'Stangs fall short in 4A tennis

 

PUEBLO – A year ago, Mullen was thrilled with finishing runner-up in Class 4A boys tennis.

On Saturday, the Mustangs grabbed second place again, although they had higher aspirations, especially after such a strong showing on Friday and coming so close to their first Colorado boys title in the sport.

However, there was no significant complaining, few could-haves and should-haves … the Mustangs had their chances and weren’t able to take first.

They tied for second with 2019 champion Cheyenne Mountain with 36 points, two behind winner Niwot, crowned their highest individual champion, occupied three of the seven spots in the final rounds and cemented their place among the classification’s elite.

Half empty? Half full? Mullen will take the latter.

They were thisclose and they know they had their chances.

“The ball was in our court, we had three in the finals,” fourth-year Mustangs coach Jacob Ohrman said. ”If we could have won two of them we would have gotten the title.

“Yeah, I’ll be honest. I’m disappointed, but not disappointed in my players. They fought hard and second place is nothing to frown upon.”

Said Mustangs No. 1 singles Mac Caldwell: “Yeah, I mean, I just know we left it all out on the court. That’s how it turned out and that’s how it is.”

Mullen had a big Friday, winning 13-of-14 matches through the quarterfinals and losing only No. 3 singles Jack Barker.

The Mustangs split their six semifinals on Saturday morning with No. 2 singles George Henry Hanzel and two doubles groups, Dante Dino-Greg McMullan (No. 1) and Patrick Duke-Colin Mackenzie (No. 3) advancing to finals.

Hanzel did his part, taking his championship in straight sets, but the doubles teams both dropped three setters.

Second at No. 2 a year ago, Hanzel enjoyed a series of lobs, passing shots and overall smart play to cruise past Kent Denver’s Finn Cooper 6-2, 6-3. Hanzel was never in trouble and seemed to breeze to what Ohrman said is the school’s highest individual victory.

“It feels pretty good,” Hanzel said. “It was a team effort the whole way. We all just fed off of each other’s energy and we created momentum for each other.”

Hanzel was a qualifier as a sophomore, losing in the first round, and he never blinked after dropping his No. 1 spot as a junior to Caldwell, who kept a bond with his teammate.

Said Caldwell: “G.H. played amazing.”

And Ohrman called Hanzel “the best No. 2 player in the state.”

At No. 1 doubles Dino-McMullan looked to be in good shape against Cheyenne Mountain’s Bennett Ziegler-Miles Wagner, winning the first set 6-4. But the Indians duo rallied early in the second game to win 6-3 and the wheels for Dino-McMullan came off somewhat through a series of errors in losing the third game 6-2.

Duke-Mackenzie got blasted 6-0 in Game 1 at No. 3, won Game 2 6-3, then dropped Game 3 6-3 to Colorado Academy’s Michael Ford-Hudson Park.

Mac Caldwell’s semifinals showing in 4A’s elite bracket also figured into the scoring as did that of Luc Caldwell-Alex Evans (No. 2 doubles) and Sean Phelps-Blake Zaragoza (No. 4 doubles).

Mullen and Cheyenne Mountain were the only teams to score at each of the seven slots, but Niwot won on the strength of victories at Nos. 1 and 3 singles.

“I think it was a win for us no matter what,” Hanzel said.

And Mac Caldwell, one of six seniors for the Mustangs, said “I’m a little bit disappointed, but we’ll keep our heads high. We definitely changed the program here at Mullen, the seniors in our group, because we were not anything great. I’m just glad we’re here and it’s a great place to play.”