LOVELAND | The Cherokee Trail boys tennis team placed in the top three in all three singles positions and all four doubles lines and came away with three bids to the Class 5A boys tennis individual state tournament out of the Region 3 tournament at North Lake Tennis Park.
Coach Eric Olsen-Dufour’s Cougars have a singles player headed to the Oct. 12-14 5A individual state tournament at City Park in Denver in Swagat Behara, as well as the No. 1 doubles team of Zachary Monforton and Aditya Fernandez and the No. 4 doubles pairing of Edward Tay and Ryan Martin.
Fossil Ridge swept through the championship matches at the Region 3 tournament — which concluded Thursday — but Behara provided the most competitive challenge in the finals. The sophomore earned a split of the first two sets with the SaberCats’ Nate Walton, but couldn’t sustain the momentum in the third set as Walton prevailed 6-1, 1-6, 6-3.
Behara’s first state tournament appearance was assured by his three-set win over Ponderosa’s Adyn Lonergan, the third-place finisher, in the semifinals. That win prevented the possibility of a playback.
Tay and Martin — both juniors — also earned their way to the regional championship match and faced a Fossil Ridge team that won the title with a 6-0, 6-0 victory. The Cougars avoided a playback for their state spot at No. 4 doubles when Ponderosa’s Erik Gordon and Honah Hunter topped Eaglecrest junior Aiden Segovia and sophomore Caleb Patterson) in a competitive third-place match.
Monforton, a junior, and sophomore Fernandez moved on to state despite a 7-5, 1-6, 6-1 loss to Ponderosa’s Grady Sola and Charlie Ashcroft in a playback match. Olsen-Dufour was told the Mustangs would be unable to play in the state tournament due to one of the players traveling abroad, allowing the Cougars to fill the state spot.
Eaglecrest had no state qualifiers, but had the fourth-place finishers at No. 2 singles (sophomore Austin Moore), as well as No. 3 doubles (sophomore Luke Forbes and junior Anthony Giancaterino) and No. 4 doubles (Segovia and Patterson).
Courtney Oakes is Aurora Sentinel Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2023 CLASS 5A REGION 3 BOYS TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Oct. 4-5 at North Lake Tennis Park
Championship matches (winner automatically advances to state)
No. 1 singles — Tyler Van Tassell (Fossil Ridge) def. Matthew Hossack (Ponderosa), 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 singles — Nate Walton (Fossil Ridge) def. SWAGAT BEHARA (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 6-1, 1-6, 6-3; No. 3 singles — Alex Van Thuyne (Fossil Ridge) def. Peyton Donahoe (Ponderosa), 6-1, 7-6 (9); No. 1 doubles — Cadell Webb/Vedant Manakeshwar (Fossil Ridge) def. Grady Sola / Charlie Ashcroft (Ponderosa), 6-0, 6-2; No. 2 doubles — Pedro Buffon Haubrich/Ian Miller (Fossil Ridge) def. Brady Knackstedt / Max Dyer (Ponderosa), 6-1, 6-4; No. 3 doubles — Gavin Payne/Jace Fitzpatrick (Fossil Ridge) def. Jason Miller / Tanner Willis (Ponderosa), 6-2, 6-3; No. 4 doubles — Davis Samuelson/Filipe Sampaio (Fossil Ridge) def. EDWARD TAY/RYAN MARTIN (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 6-0, 6-0
Third-place matches
No. 1 singles — SACHIN SURESH (CHEROKEE TRAIL) def. Michael Tanner (Rampart), 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 singles — Adyn Lonergan (Ponderosa) def. AUSTIN MOORE (EAGLECREST), 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 singles — CLARK DELEEUW (CHEROKEE TRAIL) def. Harshith Jayadeva (Rampart), 6-0, 6-0; No. 1 doubles — ZACHARY MONFORTON/ADITYA FERNANDEZ (CHEROKEE TRAIL) def. Ty Keiser / Arindam Celly (Rampart), 6-3, 6-1; No. 2 doubles — ALAN KAMALOV/ALEXANDER MCNEIL (CHEROKEE TRAIL) def. Ruhnan Madhu / Ayush Vispute (Rampart), 6-0, 6-1; No. 3 doubles — ALI MINHAJUDDIN/MATTHEW JEUNG (CHEROKEE TRAIL) def. LUKE FORBES/ANTHONY GIANNCATERINO (EAGLECREST), 6-1, 6-3; No. 4 doubles — Erik Gordon /Honah Hunter (Ponderosa) def. AIDEN SEGOVIA/CALEB PATTERSON (EAGLECREST), 7-5, 6-4
Playback (winner advances to state)
No. 3 singles — Peyton Donahoe (Ponderosa) def. CLARK DELEEUW (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 7-5, 6-2; No. 1 doubles — Grady Sola / Charlie Ashcroft (Ponderosa) def. ZACHARY MONFORTON/ADITYA FERNANDEZ (CHEROKEE TRAIL), 7-5, 1-6, 6-1