Lucas Bluth District 4/5A Singles Champion

By Don Eskins

The Cavemen and Cavegirl tennis teams competed in the District 4/5A Individual Tournament on Tuesday and Wednesday, April 28-29, in Hobbs.

Participants competed in either singles or doubles at the tournament. Those placing among the top three, in either category, qualified for state.

Following the first day of competition, four Cavemen had punched their tickets to the New Mexico Big Dance.

In singles play, CHS’s Lucas Bluth, the 2026 District 4/5A champion, placed first. Bluth’s teammate, Sean Erosido, placed second.

In doubles play, Steven Pham and Alex Burns finished second.

As a result of their stellar play, all four will be competing at the state tournament.

“Our kids played amazingly well during the first day of competition. They fought so hard and played some of the best tennis I’ve seen from our players all year,” said CHS assistant coach Diamond Morrill. “And although we dropped three matches in the quarterfinals, all but two entries won their first-round matches.”

Due to a Wednesday deadline, results of the second round of the District 4/5A Tournament will be posted in the May 8 edition of the Carlsbad Local.

CHS’s entries at the tournament are as follows:

Boys’ singles: Lucas Bluth and Sean Erosido; Boys’ Doubles: Alex Burns/Steven Pham and Josh Cooper/Grayson Reed.

Girls’ Singles: Brooklyn Stone, Aiko Paul, and Paris Ramos; Girls’ Doubles: Myka Char/Charise Young and Regina Reyes/Jena Walker.

Team selections for state, as well as the individual state brackets, will be released on May 3. State tournament play is scheduled to take place in Albuquerque, May 6-9.

Boys 2nd, Girls 3rd in District

Making a run at the 2026 District 4/5A team tennis title, the Cavemen fell one game shy of their goal with a narrow 5-4 loss to the Hobbs Eagles in Hobbs on Thursday, April 23.

With the win, Hobbs grabbed this year’s district championship and closed out conference play at 3-0. The Cavemen, 2-1, finished as the district’s runner-up.

“The boys played Hobbs really tough,” said CHS assistant coach Diamond Morrill. “And although they came up one game shy of winning this year’s conference title, our coaching staff couldn’t be more proud of them.”

Collecting singles victories for the Cavemen in the 5-4 loss were CHS’s No. 1 Lucas Bluth 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 Sean Erosido 6-1, 6-1; and No. 5 Josh Cooper 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5. Lucas Bluth and Sean Erosido, CHS’s No. 1 doubles team, also posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory.

The Cavegirls lost to the Lady Eagles 0-9. As a result, they placed third.

“The Cavegirls were missing their top player in Hobbs, which forced our young players to have to step up and fill in the lower half of our ladder,” said Morrill. “Although inexperienced, they welcomed the challenge. They played well and fought hard to stay in their matches.”

Cavemen vs. Hobbs, Cbad 4, Hobbs 5

Singles: #1: Lucas Bluth, won 6-1, 6-1; #2: Sean Erosido, won 6-1, 6-1; #3: Steven Pham, lost 2-6, 3-6; #4: Alex Burns, lost 0-6, 1-6; #5: Josh Cooper, won 7-6 (2), 2-6, 7-5; #6: Grayson Reed, lost 3-6, 3-6

Doubles: #1: Lucas Bluth/Sean Erosido, won 6-2, 6-4; #2: Steven Pham/Alex Burns, lost 3-6, 1-6; #3: Josh Cooper/Grayson Reed, lost 0-6, 2-6

Cavegirls vs. Hobbs, Cbad 0, Hobbs 9

Singles #1: Charise Young, lost 0-6, 0-6; #2: Regina Reyes, lost 1-6, 0-6; #3: Brooklyn Stone, lost 0-6, 0-6; #4: Jena Walker, lost 0-6, 2-6; #5: Aiko Paul, lost 0-6, 0-6; #6: Paris Ramos, lost 0-6, 1-6

Doubles #1: Charise Young/Jena Walker, lost 6-7 (2), 6-2, 1-6; #2: Regina Reyes/Brooklyn Stone, lost 1-6, 1-6; #3: Paris Ramos/Aiko Paul, lost 4-6, 5-7