4A boys tennis: Championship matches set for individual titles in Pueblo

PUEBLO – With a separate tournament to decide the team championship for the first time, the sole focus at this year’s tournament will be on each individual championship match.

Following Friday’s Class 4A semifinals at Pueblo City Park, those seven matchups are set.

For Kent Denver sophomore Will Moldenhauer, Saturday’s No. 2 singles finals will be his championship match debut after coming up short in the semifinals last season. After a rough start to the 2022 campaign, Moldenhauer wasn’t sure if his goal of reaching the title match at No. 2 singles would come to fruition.

Now, he’s one match away from being crowned a champion.

“I had kind of a slow start to the season but it looks like I’m peaking now, which is great,” Moldenhauer said. “I’m excited for the next match. My match against Lichen (Liao) was really fun and we always have battles. My match against Colorado Academy tomorrow will also be tough because he’s a great player. We had a couple good matches earlier in the season too, so I’m excited for that too.”

In the No. 2 singles championship match on Saturday morning, Moldenhauer will face Colorado Academy senior Fabian Frenz.

In the No. 1 singles finals, reigning champion Nathan Gold, a sophomore, will look to continue the outstanding start to his career by defending his state title against Niwot senior Luke Weber. Gold won 6-3, 6-0 over Discovery Canyon’s Sean Bratkowsky is the semifinals, and Weber won 6-4, 6-2 over D’Evelyn junior Aswaanth Karuppasamy.

For Weber, his semifinal victory was a redemptive win over the same opponent who eliminated him in last year’s semifinals.

“It’s amazing because I lost to the same kid in the semifinals last year,” Weber said. “So, this was a pretty important revenge match for me. I’m really happy that I just got out there and I did what I need to do because I know that I have the capacity to beat anybody on any day. It’s just about executing when you have to.

“He beat me pretty bad in the semifinals last year. But it’s all been about the grind and the hard work for me, and the countless hours put in out on the court hitting 200, 300 serves a day. I’ve tried to do everything I can because that was my motivation – that semifinal loss.”

At No. 1 doubles, Colorado Academy’s Charlie May and Michael McKee will face Kent Denver’s Seb Boada and Tyler Haymons to the No. 1 doubles title match. Kent Denver’s Mareks Zeile and Jack Cramer will face Colorado Academy’s Rowan Brown and Luca Siringo in the No. 2 doubles championship match.

At No. 3 doubles, George Washington’s Gavin Foonberg and Eddie Strand will take on Cheyenne Mountain’s Cameron Ford and Patrick Gibbs for the title. In the No. 4 doubles championship match, Kent Denver’s Marco Fenton and Liam O’Drobinak will face Cheyenne Mountain’s Jake Schultz and Patrick Barker.

The 4A state tournament will resume at 9 a.m.