Wellington tennis team ties for highest finish in program history with 4th place finish at state
by Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — The Wellington boys tennis team finished just two points short of bringing home hardware at the Class 4A State Tennis Tournament at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka Saturday. Wellington finished in fourth place – the highest finish in over a decade.
Wellington scored 23 points, two points behind Buhler that finished with 25 to capture third place. Independence won the Class 4A tournament with 36 points eking out the state title against McPherson that had 34. Other team scores were: Topeka Hayden 17, Parsons 14, Bishop Miege 11, Circle 11, Winfield 11, El Dorado 10, Labette County 8, Chanute 8, Paola 5, Iola 5, Abilene 5, Ottawa 4, Pratt 3, Fort Scott 2 (see full results here).
Wellington has never finished in the top three in boys tennis according to tennis historian Brian Aufdengarten. Wellington placed fourth in 2010, fourth in 2005, fourth in 1990 and fourth in 1989, but never in the top three which garners a state trophy. There were no state team champions before 1986.
Wellington sophomore Jax Cornejo placed sixth in singles. Doubles partners, senior Kade Adams and junior Carson Rademacher, would also finish sixth. Junior Justin Norris and sophomore Jack Wright, also had a nice run placing ninth. Hunter Worley, just a freshman, went 0-2 for the day.
The Crusaders were buoyed by a successful regional in El Dorado where it won as a team and got all six boys to state. It was one of only three schools to get all four entrees to the Class 4A state tournament – Bishop Miege and Independence being the others.
Kade Adams
The whole tournament came down to one match for Wellington, the fifth-place doubles match between Adams/Rademacher and Buhler’s Krone/Harder of Buhler. The Buhler duo had defeated Adams/Rademacher easily in the first round 6-2, 6-0 sending Wellington’s No. 1 doubles team to the backside. Adams/Rademacher would then get on a roll on the backside. The duo knocked off Labette County 9-2, Ottawa 9-4, Indy 9-7 and McPherson 9-7 to set up the fifth-place showdown.
They then took a 4-2 lead against the team that dominated them early in the tournament and was about to go up 5-2.
But Wellington head coach Chad Whaley said a controversial sideline call went Buhler’s way. The Maroon duo called it “out” on Wellington, but Whaley said the ball was eight inches inbounds. So instead Wellington was up 4-3 instead of 5-2 looking to get to nine.
“Momentum shifted on that play,” Whaley said. “We never could get our rhythm after that.”
Carson Rademacher
The Buhler duo would go on to finish out the match with five straight games to win 9-4 and capture the third-place trophy.
Norris and Wright had a nice run. They got rolling with a 6-4, 6-3 victory against the Labette County duo in the first round. They would then lose to the same McPherson duo, Adams/Rademacher would beat later. Norris/Wright went to the backside.
From there they would beat duo teams from Baldwin 9-2, and Parsons 9-7. They would lose to a team from Chanute sending them to the ninth-place bracket. They would get past Everett/Norton of Winfield 9-4 before losing to Bertie/Stoner of Indy 9-0.
Jax Cornejo
In singles, Cornejo finished a season where he finished 22-5 with two more years of high school in front of him. His fifth-place finish comes against all seniors that finished second through fourth. Only the state champion Kale Goff of Independence, who is also a sophomore, will be returning next season if all things stay the same.
Cornejo ripped off a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Micha Tatro of Pratt in the first round. He then played Goff in a battle of the sophomores. Goff, who won the state championship 0ver Buhler’s Colton Lohrentz 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 would beat Cornejo 6-3, 6-3.
That sent Cornejo to the consolation side where he defeated Escobar of Paola 9-5, and Hayden Greene of El Dorado 9-2. That set up a showdown with senior Andrew Ladwig of Bishop Miege. He would lose 9-3 to finish sixth.
Worley ended his first state tournament run quickly, but he’s just getting started. He lost to Same Grice of Indy 6-0, 6-0 and Kolten Coup of Abilene 9-4.
As far as the boys’ tennis team as a whole, perhaps it is time to buy some shades because the future is indeed looking bright.
Wellington is returning five of six starters from this year’s state tournament starters.
