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The Pueblo South Tournament offered the members of the Steamboat Springs High School tennis team one last chance to sharpen their tournament skills.

"I was disappointed to place fourth, but I was proud of the individual efforts of many of our players," coach John Aragon said. "I think we were the No. 2 team in this tournament, and if we all play like we can, we will reach that level."

Steamboat was led by No. 2 singles player Ramsey Bernard, who advanced to the finals by topping players from Heritage, Pueblo East and Ponderosa before meeting Durango's Geoff Lewis in the finals.

Lewis topped the Steamboat player, 6-1, 6-1, but Aragon said it was an impressive showing for Bernard.

"He had a very solid tournament," Aragon said. "He just ran into a tough Durango player in the finals."

This is the second time this season Bernard has fallen to Lewis. But Lewis has lost only seven games in 21 matches this season.

Other top finishes included Walker Loetscher, who topped Pueblo Centennial's Miles Lucero and Cheyenne Mountain's Daniel Moore in the early rounds.

Loetscher lost to Durango's Zach Gotriel in the quarterfinals, but rebounded with a win against Air Academy's Kyle Kaltenbacher to place third overall.

Ryan McNamara, Steam--boat's No. 3 player, placed fourth to wrap up a successful weekend for the Sailors singles players.

Steamboat struggled to find the same consistency on the doubles side.

The top finish for the weekend came at No. 2 doubles, with Brian Aragon and Jon Reese advancing to the quarterfinals before losing to Air Academy. The Sailors topped Broomfield in their final match to finish in third place.

The rest of Steamboat's doubles teams lost key matches early in their brackets that limited how high they could finish.

Steamboat's No. 1 team of Taylor Reed and Nick Ludolph lost their first two matches. However, they defeated teams from Widefield and Pueblo West to finish 13th in the final standings.

The Sailors No. 3 team of Jesse Schaller and Dylan Roberts had a first round bye, but lost to Pueblo Centennial in the second round. The Steamboat team topped teams from Broomfield and Widefield to place fifth.

Steamboat's No. 4 team of Scott Peterson and Brian Behrman also lost in the first round, but the team won its next three matches to finish ninth in the final standings.

Aragon said he had hoped the doubles teams would have fared a little better in the tournament brackets, but he feels good about where the team is as it looks forward to the start of the regional tournament Oct. 13.

Cheyenne Mountain won the tournament with 142 points. Air Academy was second at 129, and Heritage was third with 109. Steamboat and Durango tied with 103 points.

The tournament was the final one scheduled before the start of the regional tournament. The Sailors, however, will play several dual matches before the end of the regular season.

The team will face Evergreen and Greeley West on Saturday in dual matches. The Sailors also are scheduled to face Alexander Dawson on Monday and Denver East on Oct. 1.