The Gustavus men’s tennis team will host the Wilson/Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Midwest Regional this Friday, Saturday and Sunday, October 1-3. This is the 20th consecutive year that the Gusties have hosted the ITA Midwest Regional.
The Wilson/ITA Midwest Men’s Championships at Gustavus will include 97 players representing 22 schools from Iowa, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The singles and doubles champions from this weekend’s tournament advance to the ITA National Small College Championships, which will be held Oct. 14-17 at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.
The ITA National Small College Championships began in 1986 and annually crowns men’s and women’s singles and doubles national champions in each of the ITA’s four small college divisions (NCAA Division’s II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College).
Gustavus All-American Loren Collins is top seeded in the singles draw at this year’s Midwest Regional. Last year, Collins won the regional title and finished third at the ITA Small College Championships. Collins will be challenged by #2 seed Brad Livingston from Carthage, #3 Adam Morgan from Gustavus, and #4 Justin Gaard from St. Thomas. Other seeded players include #5 Brian Thomas from St. Thomas, #6 Ryan Yao from Coe College, #7 William Holmes from Carleton, and #8 Ben Lundell from Gustavus.
In the doubles draw, Gustavus All-Americans Adam Morgan and Brett Morse-Karzen are the top-seeded team. Last year, Morgan and Morse-Karzen won the regional title and finished fourth at the ITA Small College Championships. Those expected to challenge Morgan and Morse-Karzen are #2 Justin Gaard and Blair Madsen of St. Thomas, #3 Brad Livingston and Alex Donkor of Carthage, #4 Jesse Brauer and Ben Lundell of Gustavus, #5 Brian Thomas and Tut Fuller of St. Thomas, and #6 Andy and Roy Bryan of Gustavus.
Tournament headquarters will be the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center on the west edge of the Gustavus campus. Matches will also be played at the Brown Outdoor Courts (in front of the Swanson Tennis Center), Gibbs Tennis Center (at the East entrance to the campus), South Courts (at the southeast corner of campus), St. Peter High School, and Veteran’s Field, which are just a short distance from the campus. Tournament play begins at 9:00 am on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, the singles final will begin at 12:00 pm (noon) and the doubles final will start at 3:00 pm. In case of rain on Friday the Owatonna Indoor Tennis Club will be used for the bottom half of the singles draw. The top half of the singles draw and all indoor play on Saturday and Sunday will take place at the Swanson Center on the Gustavus campus.