4A Boys Tennis: Kent Denver Claims Third-Straight State Title, 14th Overall

DENVER – Since the Colorado High School Activities Association introduced the dual-style team championships for boys tennis in 2022, Kent Denver is the only team that has won Class 4A.

On Tuesday at Denver Tennis Park, the top-seeded Sun Devils secured a 4-2 victory over No. 2 Colorado Academy to win their third straight dual-style team championship and fourth-straight overall team title.

“It’s special for the seniors who were on the team for all four years,” Kent Denver head coach Ian Hintz said. “It’s pretty cool to go all four years winning state titles. And they started the first year with the last year when the team was decided through the individual final and the last three years through the team state. So, that’s kind of cool for them to transition through that and kind of see it both ways.”

Kent Denver and Colorado Academy players went head-to-head in five of the seven finals at the individual championships on Saturday, with Colorado Academy winning three of those. In what was also a rematch of last year’s team championships between the Sun Devils and the Mustangs, No. 2 doubles pair Jack Cramer and Simon Hirsch clinched the dual victory for Kent Denver with a three-set win.

“We played CA early this year and it was 4-3, so we knew coming in that it was going to be close,” Hintz said. “We knew during the season it was likely we could end up here and it turned out to be as close as we thought it could be. And we played a mini dual with them a few days ago and we knew after Pueblo that each team was going to make some adjustments and come out with some different game plans. It turned out to be entertaining tennis, it really did.”

Prior to this year’s team championships, Kent Denver had not lost a dual match at state in either of the previous two seasons. This 2024 title is the Sun Devils’ 14th all-time.

At No. 1 singles, Kent Denver’s Nathan Gold, who won his third individual state title at the individual championships on Saturday, won 6-3, 6-0 over Colorado Academy’s Charlie May. The No. 2 singles match did not finish because the dual had already been decided before it could. In the third singles spot, Colorado Academy’s Marcus Mango won 6-0, 7-5 against Kent Denver’s Max Gart.

In doubles play, Kent Denver’s Liam O’Drobinak and Noah Bogel claimed the No. 1 spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Jackson Gilliland and Charlie Rakowski. At No. 2 doubles, Cramer and Hirsch won 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 over Colorado Academy’s Hendrick Jordaan and Peter Owen.

At No. 3 doubles, Kent Denver’s Cole Fenton and Vyaan Chopra beat Colorado Academy’s Bennett Neely and Oliver Neely, 6-4, 6-4. In the No. 4 doubles match, Colorado Academy duo Hendrick Jordaan and Peter Owen won 6-1, 6-4 against Kent Denver’s Reid Calamari and Cabot Miner.

To reach the finals, Kent Denver won 7-0 over No. 4 Evergreen in the semifinals. In the opposite semifinal, Colorado Academy beat No. 2 D’Evelyn, 6-1.

This marks the third year of the boys tennis dual team state championships, as the tournament structure changed for the 2022 season. Previously, team points were calculated at the Boys Tennis Individual State Championships to determine the team state champion.