Region 9 boys tennis: Dixie repeats as region champs with 3-2 win over Crimson Cliffs

Written by Jeff Richards
May 4, 2024
Dixie players and coaches pose with Region 9 championship trophy after defeating the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs 3-2, Washington City, Utah, April 30, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News

ST. GEORGE — Dixie High School’s boys tennis team won its second straight region championship on Tuesday, defeating Crimson Cliffs three matches to two.

Dixie players and coaches pose with Region 9 championship trophy after defeating the Crimson Cliffs Mustangs 3-2, Washington City, Utah, April 30, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News

Playing at Crimson Cliffs, Dixie captured both doubles matches, while Crimson Cliffs brothers Max Miner and Adam Miner won the first and second singles brackets, respectively.

That left the No. 3 singles bracket as the deciding factor. 

In that match, Dixie sophomore Cruiz Cottam defeated Crimson Cliffs sophomore Hayden Owen in a tight battle, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5.

Dixie head coach Christian Wright said Cottam, who typically plays junior varsity, stepped up on short notice to fill in for a teammate who was out due to illness.

“Brendan Madrid would have played No. 2 (singles) that day,” Wright told St. George News. “But since he was sick and had missed the entire week of practice, we put Ty Durst up to 2 and brought in Cruiz, our first JV player, and he did a fantastic job.”

Wright said that Cottam didn’t even know he was going to play until the day of the match.

“We were hoping for a miracle there, that Brendan was gonna feel a lot better,” Wright said. “But when I spoke with Brendan’s dad Tuesday morning, it was like now he can’t even get out of bed.”

So Wright said he texted Cottam in between classes on Tuesday and informed him, “Hey, Brendan’s out. We need you. You can do this. You’re coming in three singles and on very short notice.”

“He actually wasn’t even at practice on Monday because he had to make up some classwork for one of his tougher classes,” Wright said of Cottam.

Dixie sophomore Cruiz Cottam competes in Region 9’s final regular season boys tennis match at Crimson Cliffs, Washington City, Utah, April 30, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News

“Cruiz just did a great job. He competed hard and we’re very proud of him,” Wright added. “The team rallied around him as well.It showed a great team effort and showed some of the depth of our team.”

The outcome of Tuesday’s match at Crimson Cliffs was identical to last year’s showdown to decide the region title, when Dixie and Crimson had each brought 5-0 records into the season finale, which was staged at Dixie’s home courts. In that match, the Flyers prevailed 3-2 and won the same three brackets that they did this year.

On Tuesday, the Miner brothers solidified their respective No. 1 rankings in the 4A classification as they posted straight-set victories in their singles matches.

In No. 1 singles, senior Max Miner defeated Dixie senior Gavin Bishop, 6-0, 6-0. In second singles, Crimson sophomore Adam Miner defeated Dixie senior Ty Durst, 6-1, 6-1.

Meanwhile, in first doubles, Dixie seniors Garrett Bishop and Michael Winward teamed up to defeat Crimson’s Noah Hoff and John Haller in straight sets, 6-1, 6-3.

The second doubles match went three sets, with Dixie’s Austin Beckstrom and Lincoln Crooks defeating Crimson’s Ethan Mathews and Tanner Matheson, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.

There is no region tournament being staged this year, since the state playoff seedings are based solely on the players’ UTR (Universal Tennis Ratings), as has been the case for the past couple of years.

Next up for the players will be the 4A state tournament, scheduled for May 9-11 in Salt Lake County, with Thursday’s first-round play-in matches taking place at Brighton High School, followed by the rest of the single-elimination tournament on Friday and Saturday at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.

Crimson Cliffs has two No. 1 seeds in the Miner brothers, both of whom took state in their respective brackets last year, when the Mustangs finished with 40 team points to finish a close to state champion Dixie’s 42 points. 

Players compete in Region 9’s final regular season boys tennis match, Dixie at Crimson Cliffs, Washington City, Utah, April 30, 2024 | Photo courtesy of Ron Enloe, St. George News

Crimson Cliffs is also seeded fourth in second doubles, eighth in third singles and 10th in first doubles. 

Meanwhile, Dixie’s Beckstrom and Crooks are seeded first in the No. 2 doubles bracket, while Winward and Garrett Bishop are seeded third in No. 1 doubles. The defending champion Flyers also have Gavin Bishop seeded fifth in first singles, Durst seeded fifth in second singles and Madrid seeded seventh in third singles.

“It’s been a fun season working with these boys,” Dixie coach Wright said as his players prepare to defend their state 4A title. “They’ve worked hard. We’re excited to go up there and hopefully put on our best showing and compete.”

Another viable contender at state next week will be Region 9’s third-place team, Desert Hills. The Thunder’s Tyson Wilkins and William Gardner landed the No. 2 seed in first doubles. In the other four state tournament brackets, Desert Hills is seeded 3, 4, 5 and 6.

The remaining four Region 9 teams (Snow Canyon, Pine View, Cedar and Hurricane) will be seeing action at Brighton High next Thursday as various players will be vying to advance past the play-in round. Snow Canyon does have two No. 8 seeds with first-round byes, while Pine View’s second doubles team is seeded sixth and will also advance to Friday’s second round automatically.

To see the UTR site with the official 4A state playoff brackets, click here.

Region 9 boys tennis final regular season standings

  1. Dixie, 6-0.
  2. Crimson Cliffs, 5-1.
  3. Desert Hills, 4-2.
  4. Snow Canyon, 3-3.
  5. (tie) Pine View, 1-5.
  6. (tie) Cedar, 1-5.
  7. (tie) Hurricane, 1-5.

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Copyright St. George News, SaintGeorgeUtah.com LLC, 2024, all rights reserved.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jeff Richards, a native of Salt Lake City with family roots in Panguitch, lived in Moab for 20 years before joining St. George News in 2017. Jeff is a longtime journalist and secondary school teacher. He and his wife Penny are the parents of five daughters. They also have three young grandsons. Jeff and his family enjoy swimming, camping, sightseeing, reading, and taking pictures.

Email: [email protected]
Twitter: @stgnews@moabjeff@stgnewssports

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