Jack Bralley, Hayden Cook and Paul Havemeier already held historic positions in program history.
Last week, three of Platte County’s seniors only added to the legacy during the individual portion of the Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. Bralley and Cook were already the first doubles team to qualify for state twice, and now they own the distinction of the first duo to medal twice, adding a sixth-place finish to last year’s eighth-place showing.
In addition, Havemeier went 1-2 and became the second singles player in Platte County history to win a state match.
Now, Bralley and Cook have also matched the best spot on the state podium for a Platte County’s double team, equaling the placement of Jack Forrest and Nathan Vanek two years earlier. Vanek became the first two-time state doubles qualifier for the Pirates with Bralley now the only one to go three different times.
Bralley and Cook reached the Class 2 quarterfinals for a second straight year with a 7-6 (0), 6-1 straight sets victory over Warrensburg’s Calvin Werner and Oliver Staab in Thursday’s first round.
After a loss to MICDS’ Jai Patel and Arjun Puri, Bralley and Cook came back with a 6-2, 7-6 (6) Winn in the consolation quarterfinals ro reach the medal rounds again. Platte County’s senior duo ended up going 3-2 overall after last year’s 2-3 showing that left them in eighth. A 7-5, 6-4 victory over Mehlville’s Aydin Pasic and Anes Ramie sent Bralley and Cook to the sixth-place match, which resulted in a 6-0, 6-3 loss to Westminster Christian’s Noah Sutra and Alan Walker.
Patel and Puri went on to claim the Class 2 doubles state championship while not losing a set in any of the four matches.
“(Jack and Hayden) just continue to prove that they belong among the state’s very best in doubles,” Platte County coach Zach Keith said. “Their two losses were to two very good teams. It felt like every time that a match would get really close, they played their best. It not something that can really be coaches, but I just have a ton of confidence that they will play really good tennis when they need to.”
Platte County senior Paul Havemeier talks with coach Zach Keith during a Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships singles match Thursday at Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield.
A four-year member of Platte County’s lineup, Bralley went from No. 5 in singles as a freshman to No. 4 as a sophomore and now No. 2 each of the past two seasons. He went to state in doubles as a sophomore with Jaron Cook, Hayden’s older brother, and also just missed a medal after they lost to teammates Forrest and Vanek in the consolation quarterfinals.
Hayden Cook played at No. 3 each of the past two seasons for Platte County, which lost four of seven players from last year’s rotation that helped the Pirates reach the Class 2 state championship dual in addition to having medalists in both singles (four-time qualifier Gavin Nichols) and doubles.
Havemeier played No. 6 singles and almost no doubles in 2024 as a first-year contributor in Platte County’s lineup. He made the jump all the way to No. 1 as a senior and joined Nichols as the only singles district champions and state qualifiers in program history.
Making an individual state debut, Havemeier ended up playing a pair of lengthy matches on Thursday and nearly ended up in the medal rounds. He went the distance to defeat Fort Zumwalt South’s Benny Schwende 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 in the first round but lost in straight sets to Priory’s John Varley in the quarterfinals. That set up a decisive consolation quarterfinal with Thomas Jefferson Independent’s Jack Goodhue with a win needed to reach the state podium.
Havemeier started strong but lost momentum in the second set of Goodhue’s 2-6, 6-2, 11-9 super tiebreaker victory. Varley went on to place third, while Goodhue finished eighth, ironically with a loss to Schwende in the seventh-place match.
“I know Paul was disappointed,” Keith said. “He couldn’t pull out his match with Goodhue, but he had a really good tournament other than about 20 minutes in that match. Considering he played about five hours of tennis in one day, Paul did quite well.”
Platte County’s season now continues in this week’s Class 2 MSHSAA Tennis Championships team semifinal dual Thursday at Cooper Tennis Complex against defending state champion MICDS (12-0). Warrensburg (16-1) and Parkway West (17-3) match up on the other side of the bracket with the placement matches scheduled for Friday.
In the playoffs for the third time in program history and all in succession, Platte County (12-7) dominated a Class 2 District 8 semifinal with Kearney and the championship match against William Chrisman without losing a match. The Pirates then needed a dramatic comeback that featured singles victories for sophomore No. 6 Mitchel McBratney and seniors Will Kimlinger (No. 4), Jake Diano (No. 5) and Cook for a 5-4 victory over Branson in last week’s quarterfinal matchup.
Diano survived multiple match points to win a third set super tiebreaker to seal the win.
Platte County lost to Helias in the 2023 state quarterfinals then went all the way to the Class 2 championship dual a year ago behind Nichols — a four-time district champion in singles who graduated as by far the most accomplished and decorated player in program history. Last season, Platte County beat Branson in the semifinals and lost 5-1 to MICDS.
