[Results]
[Championships Page]
MADISON, Wis. – Grinnell, Monmouth and Lake Forest each picked up two individual titles on the second day of the 2012 Midwest Conference Men’s Tennis Championships at Madison, Wis. The Pioneers, who earned a team championship on Friday, won a title in the No. 4 and 6 flights while team runner-up Monmouth took home gold in the No. 2 and 5 flights. Lake Forest rounds out the champions with singles victories in the No.1 and 3 flights.
Ryan Kreis battled for a No. 1 flight title as he defeated Carroll’s Jack Michael 6-4, 6-2. The defeat of Michael was preceded by a 6-3, 6-2 semifinal win over Monmouth’s Chris Franco and a 6-1, 6-2 win in the quarterfinals over Ripon’s Eric Seiler.
Monmouth got on the board in the No. 2 singles fight with a championship run by David Johnson. Johnson won in two perfect sets over Illinois Col. opponent Michael Gilbreth (6-0, 6-0) followed by a tough match against Grinnell’s Eric Ritter which he triumphed 7-6 (7-4), 6-0. Stewart had his toughest test of the day in the championship match as he went three sets with Lake Forest’s Jon Adams. After dropping the first set 6-4 and being down to his last point in the second set Johnson stormed back to capture a 7-5 win before bringing home the gold with a 6-3 third set win.
Elliot Muth earned the second individual championship for the Foresters on the day with a 6-4, 6-4 title match win against David Stewart of Monmouth. Muth had a tough path to the championship match as he fell in the first set of the quarterfinals to Jonathan Ng of Knox 6-3 before rallying to win the second and third set by identical 6-1 scores. Muth then had another three set match against Grinnell’s Daniel Nellis where he won out on the first set 7-6 (7-5) before dropping the second set 4-6. He then secured his spot in the finals with a 6-0 third set win before defeating Stewart.
Ishan Bhadkamkar won a title for the third straight year, this time in the No. 4 flight after he claimed a title in the No. 5 flight in 2011 and in the No. 6 flight in 2010. Bhadkamkar won by default over Parker Featherston of Monmouth this season to continue his championship run. Bhadkamkar won 6-0, 6-0 over Alex Tande (Ripon) in the quarterfinals before edging out Ryne Fertitta of Carroll in the semifinals 6-3, 6-2.
In the No. 5 flight Monmouth’s Chris Utterback earned his first championship in his senior season with a convincing 6-0, 6-1 victory over Craig Sherwood (Lawrence). Utterback was the second seed in the No. 5 flight and defeated Brian Schumacher (Ripon, 6-0, 6-0) in the quarterfinals before edging out John Silseth of Carroll in the semifinals 7-6 (7-2), 7-2. Utterback played for an individual championship in his freshman season and was able to earn gold in his final conference match.
Connor Cunningham won in his first appearance at the MWC Championships with a pair of back-to-back comeback sets against fellow freshman Nate Gosz (St. Norbert) 7-5, 6-2. Cunningham earned his way to gold by defeating Anthony Mykhaylovskyy 6-3, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and defeating Tyler Lampe of Monmouth 6-1, 6-3.
The 2011 MWC Men’s Tennis Tournament will conclude tomorrow when three doubles champions will be crowned at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wis. The first matches will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Team Standings after singles championship:
1) Grinnell - 42
2) Monmouth - 54
3) Lake Forest - 44
4) Carroll - 36
5) Lawrence - 26
t6) St. Norbert - 17
t6) Knox - 17
8) Ripon - 5
9) Illinois C. - 0
* - top two spots are determined by team tournament
Chris Utterback talks about winning the No. 5 flight:
Conor Cunningham talks about winning the No. 6 flight:
David Johnson talks about winning the No. 2 flight: