5A Boys Tennis: Kai Trujillo Wins 1 Singles Title In Final HS Tennis Match

DENVER – The final round of the 5A Boys Tennis Individual State Championships was completed and state champions were named Saturday at Denver City Park.

Broomfield senior Kai Trujillo secured the 1 singles state championship after sweeping Grandview sophomore Justin Son in the title game. Trujillo got off to a strong start in both sets, thanks to early breaks of Son’s serve, and from there, he never looked back, ultimately winning 6-3, 6-2.

The win serves as the realization of a dream that’s been at the forefront of Trujillo’s mind for years.

“This means everything,” Trujillo said soon after his match. “I’ve wanted this since freshman year. I was fortunate to make it my freshman year, but I lost in the first round every time I made it. I finally won it for everybody here. So many people came out today. I finally did it in my last year.”

The nerves of the state championships almost got to Trujillo, but he managed to settle down in order to bring home the title.

“Every match I had butterflies,” Trujillo laughed. “Today, same thing, but my coach said, ‘just play,’ and it’s my last year, last match of my high school career, so I just came out here with confidence and played as hard as I could.”

On the next court over, Valor Christian sophomore Jace Nakamura defended his 2 singles title, as he held off Regis Jesuit’s freshman phenom (6-3, 6-2), Alec Rodriguez-Fields, in order to go back-to-back as the state champ.

A different freshman from Regis Jesuit did manage to take home a state title though, as freshman Vlad Sukhovetskyy avenged Rodriguez-Fields and defeated his foe from Valor Christian, sophomore Nathaniel Trevey, 6-1, 7-5, to win the 3 singles championship.

Cherry Creek didn’t win any of the singles titles, but they cleaned up on the doubles circuit, winning three of the four available titles there (1 doubles, 3 doubles and 4 doubles).

Kris Kostadinov and Matthew Hu, two seniors for the Bruins, won the 1 doubles championship by sweeping Regis Jesuit’s senior tandem of Agustin Azcui and Brady Jenkins (6-3, 6-4). In the process, Hu got to redeem himself after he came up just short against Valor Christian in the 2 doubles finals last season.

“[Winning] feels amazing,” Hu said. “I lost sophomore and junior year, and won my freshman year, so it feels great to finally get another one, and it feels great to win with my partner.”

In 2 doubles, Valor Christian senior Harrison Wentworth and sophomore Drew Summers bounced back after losing the first set to Regis Jesuit juniors KC Eckenhausen and Carl Siegel, to win a thrilling three-set match (4-6, 6-4, 7-6), take home the 2 doubles state title, and prevent Cherry Creek from sweeping the doubles circuit.

In 3 doubles, Cherry Creek senior Colin Brown and sophomore Tyson Hardy battled through a tight first set to sweep Regis Jesuit sophomores Adam Rydel and Kevin Solichien (7-6, 6-3), to earn the 3 doubles state title. Meanwhile, Cherry Creek’s junior Wills Possehl and sophomore Adam Eikelberner staged a thrilling comeback in the second set in order to complete the sweep of Valor Christian junior James Van Winkle and senior Aidan Case (6-1, 7-6) and win the 4 doubles title.