The first installment of the boys tennis postseason will begin this week, with five teams from Broomfield and Boulder County earning a spot in the Class 5A and 4A team state tournaments.
Individual regionals will take place starting Oct. 8, followed by the individual state tournament a week later.
Peak to Peak leads the local contingent of state tournament teams, as it ascended to the No. 3 seed in 4A and will play host to Littleton on Wednesday. No. 9 Dawson and No. 16 Niwot will both be on the road during the first round.
Fairview, meanwhile, leads the 5A representation with the No. 7 seed, and Broomfield rounds it out at No. 12.
Class 4A
No. 14 Littleton at No. 3 Peak to Peak
The Pumas have been dominant from the top down, winning every single one of their duals to date while also winning the Centaurus Invitational. The singles players have carried them thanks to senior No. 1 singles man Vivaan Bhardwaj (6-1 record), junior 2S Shreyas Sundaresan (8-0) and 3S freshman Cody Palmer (10-0).
The No. 2 doubles (sophomores Adi Gaur and Anders Todd) and No. 3 doubles (sophomore Damian Gorsevski and junior Marcos Lopez Flaus) teams have been just as lethal with their respective 9-1 and 7-0 records.
The Lions, meanwhile, boast strong game play from every line except for No. 2 doubles. They suffered their only loss of the season to No. 4 D’Evelyn.
No. 9 Dawson at No. 8 Discovery Canyon
The Mustangs have proven they can hold their own against tough competition and have won seven of their 10 duals so far this season. Those three losses may paint even more of a positive picture.
They endured their first setback against Peak to Peak, followed directly by a loss to 5A Arvada West, but they picked up wins in both contests. The No. 1 doubles team of sophomore Bassam ElHoury and senior Colin McLeod, as well as No. 4 doubles’ sophomore Ashwin Kothari and freshman Walker Karp, won against the Pumas.
Later, the Mustangs fell 4-3 to No. 2 Colorado Academy, and made their opponent sweat thanks to successes from sophomore 1S Cole Cohen and sophomore 3S Nicholas Steinkamp. Cohen, specifically, has put on a show at the top of the lineup with his 16-4 record.
The Thunder, meanwhile, hold an 8-1 record with their doubles teams carrying most of the weight.
No. 16 Niwot at No. 1 Kent Denver
The Cougars squeaked into the tournament as the last seed, having lost nine of their 10 duals, including against Kent Denver at the end of August. In that matchup, only 1D seniors Oskar Hansen and Zuming Haratsaris managed to pull off a victory.
Recently, they placed ninth out of the 14 teams at the Granite Peaks League tournament. They’ve played around with their lineup all season long, and Hansen holds the best record at 4-1 in his short stint at 2S.
The Sun Devils, on the other hand, are 8-3 on the season with two losses to 5A’s second-seeded Cherry Creek.
Class 5A
No. 10 Ralston Valley at No. 7 Fairview
The Knights have enjoyed a 6-3 record behind their front man, junior Luke Treleaven, who last week led them to a Granite Peaks League championship. Behind him are junior Adhrit Sundaresan (2S, 8-3) and Itay Kazatcker (3S, 7-5), while Grant Garabed and Quinn Ruder are holding steady at 3D with an 11-1 record.
Their only losses to date have come against Cherry Creek, Kent Denver and No. 5 Fossil Ridge, proving that they’ll be battle-tested ahead of the postseason.
The Mustangs will come in with a 5-4 record and a team that’s seen most of its success from it doubles lines.
No. 12 Broomfield at No. 5 Fossil Ridge
The Eagles have thrown together a strong 8-1 record behind 1S Italian exchange student Andrea Mancuso, whose 10-2 mark far outpaces the rest of the team. So far, they’ve only lost to Fairview, but haven’t faced the tough schedule that the Knights have.
Last week, they placed third at the Granite Peaks League tournament.
The Sabercats, on the other hand, boast a perfect record against some stronger competition, and have enjoyed winning records from all seven lines.