Despite several close matches, Thompson Valley failed to advance in any of its five qualifying lines after the first round of the Class 4A state tennis tournament on Thursday.
The nine players the Eagles sent to Pueblo City Park was the most since 2015, when they also sent nine players to state, but all faced tougher opponents in their first matches.
Junior Patrick Tucker was the only singles player to qualify for the Eagles. He lost his first round match in two singles to D’Evelyn’s Eric Pham 6-4, 7-5.
In Doubles 1, the Eagles’ senior duo of Jacob Brekke and Reece Strathmeyer fell to Coronado’s Corey Ross and Owen Browen, 6-1, 6-1. In two doubles games, junior Sam Morris of Thompson Valley and sophomore Dre Balk lost to Patrick Barker and Shane Walsh of Cheyenne Mountain, 6-2, 7-6.
The Morris-Balke match was the closest Thompson Valley came to making it to a third set, although both teams at Nos. 3 and 4 doubles forced extra play in the second sets.
In three doubles matches, the Eagles’ regional champion pair of seniors Tommy Goldsberry and Chris Brown fell to D’Evelyn’s Henry Rumph and Simon Czarnecki, 6-2, 7-5. The Thompsons Valley Regional quadruple doubles champion of freshman Logan Woods and sophomore Bode Tartaglia lost to Evergreen’s Grayson Anderson and Jack Bruhin, 6-2, 7-5.
Thompson Valley capped another successful season Thursday in Pueblo. The Eagles went 7-2 in doubles matches and won their home tournament as well as the Windsor Fall Invitational after finishing second at the Loveland Tennis Tournament.
Seniors Brekke, Strathmeyer, Goldsberry, Brown, and the Eagles’ No. 1 singles player Mason Ramirez finished their high school careers at either the regional or state level.