High school tennis: Corner Canyon adds a 6A boys tennis trophy to its trophy case
The already congested trophy case at Draper’s Corner Canyon High School will soon be welcoming another piece of hardware following the 6A boys state tennis tournament.
The Chargers took home another UHSAA keepsake Saturday afternoon, overwhelming its Region 4 counterparts and the rest of Utah’s largest schools with a convincing win at Liberty Park.
Alex Fuchs, Aidan Rideout and Cole Jenkins each captured titles in singles play, and the Chargers also made the final round in doubles action to earn 65 points in this year’s new format. American Fork had 40, followed by Farmington and Skyridge (31) and Lone Peak (24).
It was another convincing effort by Region 4, which has had its teams finish in the top three since the UHSAA reconstructed its format in 2017 to include a 6A division. However, it was the first boys tennis crown for Corner Canyon and at least the third sports title this school year as graduation nears.
“We knew with the lineup that we had that year could be a great season,” said Corner Canyon coach Allison Rideout. “This whole season was a challenge, with the (poor) weather and all. But we play in the toughest region and we went undefeated. We knew what to expect, and when we won all those singles matches, we were in good shape.”
“By the middle part of the day, I could just relax but all of our kids still wanted to win.”
At No. 1 singles, Fuchs had perhaps the most-impressive weekend. He won in straight sets (6-0, 6-0) in his first two matches, and never felt threatened. The Ohio State commit finally captured the title with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over American Fork’s Caden Hasler, whom he defeated all three times they played this season.
“Those two boys are very good and know each other well,” coach Rideout said. “The best part was, the whole way through the tournament, he (Fuchs) didn’t feel the need to ‘showboat.’ He just played his game and won.”
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“I have a strong serve,” said Fuchs, “and I was able to get a lot of easy points.”
In this year’s new tournament-scoring format, the three singles crowns generated 45 points for the Chargers, which was enough for the team title. Elijah Cluff and Max Ericksen of Skyridge and American Fork’s Colby Klinger and Adam Clarke downed their counterparts in doubles play, prevented Corner Canyon from a more-impressive win.
Many of the finals matches were played under sunny skies and temperatures that exceeded 80 degrees, which was easily the warmest it had been all year.
6A Boys tennis tournament
At Liberty Park
Saturday’s results
Team scores
1, Corner Canyon 65. 2, American Fork 40. 3, Farmington, Skyridge 31. 5, Lone Peak 24. 6, Bingham 20. 7, Davis 12. 8, Weber 9. 9, Layton 8. 10, Syracuse 7. 11, West 6. 12, Herriman, Pleasant Grove, Riverton, Taylorsville 5. 16, Copper Hills, Fremont, Mountain Ridge 3. 19, Clearfield 1.
Individual results
No. 1 singles – Alex Fuchs (Corner Canyon) def. Calvin Armstrong (Skyridge) 6-3, 6-0. Caden Hasler (American Fork) def. Charles Frey (Farmington) 6-3, 6-3. Championship: Fuchs def. Hasler 6-3, 6-4.
No. 2 singles - Aidan Rideout (Corner Canyon) def. Tate Squires (Lone Peak) 6-2, 6-0. Kinsgley Hoang (Bingham) def. Justin Steed (Farmington) 6-2, 6-7 (6), 7-5. Championship: Rideout def. Hoang 6-2, 6-1.
No. 3 singles – Cole Jenkins (Corner Canyon) def. Cache Garner (Lone Peak) 6-0, 6-2. Nathaniel Bullard (Farmington) def. Derek Larson (American Fork) 6-4, 6-1. Championship: Jenkins def. Bullard 6-0, 6-5.
No. 1 doubles – Jaxson Roberts/Beau Welker (Corner Canyon) def. Landon Packer/Spencer Ostermiller (Farmington) 6-2, 6-1. Elijah Cluff/Max Ericksen (Skyridge) def. Luke Rich/Samuel Jensen (American Fork 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Championship: Cluff/Ericksen def. Roberts/Welker 6-3, 6-2.
No. 2 doubles – Colby Clinger/Adam Clarke (American Fork) def. Luke Miller/Dylan Fenton (Lone Peak) 6-1, 6-3. Nathan Kennedy/Josh Townsend (Corner Canyon) def. Cade Sperry/Andrew Allen (Skyridge) 7-6 (3), 6-3. Championship: Clinger/Clarke def. Kennedy/Townsend 6-2, 6-3.
PHOTOS: Corner Canyon’s Alex Fuchs, Alex Fuch’s and Corner Canyon’s varsity players hold the 6A trophy, the whole Corner Canyon team celebrates after just receiving the trophy
