The Cherokee Trail boys tennis team’s evolution continues, as the Cougars topped last season’s bar-setting season with an even better regional result in 2014.
Junior No. 3 singles player Cameron Bergan and the No. 3 doubles team of Rahul Verma and Logan Schwanz won the first regional championships for Cherokee Trail on Oct. 2 at Redstone Park and the Cougars finished an all-time best second as a team.
Coach Liz Siegel’s group came in only behind Mountain Vista and matched last season’s number of qualifiers — one singles player and three doubles teams — for the 5A state tournament Thursday through Saturday at Gates Tennis Center.
Matches are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Thursday, though the Colorado High School Activities Association has put into place a contingency plan that might spread the tournament out to multiple sites due to rainy weather forecast for the first two days of the tournament.
In addition to Bergan, who appeared at state last season in doubles, and the team of Verma and Schwanz, the No. 1 doubles team of Tanner Ford and Vik Sheverda and the No. 4 pairing of Luke Ho and Krish Desai get to experience state.
Coach Liz Siegel’s Cougars look to surpass last season when No. 1 singles player Dylan Zumar posted their first and only team point with a victory.
The only Aurora team with more qualifiers is Regis Jesuit, which won an intense head-to-head battle with Fossil Ridge to take the Region 7 championship Oct. 2 and qualify all but one position for state.
Regional champs Erich Nuss (No. 3 singles) and doubles teams Alec Jotte and Joey Robertson (No. 2), Truett Davis and Steven Bummer (No. 3) and Max Koszowski and Luca Abbott (No. 4) earned top seeds at state, while Trace Collins (No. 2 singles) and the No. 1 doubles team of Tommy Koszowski and Patrick Seby take lower seeds into state for coach Laura Jones’ program.
Jotte and Robertson plays the only qualifier for coach Jeff Ryan’s Wolves — the No. 2 doubles team of Chris Burris and Matthew Yan — in the opening round at state.
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel
2014 CLASS 5A BOYS STATE TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Oct. 9-11 at Gates Tennis Center, Denver
NO. 1 SINGLES — Upper bracket: Brian Ross (Chatfield), sr. vs. Kap Smith (Boulder), fr.; Garet Davis (Loveland), sr. vs. Ben Antonsen (Mountain Vista), soph.; Isaac Smith (Rocky Mountain), sr. vs. Ethan Hillis (Cherry Creek), soph.; Skyler Gates (Heritage), fr. vs. Derek Wright (Monarch), jr.; Lower bracket: Matt Harris (Fruita Monument), sr. vs. Ignatius Castelino (Fairview), sr.; Monroe Porter (Legend), jr. vs. Jake Becker (Arapahoe), jr.; Cody Carlton (Castle View), sr. vs. Kai Smith (Denver East), soph.; Ryan Beckstrom (Chaparral), sr. vs. Lucas Martin (Fossil Ridge)
NO. 2 SINGLES — Upper bracket: Grant Wood (Broomfield), jr. vs. Harshil Dwivedi (Cherry Creek), sr.; Josh Hunt (Castle View), jr. vs. Randy Hurshman (Fruita Monument), sr.; Jack Alexander (Heritage), fr. vs. Charlie Franks (Denver East), fr.; CJ Moddelmog (Fort Collins), sr. vs. Colin Brown (Arapahoe), sr.; Lower bracket: David Lee (Loveland), sr. vs. Tommy Mason (Fairview), sr.; Patrick Ross (Chatfield), soph. vs. Gabe Pagat (Fossil Ridge), jr.; TRACE COLLINS (REGIS JESUIT), SR. vs. Jackson Hawk (Boulder), jr.; Jack Ferry (Monarch), soph. vs. Austin Gruszczynski (Mountain Vista), sr.
NO. 3 SINGLES — Upper bracket: Suraj Renganathan (Fort Collins), sr. vs. Matt Ness (Grand Junction), sr.; Keegan McNamara (Monarch), jr. vs. Cutter Esson (Boulder), jr.; Josh Haddad (Pine Creek), jr. vs. John Simpson (Chatfield), jr.; Jadon Tanguma (Arvada West), sr. vs. Robby Hill (Cherry Creek), soph.; Lower bracket: Christian Slupe (Heritage), sr. vs. Colby Jimenez (Denver East), sr.; Greg Connelly (Castle View), sr. vs. ERICH NUSS (REGIS JESUIT), SOPH.; Jackson Johar (Fossil Ridge), jr. vs. CAMERON BERGAN (CHEROKEE TRAIL), JR.; Dylan Panis (Arapahoe), sr. vs. Alec Leddon (Fairview), jr.
