Gustavus Adolphus College is hosting the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championship at the Swanson Indoor Tennis Center and the Brown Outdoor Courts. The Men’s Division III Midwest Region Championships will take place Friday, September 26 through Sunday, September 28.
The Wilson/ITA Men’s Division III Championships at Gustavus will feature 23 of the top small college tennis programs in the region. The singles and doubles champions from this weekend’s tournament advance to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association National Small College Championships which will take place at the Copeland-Cox Tennis Center in Mobile, Alabama on Oct. 16-19.
Approximately one hundred seventy-five of the top singles and doubles players in the Midwest will take part in the tournament which will begin with singles matches on Friday morning at 9 am. John Kauss of Gustavus Adolphus College is the #1 seed in the singles draw. Other seeds include second seeded Colin Russell of Carleton, third seeded Dan LaFountaine of Grinnell, and fourth seeded Alex Lowe of UW-Whitewater. The doubles competition will begin on Friday immediately after the completion of the third round of singles play. Nate Fox and Dan LaFountaine of Grinnell are the #1 seeded doubles team. Other seeds include the second seeded team of Mike Burdakin and John Kauss of Gustavus, the third seeded team of David Koppel and Charlie Paukert of Gustavus, and the fourth seeded team of Max Busch and Harry Whiteley of Luther. The Swanson Indoor Tennis Center, located on the west edge of the Gustavus campus, will serve as headquarters for the Wilson/ITA Midwest Region Championships, with matches taking place at Swanson and the adjacent Brown Outdoor Courts, as well as the Gibbs Tennis Courts, which are situated just north of the Gustavus main entrance.
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 Divisions II and III, NAIA and Junior/Community College). The national champions from each division square off in the “Super Bowl” of Small College Tennis to determine the overall ITA National Small College Champions (who then earn berths into the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor Championships, a Division I event, in November).
As the governing body of collegiate tennis the ITA promotes both the athletic and academic achievements of the collegiate tennis community. The ITA, which was founded in 1956 and is based in Skillman, N.J., administers numerous regional and national championships, the ITA Collegiate Summer Circuit, presented by the USTA, and the ITA Rankings for men’s and women’s tennis at the NCAA Divisions I, II and III, NAIA and Junior College levels. The ITA also has a comprehensive awards program for players and coaches to honor excellence in academics, leadership and sportsmanship. The official ITA website is www.itatennis.com.