The Class 5A boys state tennis No. 1 singles final was a classic match, but it will mostly be remembered for having one of the most bizarre endings ever.
Fairview’s Ignatius Castelino won 1-6, 7-6, 7-5 when the official penalized Cherry Creek’s Ethan Hillis a point for throwing his racket on the court on match point.
“I pretty much deserved it,” Hillis said. “It’s unfortunate it happened on match point, but I had done that twice before.”
For the senior Castelino — who was runner-up at state in No. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 singles the past three seasons — his fourth state final appearance proved to be the charm.
“I’m definitely excited, really happy,” Castelino said. “Until the end I had no idea who was going to win. It was so close.”
Down 5-4 in the second set and facing another second-place finish, the Fairview senior battled through two match points to win the game, and ultimately the set.
In the third set, Castelino jumped out to a 5-2 lead and looked as if he was going to coast to the title. But Hillis battled back, winning the next three games to tie it at 5-all. Castelino escaped with the next game, one which totaled 16 points and had Hillis forcing five deuces.
On the next game, with Hillis serving, Castelino had an advantage on deuce, when Hillis threw his racket after losing a point. He had been warned earlier in the match.
Castelino becomes the fifth player in Knights history to win the No. 1 singles title.
Fairview swept all three singles titles, a first for the school. Senior Tommy Mason beat Cherry Creek’s Harshil Dwivedi for the No. 2 singles title, and junior Alec Leddon topped Creek sophomore Robby Hill for the No. 3 championship.
“It’s such a great way to finish four years of playing tennis here,” Mason said.
Cherry Creek wrapped up the team title, clinching it on day two of the tournament. Fairview finished runner-up for the fourth straight year. Denver East finished third, its best showing since winning the state title in 1968.
“I knew we had a lot of terrific talent coming back this year,” Denver East coach Mark Thalhofer said. “… They’ll have the ’68 on their sleeve again next year. We’re hoping to put a more recent year on the sleeve.”
Joe Nguyen: jnguyen@denverpost.com or
Results
Team: Cherry Creek 83, Fairview 58, Denver East 45, Boulder 42, Regis Jesuit 29, Fossil Ridge 28, Mountain Vista 17, Chatfield 6, Monarch 4, Arapahoe 3, Broomfield 2, Castle View 2, Fort Collins 2, Legend 2, Arvada West 1, Grand Junction 1, Heritage 1, Loveland 1.
Individual
No. 1 singles: Ignatius Castelino, Fairview d. Ethan Hillis, Cherry Creek 1-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5
No. 2 singles: Tommy Mason, Fairview d. Harshil Dwivedi, Cherry Creek 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 singles: Alec Leddon, Fairview d. Robby Hill, Cherry Creek 6-0, 6-0
No. 1 doubles: Jacob Bendalin and Wyatt Dale, Cherry Creek d. Kobe Holdren and Ashwin Vaithianathan, Mountain Vista 5-7, 6-1, 6-3
No. 2 doubles: Noah Reiss and Mitchell Johnson, Cherry Creek d. Matt Woody and Eli Weiner, Denver East 6-4, 6-2
No. 3 doubles: Erin Norwood and Ryan James, Cherry Creek d. Steven Bummer and Truett Davis, Regis Jesuit 6-7, 6-1, 6-3
No. 4 doubles: Luca Abbott and Max Koszowski, Regis Jesuit d. Tristan Faust and Dylan Harris, Fossil Ridge 1-6, 7-5, 6-3
No. 1 singles third place: Kap Smith, Boulder d. Kai Smith, Denver East 6-1, 6-1
No. 2 singles third place: Charlie Franks, Denver East d. Jackson Hawk, Boulder 7-6, 6-2
No. 3 singles third place: Cutter Esson, Boulder d. Colby Jimenez, Denver East 5-7, 6-3, 6-4
No. 1 doubles third place: Max Weiner and Nic Holme, Fossil Ridge d. Arie Van Vuuren and Nathan Lazarus, Boulder 6-2, 6-0
No. 2 doubles third place: Alec Jotte and Joey Robertson, Regis Jesuit d. Devin Harper and Graham Bianco, Fairview 6-1, 1-6, 7-5
No. 3 doubles third place: Kevin Schultz and Mike Brown, Fossil Ridge d. TJ Braxton and Eric Dellavalle, Denver East 6-2, 6-3
No. 4 doubles third place: Graydon Johnson and Andy Duggan, Cherry Creek d. Aidan Mulligan and Kelby Woodard, Boulder 6-1, 6-4
