Riverside Park. "Not many teams can say that."
None, in fact.
But that doesn't make Central's task any less daunting as they go after their fifth straight team championship. Kansas City's Bishop Miege has three entries, including the Bonner Springs regional champions in both singles and doubles, while Shawnee Heights' two representatives both took first at the Topeka West regional.
Central won last year's team crown without the benefit of an individual champion, using its depth to rack up points in both singles and doubles. The Mustangs will need more of the same this time with no regional champs after Spencer Brass took second in singles, Connor Brass third in singles, Exline and Craig Knox third in doubles and the team of Michael Etheridge and Ross Rundell fourth.
"Just making it to state was huge," said Knox, a junior who last year teamed with Nic DeTurk to place third in doubles. "Now we want to go out and place as high as we can."
Connor Brass agreed.
"We're happy about (four entries)," he said. "But everybody's got to win at least a couple of rounds."
In addition to Knox, Central got major points in singles last year from Spencer Brass in fourth place and Connor Brass in fifth.
"I think they're ready to defend," Central coach Jim LoVullo said. "We'll count on the three kids who have been there -- Connor, Spencer and Craig -- to show some experience and let the other kids know that this is the real thing and a chance to do something good.
"Coming out of regionals we had to have all our entries in to make a run, but now we now we've got to take advantage of that. We can't be satisfied."
While Central chases the team title, Salina South's Jan Labas will try to wrap up a perfect season with a singles championship after rolling to a regional title last week at Oakdale Park.
"I'm looking forward to that," said Labas, a foreign exchange student from Slovakia, who takes a 30-0 record into the tournament. "It's unexplored territory, and it will be interesting, for sure."
The singles field includes three of last year's top four finishers in addition to Labas and fellow exchange student Rafael Maasberg of Miege (19-3), who won the Bonner Spring regional.
Sophomore Chance Joost (15-3), who took third last year when Spencer Brass defaulted with an injury, won the Topeka West regional over Topeka-Seaman sophomore Steven Fletcher, last year's state runner-up. Winfield sophomore Adam Lawrence won the Winfield regional.
"We're in pretty good position because of our regional," Spencer Brass said. "With Jan and Connor and me, it was a pretty tough regional."
In fact, Connor Brass claimed a head-to-head victory over Joost at the Salina Central Invitational.
In doubles, Wichita Carroll seniors Kevin Klein and Jordan Keller have a 23-4 record after winning the Winfield regional. Shawnee Heights' Billy Bloomquist and Philip Lucero won at Topeka West with an 18-4 mark, Miege's Will Stadler and Joe Schultz at Bonner Springs with a 16-6 record and Hutchinson's Luke Fangman and Ben Braun at Oakdale with a 25-8 mark.
McPherson's Cody Fawl and Nathan Wehrman were the top seeds at the Salina regional but fell to Fangman and Braun, plus had to fight off four match points against Etheridge and Rundell in the semis.
The first two rounds and some consolation matches will be played today, with the semifinals and finals to start Saturday morning.
Class 4A
Smoky Valley junior Chase Dippel will try to improve on last year's fourth-place singles finish in the 4A tournament at Harmon Park Tennis Center in Prairie Village.
Dippel (20-3) beat Abilene junior Logan Palenske (28-6) in the Hesston sub-state final. Abilene also will be represented by juniors Ben Geiger and Jeremy Linn (23-8), who took fourth at Hesston.
Dippel is the only semifinalist back from last year in singles, though Independence junior Dan Porter (32-5), who won the Independence regional, was a doubles champion.
Class 3-2-1A
Three area singles players qualified for the 3-2-1A tournament, which will be played at Wichita State.
Trego sophomore Brandon Katt (24-5) was the third-place finisher at the Cimarron regional and junior teammate Jake Schlegel (19-6) took fourth. At the Hillsboro regional, Ellsworth junior Kevin Davis (18-6) was third.
©Salina Journal