Disorder on court nets Castelino title
Hillis penalized on match point for throwing racket
TheClass 5Aboys state tennis No. 1 singles final was a classic match, but it probably will be remembered for having one of the most bizarre endings ever.
Fairview’s Ignatius Castelino won 1-6, 7-6 (1), 7-5when the official penalized Cherry Creek’s Ethan Hillis a point for throwing his racket on the court on match point.
“I pretty much deserved it,” Hillis said. “It’s unfortunate it happened on match point, but I had done that twice before.”
For Castelino — who was runner-up at state inNo. 3, No. 2 and No. 1 singles the past three seasons— his fourth state final appearance proved to be the charm.
“I’m definitely excited, really happy,” Castelino said. “Until the end, I had no idea who was going to win. It was so close.”
Down 5-4 in the second set and facing another secondplace finish, the Fairview senior battled through twomatch points to win the game, and ultimately the set.
In the third set,
Castelino jumped out to a 5-2 lead and looked as if he was going to coast to the title.
But Hillis battled back, winning the next three games to tie it at 5-all. Castelino escaped with the next game, one that totaled 16 points and had Hillis forcing five deuces.
On the next game, with Hillis serving, Castelino had an advantage on deuce, when Hillis threwhis racket after losing the point. He had beenwarned earlier in the match.
Castelino becomes the fifth player inKnights history to win the No. 1 singles title.
Fairview swept all three singles titles, a first for the Boulder school.
Senior Tommy Mason beat Cherry Creek’sHarshil Dwivedi for theNo. 2 singles title, and junior Alec Leddon topped Creek sophomore Robby Hill for the No. 3 championship.
“It’s such a greatway to finish four years of playing tennis here,” Mason said.
Cherry Creek wrapped up the team title, clinching it on Day 2 of the tournament. Fairview finished runner-up for the fourth consecutive year. Denver East finished third for its best showing since winning the state title in 1968.
“I knewwe had a lot of terrific talent coming back this year,” Denver East coach Mark Thalhofer said. “… They’ll have the ’68 on their sleeve again next year. We’re hoping to put a more recent year on the sleeve.”