5A boys tennis: Cherry Creek’s Izmirian leads individual champs with No. 1 singles title
DENVER – Aram Izmirian is developing a reputation for overcoming obstacles and taking huge leaps forward with his tennis game when he needs to most.
A year ago, Izmirian lost in the semifinals of the No. 3 singles bracket at the Class 5A boys tennis state championships. At Gates Tennis Center on Saturday, the Cherry Creek junior won the No. 1 singles state championship by defeating a talented opponent who had already beaten him twice earlier in the season, and once badly. But when it was time to step up and find a way, Izmirian did.
Now, he’s a champion.
“I’ve worked so hard for this and, oh man, it’s like euphoric,” Izmirian said. “It’s really a credit to my coaches. They’ve helped me so much recently and in this past year, and I’ve progressed so much I can’t thank them enough.”
In Saturday’s championship match, Izmirian won 6-3, 7-6 over Regis Jesuit’s Conor Kaczmarczyk, who has won No. 2 and No. 3 singles titles in his prep career. Knowing his opponent’s strengths, Izmirian thought it best to try and outlast Kaczmarczyk.
“I had a game plan to start, I followed it and it worked,” Izmirian said. “I just wanted to rally as much as I could with him because my strength is just to hit as many balls as possible.”
To get there, he came from behind to beat Valor Christian’s Christian Trevey, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, in a head-to-head semifinals victory that played a major role in the Bruins winning their 44th team championship. Izmirian’s win also led the way for Cherry Creek to sweep the singles titles.
At No. 3 singles, Cherry Creek’s Kiril Kostadinov won 6-1, 6-1 over Valor Christian’s Ryan Greenfield to claim his third individual title and set up a chance to potentially win a fourth in 2022, his senior season. At No. 2 singles, Bruins senior Matt Batmunkh, who was runner-up at No. 2 singles last season, won 6-2, 6-2 in another pivotal head-to-head matchup with Valor Christian’s Drew Schell.
“It feels good. I really wanted to close out my high school career with a state championship,” Batmunkh said. “Last year, it was interesting because I played a good friend of mine and that’s hard because one has to be the winner and one has to be the loser. That was my fate last year. This year, I just wanted to close it out and win a state championship for my team.”
At No. 1 doubles, Valor Christian’s Luke Beukelman and Jack Scherer defeated Cherry Creek’s Ainsley Elliott-Beagle and Kris Kostadinov, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 in the championship match. Valor Christian also prevailed in the No. 2 doubles final, with Graham Beukelman and Logan Weems winning 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.
Regis Jesuit won the No. 2 doubles title, beating Valor Christian’s Mitchell Perez and Ryan Mandes in the championship match. At No. 4 doubles, Cherry Creek’s Charlie Stern and Jack Eikelberner won 6-3, 6-2 over Valor Christian’s Jared Blankenship and Harrison Wentworth in the final.
