Contact: Lou Groce, Director of Media and Information, 920-229-8157

GRINNELL, Iowa – The Midwest Conference Men’s Tennis Championships will take place Friday, April 24 through Sunday, April 26 at the Nielsen Tennis Center in Madison, Wis.

Championships Page

The Midwest Conference Team Championship Tournament will kick things off on Friday morning at 8:30 a.m.  Qualifying for the semifinals were Grinnell College, Monmouth College, Lake Forest College and Carroll University.  It will be a battle of Pioneers as Grinnell and Carroll square off in one semifinal, while it will be a rematch of the regular season’s final match between Monmouth and Lake Forest.

Grinnell, the 17^th-ranked team in the Central Region by the Intercollegiate Tennis Association, beat Carroll 6-3 back in the first weekend of Midwest Conference regular season play.  Carroll’s Jack Michael (20-3) and Peter Jaeger (15-7) both claimed victories in singles play and teamed up to knock off Grinnell’s top pair.  Michael is currently rated 18^th in the region as a singles player, while his counterpart at No. 1 singles, Elliott Czarnecki (14-12) is ranked 21^st. 

Grinnell is currently riding a 64-match conference winning streak and have defeated 114 straight MWC opponents, dating back to 2002.  Prior to this season, men's tennis was split into two divisions and entering this season, Grinnell had won 55 straight MWC South matches.  Grinnell is also gunning for its 12^th consecutive conference title.

Monmouth and Lake Forest should be plenty familiar with each other as the two teams met last Sunday in Monmouth with the Fighting Scots claiming a 6-3 victory.  Lake Forest’s Dan Pivonka (17-10) and John Snider (16-7) both won their singles matches and teamed up to win at the top doubles position to account for the Foresters’ three match wins.  Monmouth’s Dylan Wong (17-7) won at No. 5 singles and teamed with Ronnie Griffin to take No. 3 doubles in leading the Fighting Scots to victory. 

The winner of the four-team tournament will be crowned the Midwest Conference Champion and earn the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. 

Singles Tournament
Carroll’s Jack Michael is aiming to defend his No. 1 singles title, with Lake Forest’s Dan Pivonka and Grinnell’s Elliott Czarnecki providing some stiff competition.  Michael has beaten both players earlier this regular season. 

Carroll’s Peter Jaeger is the favorite at No. 2 singles after completing a perfect 9-0 run through the conference regular season.  Lake Forest’s John Snider has split time between the second and third positions, but owns 5-1 record at both spots and was 8-1 in league play.  Grinnell’s Cole Miller competed in just five conference matches, but is 11-6 on the season at the second position. 

The No. 3 singles bracket should be hotly contested as Monmouth’s Derek Rineberg is 15-5 and Cornell’s Ben Williamson owns a 12-5 record.  Emilio Gomez of Grinnell has split time at No. 2 and No. 3 singles but is 7-6 at the third position and was 5-1 in league play. 

Tracy Johnson of Grinnell will factor in the No. 4 singles bracket as he boasts a 6-0 record, while Marco Franco of Monmouth is 13-7 and should challenge for the top crown.  Franco’s teammate Dylan Wong has a 16-4 record at No. 5 singles with his only loss in conference play coming at the hands of Aaron Lapkin of Grinnell at No. 4 singles. 

Grinnell’s Tommy Pitcher last season’s No. 4 singles champion and No. 6 champion C.J. Ray are also lurking for the Pioneers.  Paulo Pilego of Monmouth is 8-2 at No. 6 singles and teammate Ronnie Griffin is 7-2 at the same position.  Lake Forest’s Dragan Trivanovic is 9-5 at the sixth position. 

Doubles Tournament
No. 1 doubles should be very entertaining on Sunday morning as three pairs boats double digit victories.  Michael and Jaeger are 14-5 on the season with eight of those wins coming in league play.  Their only loss came to St. Norbert College’s Travis Buechel and Nate Gosz who are 8-7.  Knox College’s Walter Palmer and Karl Ruzgas are 16-9 overall and went 6-3 in the league, while Grinnell’s pair of Pitcher and Czarnecki are 15-11 overall. 

At No. 2 doubles, Tracy Johnson and Emilio Gomez of Grinnell are back to defend their crown.  The duo is 17-8 this season and won all of their seven matches in the MWC.  Quentin Lamers and Matthew Michael of Carroll are 5-0 and won all five of their matches at the second position, while Monmouth’s Day and Landon Walker are 11-6. 

Grinnell’s third pair of C.J. Ray and Cole Miller are aiming for their second straight MWC crown.  Their top competition will be another duo from Monmouth as Griffin and Wong have gone 12-6 so far together and went 7-1 in league play.  Ellis Lora-Arceo and Nick Rehm of Lake Forest also went 6-3 this year and should factor into the No. 3 doubles bracket.