Senior John Kauss ended the season at 33-7 in singles play.
Senior Mike Burdakin teamed with Kauss to finish the year at 29-7 in doubles.
Gustavus Adolphus College senior men’s tennis players John Kauss (St. Paul, Minn./Harding) and Mike Burdakin (Sr., Bettendorf, Iowa) saw their seasons come to an end after losses in singles and doubles at the 2009 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships in Claremont, Calif. Kauss fell in the semifinal round of singles play, while Burdakin and Kauss bowed out of the doubles draw in the quarterfinals.
John Kauss (Sr., St. Paul, Minn.) defeated Will Zhang of the University of Chicago 7-5, 6-2 in the quarterfinal round, but fell to Ben Stein of Bates College 7-5, 7-5 in a semifinal match. It was the first loss for Kauss against a Division III opponent this season, as he finished the year at 33-7. Stein will face Michael Goodwin of Emory in the championship on Sunday at 2 p.m. (CDT).
In quarterfinal doubles action, Mike Burdakin and John Kauss faced Bobby Cocanougher and Cory Kowal of Trinity University (TX). Burdakin and Kauss dropped the first set 6-3 followed by a 6-2 second set loss to be eliminated from the doubles draw. The tandem finished the season at 29-7. Cocanougher and Kowal will face Jamie Neely and Oscar Pena of Bowdoin College on Sunday at 3 p.m. (CDT). Charlie Cutler and Chris Hoeland of Washington University (Mo.) will face Amrit Ruspasinghe and Ben Stein of Bates in the other semifinal, which will begin after the completion of the singles final.