Fossil Ridge and Fort Collins boys tennis players are set to compete in the Colorado high school Class 5A boys tennis state individual championships this week in Denver.
The SaberCats and Lambkins each won regional titles, with Fossil advancing all seven lines and Fort Collins qualifying six lines for the state tournament.
Overall, 20 players across 13 lines from the two schools will be in action at state.
More: Fossil Ridge, Fort Collins win regional titles to qualify 20 for 5A state tennis tournament
The three-day event kicks off Thursday with the first round and quarterfinals, followed by playbacks and semifinals on Friday before the finals and third-place matches Saturday. Play begins at 9 a.m. each day, weather permitting.
Follow here for live updates throughout the tournament, including photos and match results.
The SaberCats nearly swept regional titles, winning six of seven lines and qualifying 11 players for state.
Fossil also made the team tournament semifinals before falling to No. 1 seed Regis Jesuit on Tuesday.
Here’s how the SaberCats are faring through opening-round matches in the individual brackets:
No. 1 singles: Tyler Van Tassell beat Broomfield’s Ryder Pierce 6-3, 6-4. He’ll face Denver East’s Trevor Hakej in a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal.
No. 2 singles: Cadell Webb won 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in three tough sets vs. Blake Curl (Boulder). Webb will now battle Grandview’s Kaahan Wani in a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal.
No. 3 singles: Ian Miller defeated Konner George (Denver South) 6-1, 6-1. Miller advances to a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal.
No. 1 doubles: Davis Samuelson/Felipe Sampaio vs. Ryder Meale/Aaron Stalter (Arapahoe)
No. 2 doubles: Keaton Thomas/Diego Pardina vs. Colin Arbour/Oliver Zatz (Denver South)
No. 3 doubles: Vedant Manakeshwar/Braxton Phillips beat Columbine’s Jace Hansen/Tommy Dixon 6-4, 6-3 in the opening. The SaberCat duo will meet Castle View’s Fiodar Stepanuga/Collin Townsend in a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal.
No. 4 doubles: Zach Peterson/Zane Webb won 6-0, 6-3 against Jackson Saddoris/Tanner Keegan (Broomfield). They’ll move into a Thursday afternoon quarterfinal.
The Lambkins edged out host Grandview (53 points to 49) to take the regional title last week and send nine players to state.
Fort Collins made the team tournament as the ninth seed but dropped an opening-round match to No. 8 Grandview.
Here’s how the Lambkins are faring through opening-round matches in the individual brackets:
No. 1 doubles: Bennett Metz/Callaway Orr won 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 over Henry Vanderberg/Austin McDonald (Broomfield). The Lambkins duo will next meet Valor Christian’s Ryan Mandes/Ryan Greenfield in Thursday afternoon’s quarterfinals.
No. 1 singles: Jake Bronson lost 6-2, 6-0 to Charlie Stern (Cherry Creek). He falls into the Friday playback bracket.
No. 2 singles: Kincade Crow lost 6-3, 7-6 to Jack Loehr (Cherry Creek). He drops into the Friday playback bracket.
No. 3 singles: Porter Gallegos lost 6-2, 6-3 to Aidan Washer (Cherry Creek). Gallegos will now move into the Friday playback bracket.
No. 3 doubles: Jake McGinnis/Jack Gibbs lost 6-0, 6-2 to Fairview’s Will Stinchcomb/Itay Kazatcker The Lambkin team will drop into the Friday playback bracket.
No. 4 doubles: Miles Kalai/Casey Stanford vs. Hank Harms/Zach Kesselman (Heritage)
The format is single-elimination for the championship, but double elimination for third and fourth place via playbacks.
Each line has a 16-team bracket, and players are eliminated completely after two losses.
Chris Abshire covers high school and community sports for the Coloradoan.
This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Fossil Ridge, Fort Collins tennis scores from Colorado state tournament
