The Montezuma-Cortez High School Panthers tennis team took fourth-place out of nine teams at the Delta County Invitational on Friday and Saturday.
Aspen won the tournament. Region-8 foes Grand Junction (5A) and Montrose (4A) were second and third respectively.
I was encouraged with the teams performance because they demonstrated higher levels of performance in general. If this continues, we will be ready for regionals in Grand Junction next weekend, M-CHS coach Dan Wood said.
The Panthers were without No. 1 singles captain Graham Cathey, who is suffering from a sprained ankle.
At No. 1 doubles, Nick Haukeness and Freeland Wegner continued their strong play by earning second-place medals after beating Fruita Monument, 6-0, 6-1, and Hotchkiss, 6-2, 6-1. The duo lost the championship match, 2-6, 5-7.
Logan Dean took third at No. 2 singles. He scored wins over Aspen and Grand Junction. Zach Lamb at No. 3 singles won against Montrose and had a tough defeat to Grand Junction Central, 4-6, 3-6.
The No. 3 doubles team of Jake Ritthaler and Jake Valdez took fourth with a win over Cedaredge, 6-2, 6-1. The pair lost a heartbreaking match to Grand Junction, 1-6, 7-5, 11-13.
M-CHS will host 4A Region-8 rival Durango today at 4 p.m. at the Jim Harkendorff Tennis Courts.
