Junior tennis player from Mission Hills advances to national hard court championships

Eight junior tennis players from the Missouri Valley region advanced to the USTA National Hard Court Championships after winning at last weekend’s Missouri Valley Sweet 16 Championship in Kansas City.

Grant Wiedeman from Mission Hills was the lone area player to advance to the Hard Court Championships. Wiedeman defeated Luke Bracks of Seminole, Okla., in two sets and won the 12s Missouri Valley championship.

Weideman, an upcoming seventh grader, will participate in the Hard Court Championships from Aug. 7-14 in North Little Rock, Ark., after winning the Missouri Valley championship.

Two players from Overland Park — Ellie Kuckelman in the girls 16s division and Murphy Cassone in the boys 14s division — advanced to the Missouri Valley Sweet 16 finals, but both lost. Kuckelman lost in two sets to Vanessa Ong from Oklahoma City, Okla. Cassone lost in three sets to Graydon Lair of Tulsa, Okla.

Alexander Brown, a five-star recruit in the class of 2017, took the title in the boys 18s division to advance to the National Championships in Kalamazoo, Mich., Aug. 5-14. According to the USTA, Brown trains full time at the Overland Park Racquet Club.

This story was originally published June 20, 2016 at 3:47 PM with the headline "Junior tennis player from Mission Hills advances to national hard court championships."