PUEBLO – When Kent Denver’s Nathan Gold won the Class 4A No. 1 singles title as a freshman in 2021, the young tennis player set himself up to potentially accomplish the rare feat of winning four No. 1 singles titles in one high school career.
 
At the individual state championships on Saturday at Pueblo City Park, the sophomore successfully and emphatically defended his No. 1 singles crown with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Niwot senior Luke Weber in the championship match. Though his victory was rarely, if ever, in doubt, Gold’s culminating victory in 2022 was a critical a momentous step towards what has become a big-picture goal.
 
Walking off the court after shaking hands following the championship match, Gold's departing senior opponent left him with an encouraging message. Rather, it was more of a challenge to live up to his immense potential.
 
“You better win four straight,” Weber imparted.
 
Challenge accepted.
 
“Luke’s a great player and he was probably my biggest competition along with Aswaanth (Karuppasamy),” Gold said. “I’ll try and win next year for him. It was fun to play him again in the final because he’s a senior. I’m just going to try to keep going and try to win another one next year.”
 
On Saturday, Gold left no doubt as to who was the top player in 4A this season.
 
In what he said was possibly the best match he played throughout his sophomore campaign, Gold didn’t drop a single set while defeating Weber, a strong player in his own right with great athleticism and a big serve, in just over a half hour. In fact, Gold scarcely surrendered a point throughout the dominant victory.
 
“I was just super intense,” Gold said. “You only get one final a year, so I really wanted to win. I was just trying to win every single point. I played really well and played with a lot of intensity, and it ended up paying off. When I broke him in the second game, I really felt like I was going to take it. I was just playing really confident, really loose. I felt great.”
 
Under a new postseason format that now features separate individual and team state championships, there was no team trophy handed out on Saturday. But had one been determined by the previous point-scoring system, Gold and the Kent Denver squad would have easily won it.
 
The Sun Devils advanced players to six of the seven championship matches. They won four of them.
 
Kent Denver's Reed Haymons won the No. 3 singles state champion, defeating Cheyenne Mountain's Zach Sartain in the title match, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1. Also for Kent Denver, Mareks Zeile and Jack Cramer claimed the No. 2 doubles title with a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Colorado Academy's Rowan Brown and Luca Siringo in the finals. At No. 4 doubles, Kent Denver's Marco Fenton and Liam O'Drobinak won their championship match, 6-4, 6-1, over Cheyenne Mountain's Jake Schultz and Patrick Barker.
 
Colorado Academy won a pair of titles, led by Fabian Frenz beating Kent Denver’s Will Moldenhauer, 6-4, 6-1, for the No. 2 singles title. After playing three varsity seasons with significantly different endings, the senior Frenz was thrilled to finish his career with a state title.
 
“It’s a dream come true for me,” Frenz said. “I’ve played four years of varsity and to win as a senior, I just means so much. It’s a really good way to go out. My freshman year, I had a funeral during regionals and I couldn’t play. I did have a shot to play my sophomore year, but I lost in the first round. Last year, I played one singles and didn’t qualify because we had a really good regional, so it’s really crazy to win it this year.”
 
Also for Colorado Academy, Charlie May and Michael McKee were the 4A No. 1 doubles state champions. They won 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 in a long and riveting title match against Kent Denver's Seb Boada and Tyler Haymons that closed out the tournament.
 
Cheyenne Mountain's Cameron Ford and Patrick Gibbs won the 4A No. 3 doubles state championship. They were victorious, 6-1, 6-3, over George Washington's Gavin Foonberg and Eddie Strand in the title match.

As voted on by the tournament's participants, George Washington won the Vicky Mazarrato Sportsmanship Award.
 
The 4A team champion will be determined when Kent Denver and Cheyenne Mountain face off in the finals of the new dual-style team tournament at Denver City Park at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.