Tigers finished fourth at 2014 State Tennis Championships; Green River has bright spots in individual compeition

ROCK SPRINGS – For weeks, high school tennis players from around the state brought everything they had to the court as they fought for wins and respect. They can now sit back and take a deep breath as the 2014 season has come to an end.

For Rock Springs, this year’s State Tournament was a good one. As a team, the Lady Tigers finished in eighth while the Tigers fought to a strong fourth-place finish.

Individually, Rock Springs had several players who were staking to top of the leaderboard. On the boy’s side, the doubles team of Jameson Fuja and Kelby Kremer came off a Regional Championship with a second place at state. The Tiger team of Cole Alexander and Benson Nyugen also just missed the top as they finished in second.

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On the singles side, Tiger Tony Lew battled through the consolation finals to finish in fourth. Lew opened Friday play with a three-set win, 4-6, 6-4 and 6-1 to make it to the quarters. In the semi-finals, Lew had another battle which included two tie breakers. He was able to make it to the consolation finals with a 6-7, 7-6 and 6-4 win. The two battles took a lot out of Lew and he fell in the consolation finals, 7-5 and 6-0. He was defeated by Cheyenne Central’s Turner Martini who was a Sweetwater County killer as he took out Green River’s Alexander Marchal earlier in the consolation quarter-finals.

The Lady TIger team of Lexy Newman and Zoe Baldwin also battled through the consolation bracket to earn a berth in the final match. Newman and Baldwin rolled in straight sets to beat Jackson (6-3, 6-4) to finished in third. The ladies had to win three matches to make in to the final match. They were able to outlast Laramie (6-3, 5-7, 6-3), Kelly Walsh in the consolation quarters (7-5, 6-2), and Natrona in the semi-finals (6-3, 7-5) to get to Jackson.

Several other Rock Springs players advanced after the opening rounds on Thursday. For the Lady Tigers, the doubles team of Keeri Klein and Tasha Bentley were defeated in the consolation quarter-finals. For the doubles team of Leah Allen and Casey Swendlun, they moved into the quarters with a three-set win over Cody (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) and then fought into the semi-finals with a straight-sets win over East (6-3, 6-3). Natrona was able to end the ladies run in the semis with a 6-1, 7-5 win. Natrona would end up winning the consolation finals for third place. Singles player Gretchen Baldwin moved to play on Friday but was eliminated in her opening match.

On the young men’s side, every player survived the opening rounds on Thursday to advance to Friday. In the no. 1 singles, Tiger Kade McJunkin opened the tournament with a win but lost to open in the consolation bracket on Friday. He was able to move into the quarter-finals with a tough three-set win (6-3, 1-6, 6-1). Cheyenne South’s Lincoln Trujillo and McJunkin faced off in the quarters and Trujillo got the better of him for the 6-3, 6- 4 win. The double’s team of Tucker Leibee and Josh Rawson were eliminated in their opening match on Friday.

Green River

For Green River, there were several positive moments at the State Championships. As a team the Wolves fought to finish in a tie for eighth. Every young man survived Thursday play to advance to Friday. On the ladies side, the team finished with the 14th position.

For the Lady Wolves, the doubles team of Holly Huber and Cassie Deverick led the way. There were able to beat East in three sets (7-5, 4-6, 7-5) to move into the consolation quarter-finals. Torrington was able to get the best of Huber and Deverick with a 6-1. 6-2 win.

In Single’s Anna Ujvary was eliminated in her opening match on Friday.

For the Wolves, singles player Alexander Marchal was able to move into the consolation quarters with a 6-2, 7-5 win but lost to Central’s Menghini, 6-2, 6-2. The doubles team of Andrew Halverson and Ian Evert opened Friday with a three-set win (1-6, 6-4, 6-4) to move to the quarters and was able to move into the semi-finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win. In the semis, they dropped to Jackson, 6-4 and 6-4. Jackson ended up being the consolation champions.

The Wolves doubles team of Jacob Lock and McCaden Mikell moved into the quarter-finals with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Kelly Walsh but were eliminated by Sheridan (6-3, 6-4). Singles player Taten Knight and the team of Adrun James and Brandon Lee were eliminated in their opening matches on Friday.

2014 State Tennis Championships