On  Wednesday, October 5 the Fossil Ridge High School tennis team crushed all of their opponents during their regionals tournament.  

The first game that kicked off regionals was played by Jackson Holland. Holland went up against junior from Legend High School, Brian Stewart. During the first set of the semi-finals, Holland crushed Stewart 6-2 giving him only two serves. Holland went 6-0 in the second set, giving Holland the opportunity to move to the finals. Holland went on to play freshman from Bear Creek High School, Robert Kamarali. Kamarali was shutout by Holland the first set of their match. However, with a little more strength and determination Kamarali tried to prove his worth to Holland. Ultimately, Holland went on to win the second set against Kamarali 6-3, giving the first singles match win of regionals to Holland.  

The second singles match of regionals consisted of Fossil’s Arjun Gupta. Junior, Garrett McCown from Legend was Gupta’s first opponent for the semi-finals. McCown was shutout by Gupta in both sets, an easy 6-0 score for Gupta gave him the advantage to progress into the finals. Gupta faced off against senior, Jack Paisley. Paisley went on to lose both sets to Gupta 6-1, giving Fossil another win at regionals.

The last singles match of regionals was played by Fossil’s Akhil Gupta. Gupta started out playing senior, Brett Barnum from Legend. Gupta shutout Barnum the first set of the match 6-0. Their second set was a little more challenging for Gupta, however, Gupta  won his semi-finals match 6-2. Gupta went on to play against junior, Benton Haensel from ThunderRidge High School. Benton proved to be a more competitive player than Barnum during the semi-finals. However, Gupta won both sets of his finals 6-2. Yet another win for Fossil.

The first doubles match of the tournament consisted of Fossil’s team captains, Tim Sunset and Charlie Johnson. Juniors, Brenden Cage and Sam Wiske from Horizon High School were the competitors for this semi-final game. During the first set, Sunset and Johnson only managed to drop one serve during the first set giving them a 6-1 edge. The second set was less straightforward, giving Cage and Wiske an opportunity to win. While up by three serves at the beginning, Sunset and Johnson soon stepped up winning their semi-final match 6-3. Sunset and Johnson played against senior, Daniel Auerbach and junior, Carson Sexton. Sunset and Johnson swept ThunderRidge by beating Sexton ad Auerbach 6-1 in the first set, and shutting them out 6-0 in the second.

Fossil’s Drew Schneider and Evan Diehl played against sophomore, John Bogumill and senior, Mitchell Amundsen from Legend for their semi-finals. Schneider and Diehl easily defeated Bogumill and Amundsen 6-1 in the first set, and shutting them out in the next. Finally, Schneider and Diehl played seniors, Keegan Estrella and Ryan Smith from Brighton High School. Luckily for Schneider and Diehl, this competition was even easier than their semi-final match, shutting Brighton out 6-0 both sets giving Fossil their fifth win of the regional tournament.

Fossil’s Aaron Hargis and Cameron Salz played against sophomore, Trae Epema and senior, Tyler Frankish. Frankish and Epema lost their first match against Salz and Hargis 6-0 in the first set, and easily beating them 6-1 in the second. Hargis and Salz moved on to play junior, Jett Lopez and senior, Parker Kretzler. In the first set Lopez and Kretzler lost 6-1, with a little more hope they tried to pull a win through. However, Salz and Hargis quickly destroyed their opponent 6-2 in the second set.   

The last doubles match of the night consisted of Fossil’s Tyler Li and Brandon Krzyzkowski defending the winning streak of the afternoon. They faced off against freshman, Chase Babair and junior, Noah Saidy from ThunderRidge. The Sabercats easily put Babair and Saidy down by beating them 6-3 in the first set and 6-1 in the second set winning the semi-finals. The final match of the night was an easy final victory for the tennis team. Li and Krzyzkowski played against sophomore, Luke Grant and senior, Luke Lyman. Lyman and Grant got crushed by Li and Krzyzkowski not even scoring a single serve, losing both sets 6-0.

Overall, the team scored a total of 56 points, Fossil was the only team that participated in regionals that scored points during the entire tournament, leaving with a perfect score.