The Gustavus men’s tennis team recently took part in the Lloyd Stokstad Invitational host by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. The senior doubles team of Adam Morgan and Brett Morse-Karzen won the A Flight Doubles title by defeating Maor Zirkin and Jon Tishler of Drake 8-4 in the championship match. Gustavus was the only Division III program in the tournament. Other competing institutions were host Drake, Northern Colorado, Creighton, and Eastern Illinois.
In the A Flight singles draw, Gustavus was represented by Andy Bryan, Adam Morgan, Roy Bryan and Brett Morse-Karzen. All four players won their first round matches,but were eliminated in teh quarterfinals. Andy Bryan defeated Nikita Dudar of Creighton 6-4, 6-4 and then lost to Sergi Vila of Drake 2-6, 1-6. Adam Morgan defeated Vinny Meens of Creighton 6-0, 6-1 and then lost to Jon Tishler of Drake 0-6, 5-7. Roy Bryan defeated Jose Guerra of Creighton 7-6, 5-7, 11-9 and then lost to Maor Zirkin of Drake 6-7. 0-6 Brett Morse-Karzen defeated Eduardo Pignatari of Creighton and then lost to Dado Pavic of Drake 6-7 2-6.
In the B Flight singles draw, Gustavus was represented by Charlie Paukert, Will Colmar, Claudio Bravo and Mike Burdakin. Bravo and Burdakin advance to the semifinals before being eliminated. Bravo defeated Sean Bush of Eastern Illinois 6-3, 6-3, Kollman Gearhart of Northern Colorado 6-3, 6-2, and Dave Iancu of Drake 6-2, 7-6 before losing to Ivan Mendoza of Drake 2-6, 7-6. Mike Burdakin defeated Chris Thomas of Eastern Illinois 6-3, 6-3, and Chris Lueth of Drake 6-2, 6-4, before losing to Joe Eckert of Creighton 3-6, 4-6. Will Colmar lost to Joe Eckert 3-6, 6-7, and Charlie Paukert lost to Mike Elson of Creighton 6-1, 5-7, 7-10.
In the A Flight Doubles Draw, Gustavus was represented by Morgan and Morse-Karzen, Andy Bryan and Roy Bryan, and Mike Burdakin and Will Colmar. Morgan and Morse-Karzen made an impressive run defeating all four Division I doubles teams on the way to the title. In the first round, the senior duo defeated Elson and Root of Creighton 8-1. Then in the quarterfinals, they defeated Pavic and Vila of Drake 8-1. In the semifinals, they knocked off Lueth and Mendoza of Drake 9-8 (10-8 in the tiebreaker), and in the championship match they defeated Zirkin and Tisher of Drake 8-4. The Bryan brothers also played very well as they advanced to the semifinals before losing. The duo defeated Thomas and Blankenbaker of Eastern Illinois 8-5, and Eckert and Meens of Creighton 8-4, before losing to Zirkin and Tishler of Drake 3-8. The Gusties third doubles team of Mike Burdakin and Will Colmar won its first round match against Guerra and Dudar of Creighton 8-3, but then lost to Zirkin and Tishler of Drake 4-8.
The Gusties will conclude their fall season at the ITA Midwest Regional Tournament which will be played at Gustavus on Sept. 30 through Oct. 2.