5A Boys Tennis: Cherry Creek Wins Four Head-to-Head Matchups at Individual State Championships
By Courtney Oakes/Sentinel Colorado
DENVER – Every day of the Class 5A boys tennis individual state tournament, Ryan Greenfield and Ryan Mandes felt they raised their level of play and they saved their best for last.
The all-senior Valor Christian No. 1 doubles duo capped their respective prep careers with their second state championship as they downed Cherry Creek’s Trevor Robinson and Luke Norford 6-3, 6-4, in one of a number of boisterous championship matches held indoors Saturday at the Denver Tennis Park.
Greenfield and Mandes ripped through the tournament without losing a single set and finished off an undefeated season with a title to match the one they captured together at No. 2 doubles as sophomores in 2022.
“I think we played the best tennis of the entire season today, so it’s super cool to end it in such a good way,” Greenfield said. “Yesterday, I think we played our best (in a semifinal win over Fairview’s Ian Schwartz and Sam Rich) and then we topped it even more today.”
The Valor Christian duo won twice previously against Cherry Creek, once in the regular season as well as a few days earlier in the semifinals of the 5A team state tournament. Greenfield and Mandes used their experience playing together for nearly their entire careers to come through in the clutch and place in the top three for the third time in as many seasons.
“We worked pretty hard and we’ve played together for three years, so getting to end all this with a title together, we’re pretty fortunate,” Mandes said.
No. 1 doubles was the only individual title not claimed by a singles player or doubles team from Cherry Creek or Regis Jesuit.
Five of the individual championship matches pitted the Bruins and Raiders — who will play each other on the same courts on Tuesday for the 5A team championship — and Cherry Creek came through with a 4-1 advantage in those matches.
Junior Jack Loehr and sophomore Aidan Washer claimed the Nos. 2 and 3 singles titles, respectively — as they downed Regis Jesuit freshman twins Blake and Sebastian Wright — while the No. 2 doubles team of senior Wills Possehl and junior Tyson Hardy and the sophomore No. 3 doubles duo of Sam Migliaccio and Devan Shah both came through with three-set victories for coach Art Quinn’s Cherry Creek team.
Loehr was able to avenge a loss to Blake Wright back on Sept. 14 at the Cherry Creek Invitational with a 6-4, 6-3 victory to win his first title.
“The first game lasted 25 minutes, just back and forth dueces, so I could tell that I had to dig my heels in and play a tough match,” said Loehr, who gave Wright his only loss of the season. “Blake played well and it was just a grind all the way, but I’m glad I could come out on top. …He got me earlier this season in another close match, but I knew I just needed to serve well, stick to my guns and play my game. I did that well and it worked out for me.”
Washer and Sebastian Wright played for the third time on the season and each came into the championship match with a victory to his credit.
The opening set went quickly in Washer’s favor, but Wright claimed the second set in similar fashion.
Washer got up a game in the third set and finished it off when he had the opportunity in a 6-1, 1-6, 6-3, win that netted his first career state crown.
Miglaccio and Shah also became first-time winners by digging in and rebounding from a set deficit to rally past senior Carl Siegel and sophomore Edward Samuelson of Regis Jesuit for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Possehl picked up his second state championship in as many seasons — after he won one at at No. 4 doubles last season — as he teamed with Hardy for a 7-6, 3-6, 6-1 win over Regis Jesuit’s KC Eckenhausen and Adam Rydel.
Coach Laura Jones’ Raiders got their head-to-head win over the Bruins when the all-senior No. 4 duo of Spencer Buege and Aiden Prananta prevailed 7-6, 6-4 over Cherry Creek’s Mitch Kelly and Truman Wooden to win in a title in their one and only state tournament appearance.
“It was pretty amazing that we did this in our first year,” Buege said. “We worked hard all season and we had a great regular season that carried over into state.”
Regis Jesuit also had the No. 1 singles state champion in sophomore Alec Rodriguez-Fields, who prevailed 3-6, 6-2, 6-4 in a battle with Pine Creek freshman Braylon Desquitado, who came into the match undefeated.
Rodriguez-Fields — last season’s No. 2 singles state runner-up — had only two losses and both came to 4A No. 1 singles state champion Nate Gold and he avoided another by steadying himself in the face of a big service game from Desquitado. He came through after seeing a 4-1 lead in the third set disappear.
“I’m just really proud and happy with what I did,” Rodriguez-Fields said. “I was slightly nervous, but I was really motivated because I lost in the final last year. I came in nervous, but once my nerves left, it felt good. …I’m happy, but the season’s not over, we still have a big one Tuesday.”