NO. 1 DOUBLES — Upper bracket: TOMMY KOSZOWSKI/PATRICK SEBY (REGIS JESUIT) vs. Connor Lewis/Bryce Viorst (Denver East); TANNER FORD/VIK SHEVERDA (CHEROKEE TRAIL) vs. Max Weiner/Nic Hoime (Fossil Ridge); Michael Patrick/Luis Perez-Marin Barea (Arvada West) vs. Gabriel Trieder/Sam Graf (Fruita Monument); Josh Fields/Teller Hoskins (Legend) vs. Kobe Holdren/Ashwin Vaithianathan (Mountain Vista); Lower bracket: Ben Arja/Ty Gardner (Grand Junction) vs. Cameron McGregor/Mitch McGregor (Heritage); Arie Van Vuuren/Nathan Lazarus (Boulder) vs. Jacob Bendalin/Wyatt Dale (Cherry Creek); Sam Muetterties/Sanjay Patil (Arapahoe) vs. Tom Melville/Andrew Pollack (Fairview); Connor Shore/Garrett Schappell (Fort Collins) vs. Sam Meyer/Austin Stutz (Chatfield)
NO. 2 DOUBLES — Upper bracket: Charlie Eck/Conor McCarthy (Ralston Valley) vs. Devin Harper/Graham Blanco (Fairview); Trae Beneck/James Zimmerman (Fort Collins) vs. Matt Woody/Eli Wiener (Denver East); Raey Waters/John Troetschel (Arvada West) vs. Sean Barich/Hunter Hostelley (Mountain Vista); Aaron Liss/Davis Page (Legend) vs. Jason Arnell/Tyler Speck (Arapahoe); Lower bracket: Preston Slupe/Tanner Steirt (Heritage) vs. Noah Reiss/Mitchell Johnson (Cherry Creek); Scott Sunset/David DeFrancia (Fossil Ridge) vs. Ian Hegstrom/Sam Shaver (Grand Junction); CHRIS BURRIS/MATTHEW YAN (GRANDVIEW) vs. ALEC JOTTE/JOEY ROBERTSON (REGIS JESUIT); James Stagg/Colton Reimer (Fruita Monument) vs. Cole Smith/Henry Hawk (Boulder)
NO. 3 DOUBLES — Upper bracket: James Hunsinger/Jack Shore (Fort Collins) vs. Connor Dawson/Scott Neville (Boulder); Keaton Komatz/Oliver Henry (Heritage) vs. Erin Norwood/Ryan James (Cherry Creek); Noah Curd/Alexander Cruz (Arapahoe) vs. Spencer Clauson/Ethan Schacht (Fairview); Kevin Schultz/Mike Brown (Fossil Ridge) vs. Ryan Bowen/Matt Miller (Grand Junction); Lower bracket: Jacob Kark/David Wollins (George Washington) vs. TJ BraxtonEric Dellavalle (Denver East); Caleb Penner/Coby Babcock (Broomfield) vs. Ryan Fenske/Andy Chen (ThunderRidge); Grant Kochmann/Keegan Pittz (Arvada West) vs. TRUETT DAVIS/STEVEN BUMMER (REGIS JESUIT); Mac Bolak/Tom Abrams (Monarch) vs. RAHUL VERMA/LOGAN SCHWANZ (CHEROKEE TRAIL)
NO. 4 DOUBLES — Upper bracket: John Guettlein/Johnny Kleckner (Arvada West) vs. Jackson Martin/Brooks Savage (Fairview); Peyton Harmon/Brandon Lovato (Fruita Monument) vs. Jonny Cook/Wesley Wooden (Denver East); Tristan Faust/Dylan Harris (Fossil Ridge) vs. Chase Douglas/Jake Jones (Arapahoe); LUKE HO/KRISH DESAI (CHEROKEE TRAIL) vs. Aidan Mulligan/Kelby Woodard (Boulder); Lower bracket: Mitch Carlson/Jared Graham (Fort Collins) vs. Austin Cracraft/Itai Boneh (Monarch); Andy Sidel/Adam Liss (Legend) vs. LUCA ABBOTT/MAX KOSZOWSKI (REGIS JESUIT); Andrew Dallakoti/Jonathan Schrieber (Heritage) vs. Eric Zhao/Ethan Simmons (Mountain Vista); Josh Bean/Ken Shankar (ThunderRidge) vs. Graydon Johnson/Andy Duggan (Cherry Creek)
Courtney Oakes is Sports Editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at 303-750-7555 or sports@aurorasentinel.com. Twitter: @aurorasports. Facebook: Aurora Prep Sentinel