There are few certainties in life, but one thing that can be counted on is the
Cherry Creek (Greenwood Village) tennis team contending for a state championship each fall.
Arguably the most dominant sports program in the state, the Bruins have captured 38 state titles during their illustrious history, including the past two (Regis Jesuit won the team title in 2010, snapping a nine-year stretch of titles by Creek).
And when this year's state tournament gets underway Thursday morning at the Gates Tennis Center in Denver, Cherry Creek will again be the team to beat. The Bruins have been the top-ranked team in the CHSAANow.com coaches and media poll all season, and qualified entrants in all seven brackets.
Heading that list of entrants is senior
Zach Fryer at No. 1 singles. Fryer won a state title at No. 2 singles as a sophomore in 2011, and then took off last season to concentrate on tournament play. He returned to spearhead the Bruins this season, and has been dominant, going 20-1 and winning three in-season tournaments.
The biggest threat to a Cherry Creek four-peat might be
Fairview (Boulder), which finished second in state last year. Fairview dominated last week's Region 2 tournament, winning championships in all seven positions.
Still, Knights coach Chad Tsuda said that it’s going to be a tall task to knock off the Bruins.
“Cherry Creek is very deep, even deeper than they were last year,” said Tsuda, who won a pair of No. 1 singles titles for Fairview in 2000 and 2001. “We have to take one match at a time. The first step is to just get there. There are lots of good teams and players around the state, so we can’t get ahead of ourselves.”
Ignatius Castelino qualified at No. 1 singles for the Knights, and is looking to take the next step after finishing second at No. 2 and No. 3 singles the past two years, respectively.
Tommy Mason at No. 3 singles already has a state championship under his belt, but it came in No. 1 doubles competition last year along with teammate Kevin Chen.
In Class 4A, which starts Thursday at Pueblo City Park,
Kent Denver (Englewood) is the favorite to walk off the courts with the team championship.
The Sun Devils' only loss in dual competition this season came at the hands of Cherry Creek, although Kent Denver's
David Mitchell handed Fryer his only loss of the year 7-6 (7-2), 7-5 at No. 1 Singles. Mitchell, a junior, was runner-up last year in 4A at No. 1 singles.
Class 5A & 4A state brackets.
