Despite not having a boys tennis team at Berthoud High School, two of its students will be competing this weekend at the state tennis tournament in Pueblo. Jacob Brekke and Reece Stratmeyer, both juniors at Berthoud High School, have qualified for the state tournament as a part of the Thompson Valley High School tennis team.

Photo by Jacob Brekke – Reece Stratmeyer (front) and Jacob Brekke (back) playing a tennis doubles match.

Brekke started playing tennis while looking for something new. He was already playing basketball but was looking for another sport. Tennis became an attractive option for him. “I initially started playing rec league in the summer,” said Brekke. From there he looked for opportunities to play tennis in high school. “It’s a good sport to play during the Fall and keeps me active.”

Brekke and Stratmeyer have been best friends since third grade. They both grew up in Berthoud and have been close since elementary school. That friendship led Brekke to encourage Stratmeyer to take up tennis. “Jacob got me started with tennis. He finally convinced me and then I came out and I really loved it and I stuck with it,” Stratmeyer explains.

Without a boys tennis team at Berthoud High School, the two 16-year-olds joined Thompson Valley High School’s boys tennis team. “It was a struggle at first, having to find rides to get there every single day,” Stratmeyer said, lamenting the difficult commute to Loveland for two teenagers without cars. That changed when they got their driver’s licenses. “It’s easy now,” said Stratmeyer.

Heading into the state tournament this weekend, Brekke and Stratmeyer are building off a strong season. “We beat everyone we should have beat and we played great,” said Stratmeyer. The season was not without its difficulties though. “We lost to Niwot, it was a really close game, we should have won but we didn’t,” said Brekke. The loss to Niwot High School was their only loss against another 4A team this season.

The trip south to Pueblo for the state tennis tournament is also not new for either Brekke or Stratmeyer. They both went to the tournament last year. “I’m really excited, I got a little taste of it last year,” said Stratmeyer. Last year both Brekke and Stratmeyer went to the tournament, but with different doubles partners. This year the two best friends are playing together as a doubles pair and looking to improve on last year. “Hopefully we win the first round this year,” said Brekke.

The tournament will be formidable, with high school tennis players from all over the state converging on Pueblo this weekend. “The level of competition is completely different,” said Stratmeyer. But Brekke said they know what to expect now and feel more confident than last year. “We played the second-ranked team in the state two weeks ago, and we didn’t get totally beat,” he explains.

But the duo’s biggest advantage is their friendship. “We got a strong connection,” Stratmeyer said. Being best friends and knowing how each other thinks and reacts only adds to their game. While other doubles pairs may practice and train together, being close friends on top of that only enhances their skill sets. As Brekke said, it “builds even more chemistry than we already have.”

On Wednesday both Brekke and Stratmeyer, along with family supporters will head down to Pueblo for the beginning of the tournament on Thursday. Matches will continue into Friday, before the final on Saturday. Asked about staying until Saturday, Brekke said “That’s the goal.”