With each round of the 2015 state tournament, it became more and more apparent that youth was being served, and serving notice at the same time, on the boys tennis scene.
In No. 1 singles alone, the four semifinalists in Class 5A consisted of three juniors and a sophomore – the latter of which,
Boulder's Kap Smith, captured the state championship.
Denver East standouts Charlie Franks, left, and Kai
Smith are part of an exciting youth movement in
Colorado high school boys tennis. The 2016 season
begins Aug. 18.
Courtesy photo
Over in 4A, where 13 of the 16 qualifiers at No. 1 singles were juniors or younger, a pair of freshmen advanced to the state semis and
Kent Denver (Englewood) junior Casey Ross emerged victorious.
"It's tough for freshmen and sophomores to compete against juniors and seniors who have enormous serves and big games,"
Discovery Canyon (Colorado Springs) coach Mike Humphrey said. "I think it's fantastic to have these younger kids come
in and prove they can compete with these older kids. It shows the rest of the kids that, ‘Hey, we can do this.' It's just a matter of putting in the time."
Humphrey's three singles players accounted for 26 of the team's 27 points last fall, which landed the Thunder in fourth place overall. Freshman Nick Lorenz advanced to the No. 1 singles title match before falling to Ross, and sophomores Dustin Bohuslavschi and Tanner Jones reached the semifinals.
Colorado Academy (Denver) freshman Richter Jordaan, was the runner-up at No. 2 singles.
"Most of all the No. 1 singles players that were at 4A state, I know them from when we were younger playing USTA tournaments," Lorenz said. "It's cool that we're all playing in high school now. Sometimes kids just skip high school and just worry about USTA."
With so many players returning, it generates a little bit of buzz and name recognition for fans as well. Boulder's Smith and
Denver East's Kai Smith were in the state semis at No. 1 singles in 2014 as well. Ben Antonsen of
Mountain Vista (Highlands Ranch) made the No. 2 singles final as a freshman, and reached the semis at No. 1 singles last fall.
Ryan James of
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village), who took second to Kap Smith as a junior, was a state champion at No. 3 doubles two years ago.
"I think it's one of those things where having some of those kids come back again and again and be prominent and be so strong in play and so forth, that adds some excitement to the sport and to the state tournament," said Denver East coach Mark Thalhofer, whose team placed third in 5A in 2015. "It also gets some of these kids ready to perform better the following year too."
East's Charlie Franks placed second at No. 2 singles as a sophomore after making the semis as a freshman.
"It's an incredible luxury to get a kid like Kai and a kid like Charlie, who are so great from the first day of their freshman season forward," Thalhofer said. "In addition to being such wonderful players, they're just wonderful kids also."
Cherry Creek, which earned its fifth 5A title in a row a year ago,
didn't have a senior among its three singles players. Mitch Johnson took
the No. 3 singles championship as a sophomore, and Ben Murray did the
same at No. 3 doubles.
Erich Nuss (No. 1 doubles), Patrick Seby and Luca Abbott (No. 2 doubles) all captured state titles a year ago for
Regis Jesuit (Aurora). Senior David Glazer was one-half of East's title-winning team at No. 4 doubles.
Kent Denver has won three consecutive 4A championships and returns an ample amount of talent as well. In addition to Ross, Jack Moldenhauer was part of the winning No. 1 doubles team.
Colorado Academy's Brendan Schwartz and Garrett Sutter claimed the No. 4 doubles title.
Discovery Canyon will be looking to take the next step with its program. Lorenz is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his older brother, Luke, who captured the No. 1 singles title in 2013.
"Even though it would have been nice as a freshman," Nick Lorenz said. "If I win this year it's a huge deal."
Humphrey said the biggest key is that more players need to follow the example of his singles competitors and commit to the sport beyond just the high school season.
"The biggest thing is those kids are committed to tennis. They play a lot of tennis," he said. "They play sectional tournaments, they play state tournaments. If we can get more kids doing that, it would be amazing what we could do as a team."
Boys Tennis
Defending Team Champions
Class 5A: Cherry Creek
Class 4A: Kent Denver
Returning All-State Players5A: Luca Abbott, Sr., Regis Jesuit; David Glazer, Sr., Denver East; Ryan James, Sr., Cherry Creek; Mitch Johnson, Jr., Cherry Creek; Ben Murray, Jr., Cherry Creek; Erich Nuss, Sr., Regis Jesuit Patrick Seby, Jr., Regis Jesuit; Kap Smith, Jr., Boulder.
4A: Nick Lorenz, Soph., Discovery Canyon; Jack Moldenhauer, Jr., Kent Denver; Casey Ross, Sr., Kent Denver; Brendan Schwartz, Jr., Colorado Academy; Garrett Sutter, Sr., Colorado Academy.
