4A Boys Tennis: First Two Rounds of Individual State Championships Completed

PUEBLO – The first two rounds of the 4A Boys Tennis Individual State Championships were completed Thursday at Pueblo City Park. The semifinal round will be played tomorrow with the finals set for Saturday. Play will begin at 9 a.m. on both days.

Colorado Academy and Kent Denver both advanced players in six positions, while Denver South advanced in four positions and D’Evelyn in three. Cheyenne Mountain, Evergreen and Niwot will have players competing in two positions, and Coronado, Mullen and Vail Christian all have players in one position.

In 1 singles, D’Evelyn’s Aswaanth Karuppasamy defeated Severance’s Joel Carter (6-0, 6-1) and Discovery Canyon’s Sean Bratkowsky (6-1, 6-4) to advance to the semifinals, where he’ll face Kent Denver’s Will Moldenhauer. Moldenhauer defeated Peak to Peak’s Dhruv Shajikumar, (6-0, 6-2) and Aspen’s Chase Kelly (7-6, 2-6, 6-1).

In the other semifinal, Coronado’s Miles Hoover and Denver South’s Raphael Wieland advanced. Hoover opened the day with a win over Standley Lake’s Noah Schauer (6-1, 6-1) and then narrowly escaped Colorado Academy’s Charlie May by scores of 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, while Wieland used a 6-3, 6-1 win over George Washington’s Andrew Rettig to advance to the quarterfinals. There, he narrowly got past Cheyenne Mountain’s Raphael Wieland (6-2, 3-6, 7-5).

In 2 singles, Vail Christian’s Daniel Blanch and Kent Denver’s Max Gart will meet in the semifinals. Blanch knocked off Evergreen’s Jacob Gumucio in the first round, 6-0, 6-2, and Coronado’s Thomas Stewart, 6-4, 6-2, in the quarterfinals, while Gart defeated Aspen’s Josh Ward, 6-3, 6-2, and George Washington’s Travis Nguyen, 6-0, 6-3.

In the other semifinal, D’Evelyn’s Eric Pham and Colorado Academy’s Jackson Wells advanced to the semifinal round. Pham opened the tournament with a 6-4, 7-6 victory over Thompson Valley’s Patrick Tucker and then a 6-2, 6-3 win over Niwot’s Oskar Hansen. Wells first defeated Mullen’s Nick Ruegsegger, 7-6, 6-2, and then knocked out Denver South’s Max Morales, 6-2, 6-4.

In 3 singles, Niwot’s Charlie Kirtland advanced with wins over Mullen’s Josh Wanja (6-2, 6-0) and George Washington’s Bryce Dilworth (6-1, 6-1), respectively. Kirtland will face Colorado Academy’s Jackson Gilliland. Gilliland defeated Grand Junction’s Peter Phillip’s (4-6, 6-0, 6-1) and Evergreen’s Shepherd Maren (6-2, 6-4), respectively.

In the other 3 singles semifinal, D’Evelyn’s Xalen Mitchell will face Cheyenne Mountain’s Jake Shultz. Mitchell knocked off Coronado’s Chris Vazquez (6-2, 7-6) and Denver South’s Andrew Wolden (5-7, 6-4, 6-4), while Shultz defeated Thomas Jefferson’s Griffin Steimel, 6-3, 6-1, in the first round and Kent Denver’s Sebastian Boada, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.

The 1 doubles team of Tyler Haymons and Jack Cramer from Kent Denver will be joined by Kyle Davidson and Sebastian Moy of Niwot, Denver South’s Udo Zeile and Kelly Goodwillie and Colorado Academy’s Clayton Johnson and Michael McKee in the semifinals. Haymons/Cramer will face Davidson/Moy and Zeile/Goodwillie will take on Johnson/McKee.

In 2 doubles, Andrew Morgan and Zach Morgan from Kent Denver will take on Patrick Barker and Shane Walsh from Cheyenne Mountain, while Evergreen’s Charlie Barwell and Patton Truchel will face Colorado Academy’s Luca Siringo and Jackson Turner.

In 3 doubles, Kent Denver’s Colton Maass and Simon Hirsch will take on Denver South’s Nate Posthumus and Evan Cahill. In the other semifinal, Evergreen’s Jacob Mays and Colin Meany will play Colorado Academy’s Oliver Neely and Charlie Rakowski.

In 4 doubles, Kent Denver’s Liam O’Drobinak and Cole Fenton have advance to face Mullen’s Casey Reinert and Brady Simms, while Denver South’s Noah Agay and Torin Wright will take on Colorado Academy’s Thomas Rollhaus and Craig Stapleton.