LOVELAND | The best season in Grandview boys tennis continues to get better, as the program’s largest contingent ever is headed to the Class 5A individual state tournament.
In two days of play at North Lake Park that concluded Friday, coach Jeff Ryan’s Wolves — who earlier qualified for and played in the new 5A state team tournament — earned berths in the Oct. 13-15 5A state tournament at City Park with six of seven lines.
Senior No. 1 singles player Eduard Tsaturyan and freshman No. 3 singles player Justin Son won regional championships for coach Jeff Ryan’s Grandview team and all four of the Wolves’ doubles teams also advanced to the state tournament despite head-to-head losses to Fossil Ridge (a semifinalist in the 5A team competition) at each position.
Tsaturyan continued his undefeated season with two more wins, during which he dropped a total of just games, both coming to Fossil Ridge’s Tyler Van Tassell in a 6-1, 6-1 final. Meanwhile, Justin Son eased through his opening match, then prevailed in a difficult championship match against Bennett Johnson of Fossil Ridge, who he outlasted 7-5, 6-4.
Sophomore No. 2 singles Blake Hardin lost a three-set semifinal match to Rock Canyon’s Chase Cranston, but rebounded with a win a 6-4, 6-2 win over Rampart’s Michael Tanner to place third. He did not get a challenge match for a state berth, however, as Cranston lost in the championship match, but had already defeated him.
Grandview’s No. 1 doubles team of senior Matthew Park and junior Bruno Denegri Perez is state-bound after finishing as the runner-up at their position. The pair defeated teams from Rampart and Rock Canyon before falling to Fossil Ridge’s Grant Samuelson and Jeffrey Yao 7-6 (5), 6-3 in the final.
Seniors Alex Eckley and Josh Son cruised through matchups with Rampart and Rock Canyon to reach the No. 2 doubles championship match, where they were stopped by Alex Van Thuyne and Jack Houldsworth, who won 6-4, 6-1. It will be the second straight trip to the state tournament for Eckley, who made it last season with former partner Caleb Hodges.
Hodges is part of the state-bound No. 3 doubles team along with Mark Yan after they advanced to the regional final before falling in a third-set tiebreaker with Fossil Ridge’s Nick Doing and Christian Miller. Hodges and Yan dropped only a single game to Horizon in their opening match, then came through for a 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the semifinals against Rock Canyon.
Grandview’s No. 4 doubles team of Mohammed Batthef and Carter Benton were seeded third in the regional bracket, but knocked off second-seeded Rock Canyon in the semifinals (6-3, 6-3) to earn a spot in the finals. Fossil Ridge’s Zane Webb and Gavin Payne claimed the regional title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over the Wolves.
Coach David Palmer’s Eaglecrest team also played in the regional and though it had no state qualifiers, two doubles — Ethan Anderson and Austin Moore at No. 3 and the No. 4 duo of Thomas Nguyen and Gian Zoroa — teams placed fourth.
Couttney Oakes is Sentinel Colorado Sports Editor. Reach him at sports@sentinelcolorado.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. IG: Sentinel Prep Sports
2022 CLASS 5A REGION 3 BOYS TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Championship matches (winner qualifies for 5A individual state tournament)
No. 1 singles: Eduard Tsaturyan (Grandview) def. Tyler Van Tassell (Fossil Ridge), 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 singles: Andrew Roerty (Fossil Ridge) def. Chase Cranston (Rock Canyon), 6-1, 7-5
No. 3 singles: Justin Son (Grandview) def. Bennett Johnson (Fossil Ridge), 7-5, 6-4
No. 1 doubles: Grant Samuelson/Jeffrey Yao (Fossil Ridge) def. Matthew Park/Bruno Denegri Perez (Grandview), 7-6 (5), 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Alex Van Thuyne/Jack Houldsworth (Fossil Ridge) def. Alex Eckley/Josh Son (Grandview), 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 doubles: Nick Doing/Christian Miller (Fossil Ridge) def. Mark Yan/Caleb Hodges (Grandview), 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (2)
No. 4 doubles: Zane Webb/Gavin Payne (Fossil Ridge) def. Mohammed Batthef/Carter Benton (Grandview), 6-4, 6-2
Third-place matches
No. 1 singles: Will Strabel (Rock Canyon) def. Aaron Tran (Rampart), 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 singles: Blake Hardin (Grandview) def. Michael Tanner (Rampart), 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 singles: Michael New (Rock Canyon) def. Cooper Saure (Horizon), 6-3, 7-6 (1)
No. 1 doubles: Bryson Kassalty/Jayden Stratton (Horizon) def. Dax Hayward/Nicholas Pita (Rock Canyon), 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 doubles: Lelyton Couch/Ian Gruscycynski (Rock Canyon) def. Mitch Brown/Sammy Esquibel (Horizon), 6-0, 6-1
No. 3 doubles: Jonas Thelander/Sanay Shah (Rock Canyon) def. Ethan Anderson/Austin Moore (Eaglecrest), 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 doubles: Camden Maurer/Carter McDonald (Rock Canyon) def. Thomas Nguyen/Gian Zoroa (Eaglecrest), 6-0, 6-2