DENVER — Prior to Saturday’s Class 5A boys state tennis championships at City Park, no Grandview player had ever taken home a state crown at any line. The Wolves can’t say that anymore after reaching across the Atlantic Ocean to find their leading man.
Senior Eduard Tsaturyan battled back from a dramatic first-set, 7-5 loss in his No. 1 singles title match against Cherry Creek’s Aram Izmirian before dropping his opponent 6-3, 6-2 in the last two.
The Russian, who just moved to the U.S. six months ago, hadn’t so much as lost a set before the opening round of that contest. He blew through two of his state opponents, Liberty’s Ty Morse and Monach’s Luke Jensen, without giving them a single game.
After the final ball dropped against Izmirian, securing his victory in his one and only American high school state tournament, he celebrated with his teammates as fans roared with excitement.
“It was hard. I was just happy,” Tsaturyan said. “This time, he played really good. He was so focused.”
Four weeks earlier, he had defeated Izmirian in straight sets and only surrendered three games. Nobody had truly challenged him before Saturday.
“I think it made it all that much better,” head coach Jeff Ryan said. “It’s just so cool to see him face that adversity, being down a set. I don’t think he’s given up more than three or four games in a set and so to lose a whole set and have to come back, that’s awesome.”
Since his arrival within the program, Tsaturyan immediately brought Grandview’s collective game to a higher level. He showed his teammates a brand new style of play and opened their eyes to the possibilities. He had never played as part of a team before, but his court wisdom proved invaluable, as was evident among the other lines at the state tournament.
The Wolves qualified players in every line but No. 2 singles.
“I was telling the kids all season long, I’m like, ‘If he doesn’t motivate you to do better next year, he’s given everybody kind of a level that we all can play up to. And you can see what’s possible if you just really try hard and practice hard,’” Ryan said. “He’s given us something to shoot for so I think he’s elevated everybody’s play top to bottom. You can see that here. We got almost everybody here to the state championship.”
(Alissa Noe/BoCo Preps)
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Class 5A boys tennis individual champions:
No. 1 singles: Eduard Tsaturyan (Grandview) def. Aram Izmirian (Cherry Creek) 7-5, 6-3
No. 2 singles: Jace Nakamura (Valor Christian) def. Kiril Kostadinov (Cherry Creek) 5-7, 7-5, 7-5
No. 3 singles: Kristian Kostadinov (Cherry Creek) def. Brady Jenkins (Regis Jesuit) 6-3, 7-6
No. 1 doubles: Jack Eikelberner/Charles Stern (Cherry Creek) def. Graham Beukelman/Drew Schell (Valor Christian) 6-1, 6-4
No. 2 doubles: Ryan Mandes/Ryan Greenfield (Valor Christian) def. Trevor Robinson/Matthew Hu (Cherry Creek) 7-5, 3-6, 6-3
No. 3 doubles: Trey Zurcher/Ryder Landry (Cherry Creek) def. Jack Mohler/Harrison Wentworth (Valor Christian) 6-1, 6-4
No. 4 doubles: Tate Hutchins/Drew Kaprielian (Cherry Creek) def. Rory MacEwan/Drew Summers (Valor Christian) 6-3, 7-6 (2)
