Fred Edwards continued his unbeaten start to the season, as the Durango High School boys tennis team lost 5-2 to Steamboat Springs on Thursday in Grand Junction.
The Demons will see the Sailors again at the Western Slope Open this weekend in Grand Junction and regionals later this year.
“We like to keep an eye on Steamboat,” DHS head coach Dave Weisfeldt said. “If any of our players want to get to state, we’ve got to get by Steamboat.”
Edwards has matched every early season test at No. 1 singles. He beat Troy DeJoung 6-1, 6-0 on Thursday.
“He knows what he wants to do with the ball,” Weisfeldt said. “He’s got several different tools in his toolbox. He’s getting the job done.”
Drew Downs picked up the Demons’ other point at No. 2 singles 6-1, 6-1 over Nick Matthews.
“Drew played smart. He figured out pretty early on that if he came to the net, the other guy would get a little flustered,” Weisfeldt said. “He decided the guy was beating himself. He kept the ball in play, and the guy was going to explode – great game plan.”
Alijah Konikowski lost 6-1, 6-0 to Charlie Smith at No. 3 doubles.
Jake Schanfarber and Gavin Syme lost to Nolan Connell and Matthew White 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
Will Downs and Micah Hwang lost 6-2, 4-6, 10-8 at No. 2 doubles to David Kidd and Max Lynch in a supertiebreaker in lieu of a third set.
“They built momentum in the second set, went ahead in the tiebreaker, then a scoring dispute threw everyone off,” Weisfeldt said. “It’s a good reminder for all of our guys at the beginning of the season that you’ve got to be able to call out the score and keep score on the court. Not to put it all on our guys, the Steamboat guys were missing scores, too.”
Blaise Page and Riley Wanzek lost 6-0, 6-1 to Peter Horton and Jack Vender at No. 3 doubles.
“They just couldn’t get a groove,” Weisfeldt said.
Jake Beekman and Amon Ledger-Swenson lost 6-0, 7-6 with a 7-5 tiebreaker in the second set to River Fox-Welch and Bryan Gilbertson.
They trailed 5-0 in the second set before coming back and forcing the tiebreaker.
“That was super mentally tough for those guys,” Weisfeldt said. “I would rather have them play their best at the end of the match.”
Brutal winds messed with lobs and serves all day.
“I’ve only been to a few matches where you could hear the wind whistling through the fence,” Weisfeldt said. “It was tough on the aerial game.”
DHS will stay in Grand Junction to compete at the Western Slope Open tournament over the weekend.
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