TOPEKA, Kan. – For the first time since 2015 and just the second time in school history, the Hesston Swather boys tennis team claimed a state championship. Janmejay Patwardhan took home second place in singles and the doubles team of Braiden Liechty and Tim van Bergeijk took second place as well. The Swathers’ other doubles pair of Jerick Humphreys and Ben Bartlett claimed the fourth place medals. Hesston had 43 points total ahead of second place McPherson which scored 31 points in the team standings.
Patwardhan had a first round bye as the number two seed in singles. He won over Eli Pfizenmaier of Clay Center in the second round 6-0, 6-0 before winning a tough 6-1, 4-6, 7-5 battle over Maverick Peterson of Wellington in the quarterfinals to close play on Friday. Patwardhan then defeated Josh Moore of Winfield 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals on Saturday to set up a state title match with top-seeded Wyatt Shultz of Parsons. Schultz proved too much with a 6-2, 6-0 win to take the singles championship.
Liechty and van Bergeijk were also the second-seeded doubles team coming into the state tournament. After a first round bye, they dispatched of Henderson and Tallent of Augusta in the second round 6-2, 6-3 and then beat Jonas Emery and Mason Eisenbarth of McPherson 6-3, 6-3 in the quarterfinals to wrap up Friday. In the semis on Saturday, Liechty and van Bergeijk won 6-3, 6-3 over Reuben Harder and Jaxton Gillette of Buhler. In the championship, they faced top-seeded Matthew McLenon and Brodie Small from Independence as the Bulldog pair won 6-2, 6-4 over the Swathers.
Humphreys and Bartlett were the number four seed in the doubles bracket for Hesston. After a first round bye, they won 6-1, 6-1 over Rodriguez and Lukert from Bishop Miege in the second round and beat Kennett and Gregory of Parsons in the quarters, 6-2, 6-3. They lost to McLenon and Small of Independence in the semis and fell to Harder and Gillette in the third place match, retiring in the third set after splitting the first two. Harder and Gillette took third place and Humphreys and Bartlett finished fourth.
For McPherson, Emery and Eisenbarth bounced back on the back side of the bracket after their quarterfinal loss to Hesston. They beat Mah and Smith of Independence 8-0 in the consolation semis and took the 5th Place match 8-6 over Kennett and Gregory of Parsons.
In singles for McPherson, Rylan Unruh won his first match over Delken Hall of El Dorado 6-3, 6-4 after getting a first round bye. He fell to Mosiah Fawson of Iola 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, but bounced back with an 8-4 win over Copeland Quiett of Winfield in the consolation semis. The Bullpups other singles player, Cooper Bohme also had a first round bye, but fell in his second round match. Despite the loss, he worked his way through the back side with four wins, capped by an 8-2 win over Reece Knight of El Dorado to advance to the 5th Place match against his teammate Unruh. Just like the week before at regionals, Unruh came out on top 8-4 to finish in fifth place and Bohme finished 6th.
Also of note in singles, Fawson picked up third place for Iola, winning his final match 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 over Moore of Winfield. Hesston’s Henry White finished in 11th with an 8-1 win over Cayden Davis of Buhler in 12th. Buhler’s doubles team of Titus Bortzfield and Quinn Brown took eighth place, while Chanute’s Ayden Cummings and Logan Bilby finished in ninth.
