Niwot boys tennis sending full team to individual state tournament

All seven of Niwot's lines took care of business at the Class 4A Region 5 boys tennis individual tournament held Oct. 4-5.

Playing host to teams from Dawson, Longmont, Frederick, Mountain View and Riverdale Ridge high schools, the Cougars took first in all three singles matches as well as all of the four doubles matches. Each of those seven Niwot teams is now set to compete at the 4A individual state tournament, which is set for Oct. 12-14 at Pueblo City Park.

Niwot senior LiChen Liao qualified at No. 1 singles while sophomores Oskar Hansen and Charlie Kirtland did the same at No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively. Liao beat both Josiah Brittenham of Frederick and Longmont's Wyatt Saunders en route to earning the No. 1 singles regional title. The Cougars' top singles player now has an opportunity to win his first individual state title since stealing the No. 2 singles crown as a sophomore.

In the doubles matches, senior Kyle Davidson and junior Sebastian Moy (No. 1), juniors Ollie Jones and Rex Wallington (No. 2), seniors Lauritz Stranzenbach and Manan Gangwar (No. 3), and juniors Tyler Chivukula and Gabriel Bandera (No. 4) also punched their tickets to Pueblo.

Last year, the now-graduated Luke Weber, who currently plays tennis at the Rochester Institute of Technology, was the lone Cougar to reach a championship match at the state individual tournament. At that time, Liao was knocked out in the No. 2 singles semifinals but managed to win the playback bracket, and Kirtland fell in the No. 3 singles quarterfinals.

Niwot's hopes of a team state title were slashed this season on Sept. 29 in a 6-1 quarterfinals loss to Colorado Academy. The Cougars, led by head coach Aimee Irwin, beat George Washington two days prior in the first round, 5-2.