WICHITA -- Outside of the state tournament, Central Plains Oiler Peyton Ryan has rarely been tested in his three seasons of high school tennis.
The junior has continued to dominate the western Kansas tennis landscape in singles, taking an undefeated record into state for the third straight year.
Ryan relishes every opportunity to face a top-tier opponent who will challenge him, and he finally got that chance last month, facing Wichita Collegiate standout freshman Charlie Gentile in the Hesston tournament.
It was by far the closest match of the season for the 31-0 Ryan, who notched an 8-6 win over Gentile on April 25.
Ryan has lost just six games all season aside from the Gentile match.
“It will help me, for sure, for the state tournament, seeing that top competition before postseason,” Ryan said of facing Gentile (25-4).
Ryan has just two losses in his high school career, both coming in the state tournament to eventual state champions. He took fifth as a freshman, bouncing back after losing to Rossville’s Alex Sherer in the second round.
Ryan was one win short of a state title last year, losing in two sets in the final to Collegiate’s Nick Grabon, who was a senior.
“My freshman year, the first hard match I had at state, I was not ready for it at all,” Ryan said. “(The state matches) really have helped me know what to get ready for and how to experience it.”
Ryan, who didn’t drop a game in last week’s regional at WaKeeney, said improving his serve was a point of emphasis in the offseason.
“It was probably the worst part of my game the first two years,” Ryan said. “It’s definitely gotten better this year.”
His older brother, Michael Ryan, is in his first year as head tennis and basketball coach for the Oilers.
“I really like having him as a coach,” Peyton said. “He has helped me with my serve a lot. One of the main reasons I’ve gotten better at that is because of Michael. I love having him as coach.”
Ryan will open the tournament against the winner of Hutchinson Trinity’s Cristan Grajeda and Topeka Cair Paravel's Drew Fay.
“To make a run I’ll have to be at the top of my game,” Ryan said. “Hopefully I play well and stay locked in.”
SCOTT CITY DOUBLES -- After capturing a regional championship with six sophomores in 2022, the Scott City Beavers felt confident they could notch a repeat heading into last week’s regional tourney in WaKeeney.
“We felt like it was really ours to lose, but knew we had to show up and take care of business when it mattered most,” Scott City coach Corbin Janssen said.
Indeed, the Beavers cruised to the regional team title at WaKeeney, qualifying six for state.
Houston Frank (23-5) reached the regional singles final before falling 6-0, 6-0 to undefeated Peyton Ryan from Central Plains.
It was an all-Scott City doubles regional final, with Avry Noll and Sage Stoeckline taking a
6-3, 6-2 win over teammates Dylan Duff and Dante Franco.
Scott City finished with 23 points in the tournament to win by 10 points over second-place Central Plains.
Janssen switched up his lineup significantly from last year. Noll moved from singles to doubles to join Stoeckline while Frank went to singles after playing doubles last year.
Noll and Stoeckline have amassed a 24-3 record while Duff and Franco are 21-3. Noll and Stoeckline were also the Great West Activities Conference champions in doubles while Frank was the GWAC champ in singles.
Scott City’s Ayden Presson also qualified for state in singles by placing fourth at regionals.
The six juniors will look to make an extended stay in Wichita after missing the second day of action last year as sophomores.
“We're thrilled to qualify all six for the state tournament, but don't want to settle for just getting there,” Janssen said. “These six guys walked away disappointed to not be playing on Saturday last year and intend for that to be a different story this year.”
KC CHRISTIAN - KC Christian's James Vander Ark and Caleb Bartels captured last year's 3-1A state doubles title with a 6-4, 6-3 win over Wichita Collegiate’s Charlie Dunne and Charlie Nolan to cap a 12-0 season.
But KC Christian coach Bryan Miller switched Bartels to singles in 2023.
“Last year, we were in a killer regional, so it was like, 'Let’s see what we’ve got,’ with putting James and Caleb together and it worked out like we hoped,” Miller said. “This year, the lineup was pretty much set from Day One. I knew James and Jackson had played a lot of doubles together and got so much better during the offseason. I knew I wanted them for doubles because they were so strong and can contend for the title in doubles. And then Caleb is obviously going to contend for the title in singles.
KC Christian will challenge three-time reigning champion Wichita Collegiate at this weekend’s state meet at Wichita’s Riverside Tennis Complex. The Panthers have finished runner-up to Collegiate two of the last three seasons since winning their last state title in 2018 but have qualified all six players for this year’s tournament.
Bartels and senior Ian Gariss finished 1-2 in singles at the regional while Vander Ark and Newman won the doubles title. The sophomore doubles team of Dylan Newman and Jacob Warner added a fifth-place doubles finish to complete the state contingent.
That’s a far cry from a year ago when Bartels and Vander Ark were the lone Panthers competing at state.
Bartels posted a 19-4 record in singles as a freshman, falling in the state semifinals to Nick Grabon of Wichita Collegiate, who captured the state singles title last year. Last year, Bartels was 24-3 in singles play before making the late-season switch to doubles.
This year, he’s 29-3 with his losses coming to two-time reigning Class 5A champion Russell Lokko of St. Thomas Aquinas, 6A regional champion CJ Smith of Blue Valley North and 6A regional runner-up Jonah Stolte of Blue Valley West. His losses to Stolte and Smith were in tiebreakers and Bartels gave Lokko his closest match of the season.
“I’ve gotten stronger and I’m more mentally tough. Now in my tough situations I get down, focus and find ways to win. Every part of my game has just improved and I’m really motivated to go give it my best and everything I have.”
Bartels credited some of his improvement to his brief time playing doubles last year.
“Doubles you play a lot at the net so it’s given me better skills at the net and I’m more active at the net,” he said. “It’s transitioned to my singles game because I feel like I’m coming to the net more and being more offensive that way. In doubles you hit certain patterns and it helps me in singles working those patterns, too.”
Gariss is 25-8 this season with two of the losses to Bartels.
“Me and him have hit a lot in the past year and are really good friends,” Bartels said “At practice we really push each other and are always there for each other. Our competitiveness pushes us further.”
Bartels' move to doubles last year came at the expense of Newman. And while the decision stung a bit at first, Newman said he took it in stride.
“I like singles too so I enjoyed playing it and was happy to move, but at the same time it was a little disappointing,” he said. “But it was the best for the team so I was willing to do whatever I needed to for the team. I just want to win as a team. Whatever is best for us as a whole.”
Back as Vander Ark’s partner this season, the two picked up where they left off a year ago.
“We’ve played so much together that that chemistry is there,” Vander Ark said. “We have a similar aggressive playing style that really complements each other.”
While Vander Ark is looking to reach the finals for the third straight year with a third different partner, Newman is eager to cash in on the opportunity he didn’t get a year ago.
“I feel like we have unfinished business,” he said. “We’re very confident and feel like we can beat anyone.”
The Panther contenders proved they can play with the best in the state at the Wichita Collegiate Tournament of Champions in late April. Bartels finished runner-up in the singles draw, falling to Smith in the finals 8-7 (7-2). Vander Ark and Newman took third in doubles play, losing 8-5 in the semifinals to Blue Valley’s Evan Myers and Joaquin Acosta.
KC Christian finished runner-up as a team to 6A Blue Valley North and Miller said the showing was huge for his team with Gariss adding a seventh in singles play and Newman and Warner taking 18th.
“We performed so bad last year at that tournament; just didn’t play well,” Miller said. “This year, they were bound and determined to show they could play with the big boys. That was huge for our confidence and moving forward, especially these seniors. They’ve worked their tails off for three years and they wanted to prove to themselves and everybody else we’re someone to contend with.”
