A Durango High School tennis player made it to the finals at the Colorado High School Activities Association Class 4A Region 8 tournament Friday at Canyon View Park in Grand Junction.

It wasn’t, however, No. 1 singles player Fred Edwards, who only had lost two matches this season entering regionals.

Edwards remains alive at the tournament after beating Hotchkiss 6-1, 6-2 before falling 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 to the No. 2 seed from Steamboat Springs.

“Match of the day,” DHS head coach Dave Weisfeldt said. “Could have been a potential final match.”

That dropped Edwards into the playback bracket, where he beat Montrose 6-1, 6-2. He will face Vail Mountain in the playback final Friday for third place.

Should the Steamboat Springs player beat Aspen for the championship, Edwards can play Aspen for the right to go to state.

At No. 2 singles, Durango’s Drew Downs beat third-seeded Vail Mountain 6-2, 6-3 in the opening round.

“Great surprise there,” Weisfeldt said.

Downs then lost 6-3, 6-4 to Steamboat Springs. He had a bye in the first round of the consolation bracket and will play Hotchkiss on Friday.

Alijah Konikowski qualified for the final match for DHS after beating Montrose 6-3, 6-1 and Aspen 7-6 (7-5), 7-5.

“It doesn’t get much closer than that,” Weisfeldt said. “Real classy play. Those guys have respect for one another.”

Konikowski will play Steamboat Springs on Friday in the final.

Durango’s No. 1 doubles team of Jake Schanfarber and Gavin Syme struggled, losing 6-0, 6-0 to Steamboat Springs and 6-0, 6-0 to Vail Mountain to exit the tournament.

“Those guys didn’t get a chance to get out of the gate,” Weisfeldt said.

The Demons’ No. 2 doubles team of Will Downs and Micah Hwang also is done after losing 6-1, 6-1 to Aspen and 6-4, 6-3 to Vail Mountain.

Durango’s Blaise Page and Riley Wanzek lost 6-2, 7-5 to Steamboat Springs but stayed alive against Hotchkiss, winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles.

“Those guys drive me crazy with their first set. I don’t know what they’re doing,” Weisfeldt said. “It’s always the second set that they turn it on.”

They’ll play Vail Mountain on Friday in the consolation bracket.

Durango’s No. 4 doubles team of Jake Beekman and Amon Ledger-Swanson beat Montezuma-Cortez 6-0, 6-1 before losing 6-0, 6-0 to Steamboat Springs.

They have a bye in the first round of Friday’s consolation bracket.

heraldsports@ durangoherald.com