Gustavus Adolphus men’s tennis players Mike Burdakin (So., Bettendorf, Iowa) and Charlie Paukert (Grand Forks, N.D.) finished fourth in the NCAA Division III bracket after a pair of losses Friday at the ITA National Small College Championships at Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers.
Burdakin and Paukert fell in their semifinal match to Eric White and Daniel Quinones of Mary Hardin-Baylor 7-5, 7-5. In the third place match, the Gustie tandem lost to Evan Webeler and Scott Swanson of DePauw University 6-3, 6-0.
Senior Jesse Brauer (Mankato, Minn.), playing in the NCAA Division III singles bracket, met John James of the University of Mary Washington in a consolation semifinal Friday morning. Brauer took the first set 6-4, but came out on the short end of the final two sets, falling 4-6, 3-6. On Saturday morning, Brauer closed out his tournament by defeating Mikhail Gurevich of New York University 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 for seventh place.