by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Wellington doubles partners Peyton Adams and Kelsey Whaley have qualified for the Class 4A state tennis tournament in Topeka, while the doubles team of Madison Adams and Maggie Fink will be facing a single elimination game this morning at the Class 4A Regional in Wellington.

The day was most certainly a memorable one for the nine teams who participated at Sellers Park and at Eisenhower tennis courts during the first day of the two day regional.

Wellington singles players Auni Williams and Dietra Sober were eliminated.

Wellington head coach Brian Aufdengarten said he might have seen the most incredible tennis match he has ever seen as a high school coach in his 15-or-so years. Adams and Whaley qualified and advanced into the top four by beating a doubles team from Buhler 7-6(7-2), 5-7 and 14-12 in a marathon match that lasted three hours by some estimates.

“It was the craziest match, I mean really, really crazy,” Auftengarten said. “I could have sworn Kelsey and Peyton were dead so many times, yet they kept regrouping and found whatever energy they had left to close it out.”

In the first set they were down 5-2 but were able to rally with five straight games to pull off the tie breaking win. In the second match, Buhler won thus setting up a tie-breaker that goes to 10 points. In tennis you have to win by two. And Buhler led the whole time, and was leading 9-8 when Whaley/Adams would not let them get that golden point. The two teams would go back and fourth until Whaley/Adams pulled ahead for good to win 14-12 and guarantee themselves in the top four.

It was a good thing, because had they lot they would have battled M. Adams and Fink today for a chance to go to state and the other team get eliminated.

“That was the one scenario I did not want to see happen,” Aufdengarten said.

But instead M. Adams and Fink will play the same Buhler team that played the other Wellington team to a marathon match today for a chance to play in the fifth-place match. Now it is impossible for the two Wellington teams to play one another.

“Madi and Maggie have lost to this team three times, but the way they played today, I think they could win it,” Aufdengarten said.

For M. Adams/Fink it was a good day in which they went 1-1. They knocked off a very good Winfield team 6-4, 6-1. They then played the No. 2 seed team in the tournament from Pratt. They lost 7-6(7-2) and 6-3.

“I assure you that those two put a scare in that Pratt team,” Aufdengarten said. “They didn’t expect that tough of match.”

On the singles side, Sober had to play a feeder match winning 9-3 over Dillon of Ulysses. She would then lose to Wong of Andover Central 6-2, 6-0.

Auni Williams played just one match of the day losing to Zimmerman of Wichita Trinity 6-3, 6-2.

“Both of the singles girls played awesome today,” Aufdengarten said. “They were play Wichita Country Club girls and did very, very well. I’m so proud of them.”

The tennis matches will start up again at 10 a.m. today at Sellers Park.