photo by: Matt Tait

Lawrence High singles player Cuyler Dunn, front left, serves during his match at Tuesday's City Showdown dual against Free State at LHS. Dunn won his singles match for the Lions' biggest victory of the day.

Tuesday’s City Showdown boys tennis match may have been a dual between Lawrence High and Free State High, but there were definitely three competitors on the court at LHS.

The Lions. The Firebirds. And the wind.

On a warm and blustery day at the Lions’ home courts, Free State won 19 of the 24 matches, including eight of the nine varsity matches played in the unrelenting wind.

“It wasn’t exactly ideal conditions out here,” Free State coach Aaron Clark said Tuesday. “But it was fair. Both teams had to deal with the wind and, in conditions like these, it’s not always talent that wins but who can do the best job of adjusting to it.”

Early on, that was both teams.

LHS coach Chris Marshall said he was thrilled by the way his doubles teams opened the match against the favored Firebirds.

Free State won six of the eight doubles matches on Tuesday, but four of those wins came via tiebreaker, with the Firebirds winning each of those sets 8-7.

“We came out really ready to play today and just let some of our bad habits sneak in at the end,” Marshall said. “Overall, though, I was very pleased by how our doubles played.”

Free State’s No. 1 doubles team of George Thornton and Jake Hedges defeated the LHS duo of Cuyler Dunn and Diego Klish 8-3. Free State’s No. 3 doubles team of Felipe Reina-Salas and Owen Thompson also won 8-3, defeating the LHS team of Sam Lopez and Aidan Von Feldt.

LHS’s No. 2 doubles team — Sam Micka and Ayden Ammann — took Firebirds Minh Vu and Jared Loos to the wire, losing in the tiebreaker.

While those wins set the tone for the rest of the day, the matches also proved to be a good experience for both sides. Neither team plays very many duals on its schedule, meaning that most players either play singles or doubles. But Clark and Marshall said the opportunity for several players on both sides to play both on Tuesday made the day a win all the way around.

LHS’s top singles player, Dunn, who defeated Reina-Salas, 8-6, in the featured singles match, agreed.

“This is by far my favorite tournament of the year because everybody on the courts is a friend of mine,” Dunn said. “I like winning, but I really like beating my friends. Today was really about mental toughness. I got out there and thought ‘Holy cow, that’s a really, really deep team.’ And then you had to deal with the wind, too.”

While Dunn picked up a big win in singles action, his doubles loss came from Hedges, one of his oldest friends.

The two met in 2016 while playing club tennis, and Hedges said competing against Dunn made an already exciting match even more of a thrill.

“Today was a really fun environment,” said Hedges, who defeated Micka 8-3 in singles play after beating Dunn and Klish in No. 1 doubles.

Free State’s Britton Snyder, who defeated Klish 8-0 in No. 2 singles on Tuesday, agreed with Dunn’s and Hedges’ evaluation of Tuesday’s showdown.

“There’s a lot of pride in this meet,” said Snyder after improving to 13-1. “You see people out here waving signs and screaming your name and we don’t always get that. That definitely makes you not want to lose these matches, and it’s a lot of fun.”

Both teams will return to action today at separate quadrangulars.

FREE STATE 19, LHS 5

Singles:

No. 1 varsity – Cuyler Dunn, LHS, def. Felipe Reina-Salas 8-6

No. 2 varsity – Britton Snyder, FS, def. Diego Klish, 8-0

No. 3 varsity – George Thornton, FS, def. Oliver Rubenstein, 8-1

No. 4 varsity – Jake Hedges, FS, def. Sam Micka, 8-3

No. 5 varsity – Minh Vu, FS, def. Zach Micka, 8-6

No. 6 varsity – Jared Loos, FS, def. Aidan Von Feldt 8-1

No. 1 JV – Owen Thompson, FS, def. Asher Sikes, 8-3

No. 2 JV – Melvin Reed, FS, def. Henry Adams, 8-3

No. 3 JV – Will Six, FS, def. Jack Stutler, 8-6

No. 4 JV – Nathanial Slemmer, FS, def. Eli Marburger, 8-1

No. 5 JV – Steven Meyn, LHS, def. Joel Harrison, 8-6

No. 6 JV – Steven Duan, FS, def. Josh Lavin, 8-7 (7)

No. 7 JV – Abe Roman, LHS, def. Daniel He, 8-7 (3)

No. 8 JV – Max McGuire, FS, def. Hayden Houts, 8-0

No. 9 JV – Dhruv Duvvur, FS, def. Nikolay Nachev, 8-5

No. 10 JV – Steven Tao, FS, def. Andrew Goates, 8-2.

Doubles:

No. 1 varsity – Thornton/Hedges, FS, def. Dunn/Klish, 8-3

No. 2 varsity – Vu/Loos, FS, def. Ammann/S. Micka, 8-7 (3)

No. 3 varsity – Snyder/Reina-Salas, FS, def. Von Feldt/Z. Micka, 8-3

No. 1 JV – Thompson/Harrison, FS, def. Von Feldt/Z. Micka, 8-7 (8)

No. 2 JV – Roman/Stutler, LHS, def. Tao/Duan, 8-6

No. 3 JV – Adams/Logan Daniels, LHS, def. Six/He, 8-5

No. 4 JV – Melvin/Slemmer, FS, def. Carson Schraad/Josh Lavin, 8-7 (1)

No. 5 JV – McGuire/Duvvur, FS, def. Marburger/Meyn, 8-7 (5)

photo by: Matt Tait

Free State High tennis player Felipe Reina-Salas prepares to rip a forehand during his singles match in this year’s City Showdown at Lawrence High on Tuesday, April 12, 2022.

photo by: Matt Tait

Tennis players from Lawrence High and Free State High took over the courts on a wildly windy day at LHS on Tuesday, April 12, 2022. Free State won this year’s City Showdown, taking 19 of the 24 varsity and junior varsity matches played.