5A Boys Tennis: Semifinals Matches Set for Friday
DENVER – The semifinal round for the 5A Boys Tennis Individual State Championships is set following Thursday’s opening day. Play at Dennis Tennis Park resumes Friday at 9 a.m., with the championship finals and third-place matches scheduled for Saturday.
Semfinalists won two matches Thursday to advance. Playback matches are scheduled for Friday as well.
Regis Jesuit has advanced all seven lines to the semifinals, while Cherry Creek advanced six and Valor Christian and Grandview each advanced four. Arapahoe and Fossil Ridge have two semifinalists each, while Lakewood, Pine Creek and Mountain Vista each have one.
In No. 1 singles, defending champion Alec Rodriguez-Fields of Regis Jesuit advanced with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Luke Treleaven of Fairview in the quarterfinals and will now face sophomore Milo Fischer of Lakewood in the semifinals. Fischer defeated Aidan Washer of Cherry Creek 6-4, 6-7, 6-2 in the quarters.
The other semifinal pits seniors Jace Nakamura of Valor Christian and Cale Brush of Araphaoe. Nakamura, who lost to Rodriguez-Fields in last year’s semfinals, was a 6-4, 6-1 winner of Justin Son of Grandview in the quarterfinals, while Brush beat 2024 finalist Braylon Desquitado of Pine Creek 7-5, 6-4 in the round of eight.
In No. 2 singles, sophomore Kaahan Wani of Grandview was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Swagat Behera of Cherokee Trail in the quarterfinals and will now play freshman Advait Jadha of Pine Creek in the semifinals. Jadha beat Monarch freshman Ajay Chandran 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Two seniors — Jack Loehr of Cherry Creek and Clay Dickey of Regis Jesuit — are in the other semifinal. Loehr capped his day with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Fairview’s Adhrit Sundaresan, while Dickey topped Luis Acosta of Chaparral 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Loehr defeated Wani in last year’s No. 2 semifinals.
In No. 3 singles, Krish Wani of Grandview and Drew Summers of Valor Christian meet in one semifinal, while the other matches Devan Shah of Cherry Creek and Adam Rydel of Regis Jesuit.
Wani advanced with a 6-1, 6-4 quarterfinal win over Jonathan Jung of Arapahoe, while Summers defeated Anton Soutelo of ThunderRidge 6-2, 6-2. Meanwhile, Shah topped Troy Games of Monarch 6-1, 6-4 and Rydel defeated Itay Kazatcker of Fairview 6-0, 6-2.
In No. 1 doubles, the Cherry Creek duo of Tyson Hardy and Sam Migliaccio will face the Fossil Ridge tandem of Diego Pardina and Davis Samuelson. Hardy/Migliaccio won twice Thursday, including a 6-2, 6-2 decision over Gavin Friedlander and Charlie Van Auken of Valor Christian, while Pardina/Samuleson’s quarterfinal win was 6-2, 6-4 over ThunderRidge’s Michael Hilliard and Evan Heitman.
The other semifinal includes Carter Benton and Steve Li of Grandview facing Will Larkin and Koops Lord of Regis Jesuit. Benton/Li scored a 7-6, 6-4 win over Dante Crimone and Oliver Zorilla-Villany of Lakewood in the quarterfinals, while the Larkin/Lord quarterfinal victory was 6-1, 6-1 against Arapahoe’s Owen Kates and Axel Moche.
In No. 2 doubles, Regis Jesuit’s Edward Samuelson and Reis Cherveny will play Grandview’s Corbin Thomspon and Nathan McIsaac in one semifinal. Samuelson/Cherveny were 6-2, 6-0 quarterfinal winners over Jack Simon and Riley Elder of Valor Christian, while the Grandview duo rallied to defeat Magnus Miller and Ren Nelson of Heritage in a 0-6, 6-2, 7-6 thriller.
The other semifinal pits Vedant Manakeshwar and Will Schuster of Fossil Ridge against Kapil Bhandaram and Adam Eikelberner of Cherry Creek. The Fossil Ridge pairing earned a 7-5, 6-4 win over Rafa Cortes and Colin Ryan of Fairview, while the Cherry Creek team downed Theodore Bridger and Thomas Mack of Poudre 6-1 in the quarters.
In No. 3 doubles, Cherry Creek’s Liam Raleigh and Spencer Hutchins will play Mountain Vista’s Blake Ceglie and Taylor Knowles in one semifinal. Raleigh/Hutchins won 6-3, 6-0 over Denver South’s Cash Martin and Tyler Santisi in the quarterfinals, while Ceglie/Knowles defeated Grant Garabed and Quinn Ruder of Fairview 7-5, 6-4.
The other semifinal sees Reid Stemberger and Deacon Brown of Valor Christian facing the Regis Jesuit pairing of Beckett Martorella and Finn Carolan. Stemberger/Brown earned a 6-2, 6-4 decision over Braxton Phillips and Kasey Nelson of Fossil Ridge in the quarterfinals, while Martorella/Carolan topped Alex Hays and Jackson Roesner of Ralston Valley 6-1, 6-1.
And in No. 4 doubles, Regis Jesuit’s pairing of Connor Hickey and Daniel Hickey will face Valor Christian’s Colter Kindsfater and Nick Daugherty in one semifinal, with Charlie Eggen and Jack Olney of Arapahoe playing Sunand Bhandaram and Ryan Raleight of Cherry Creek in the other.
The Hickeys defeated Fairview’s Om Vegesna and Srikar Kurakula 6-1, 6-1 in the quarters, the Valor Christian team beat Golden’s Liam Critchfield and Austin Bittner 6-0, 6-4, Eggen/Oleney topped Sully Kane and James Lillis of Fossil Ridge 6-3, 6-2, and the Cherry Creek team beat John Bowman and Hank Harms of Heritage 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.
