Topeka ? Michael Swank was one of eight high school tennis players to receive a medal at the Class 6A boys state tennis tournament Saturday.

Surely, this was an accomplishment. Shoulder and foot injuries prevented Swank from having full tennis seasons the past two years. Plus, he’s only a freshman. With increased high school experience, there’s a good chance Swank’s name will shift to the right of the bracket for the next three years instead of the consolation side on the left.

It’s not Swank’s style to think about the future, though. When he received his eighth-place medal at the Kossover Tennis Center, he was disappointed.

“I wanted to win it,” Swank said. “I’m not satisfied at all. I’ll have to get the gold geared up for next year. I think I can win anything. Put me in the U.S. Open, and I think I could win it.”

Swank lost to Washburn Rural’s Sebastian Reiter in a tiebreaker, 9-8 (7-5), then dropped his second match to Shawnee Mission North’s Kevin Moore, 9-2.

“Obviously, earning a medal is a nice accomplishment, but I’m glad he has higher expectations because there are seven guys ahead of him,” Free State coach Jon Renberger said. “There are seven reasons to be motivated to keep practicing and elevating his game.”

The first match of the day was the heartbreaker. After falling behind 5-2, Swank cut the deficit to 5-4. Swank and Reiter then were locked at eight sets apiece, forcing the tiebreaker. The first player to seven points won the match.

Reiter cruised to a 5-1 advantage, but Swank fought back and only trailed 6-5. Swank had all the momentum in his favor on his fifth point, which he called his best shot of the day.

“It was a long point,” Swank said. “He took it to my high forehand, and I just absolutely unleashed one down the line. It felt so good. I was like, ‘Man, I see why I play this game.’ I was right back in it.”

Swank served after the point, but Reiter sealed the match with his defense. After Swank hit a deep volley, Reiter smoked a forehand down the line for the victory.

Swank said the loss brought him down heading into his second match against Moore. Swank fell behind, 5-0, and couldn’t recover. He didn’t quit, though. In the two games he won against Moore, Swank was visibly content. He pumped his fist after the last points of both games and even played a little air guitar with his tennis racquet between winning points.

“It wasn’t to pump me up,” Swank said of the guitar motion. “It was actually to calm me down so I didn’t get ticked off.”

In doubles competition, Free State senior Jack Hull and junior Charlie Moffet lost to Olathe Northwest’s Evan Hoisington and Alex Graves, 9-2. Hull and Moffet were 2-0 against the opposition before Saturday, defeating the Ravens duo once in 2006 and then again in regionals this season.

Hull and Moffet finished the tournament 1-3. The duo played its match in a nine-game pro set format, which Moffet said was simply to speed up the pace of play.

“I don’t like it at all,” Moffet said. “If you get down in a nine-game pro set, it’s harder to pull it back up. You can bring it back to being pretty close, but it’s only nine games.”

Washburn Rural took the team title with a score of 29 points. Free State finished 10th of 16 teams with 10 points.