DES MOINES, Iowa – The Gustavus men’s tennis team completed its first event of the fall campaign this weekend at the Drake Invitational at Roger Knapp Tennis Center, hosted by Drake University. Mohanad Alhouni (Jr., Tripoli, Libya) finished as the runner-up in the Flight 1 singles draw.
The finals were not played at the Drake Invitational due to Flight 2 and Flight 3 being incomplete.
In Flight 1, Alhouni defeated Ty Misialek of North Dakota (6-0, 6-1), Sergi Fontcuberta of Northwest Missouri State (6-3, 2-6, 10-8) and Tom Hands from Drake (6-4, 6-4) before falling in the finals to Ben Clark of Drake (6-7, 1-6).
“We had a great weekend at Drake,” said Head Coach Tommy Valentini. “The guys were grateful for some high level outside competition. In the singles, the guys embraced challenges and competed hard.”
Patrick Whaling (So., Manikob Sabot, Va.) won two matches in the consolation bracket after falling in the opening game. Whaling defeated Alex Koca of Creighton (7-6, 1-8, 10-8) and cruised past Ty Misialek from North Dakota (6-2, 6-1) despite losing to Alan Braschinsky of Lewis University (3-6, 6-7).
The Gusties completed the weekend with wins from Chase Johnson (So., Golden Valley, Minn.) and T. Connor Shives (Jr., Rochester, Minn.). Johnson took down Jackson Guilford from Drake (7-6, 6-2), while Shives defeated Erich Schuette of Northern Illinois (6-3, 2-6, 10-8).
In three doubles flights, the duo of Gabe Steinwand (Jr., Moorhead, Minn.) and Mason Bultje (Jr., Moorhead, Minn.) won the third flight, Tommy Entwistle (Jr., Sioux Falls, S.D.) and Zach Ekstein (Jr., Eagan, Minn.) finished with a record of 4-4. Alhouni and Whaling went 2-2 and Johnson/Michael O’Neil (Fy., Edina, Minn.) also finished with a 2-2 record.
“I was pleased with the level of energy and aggressiveness in our doubles. It was fun to see our new family members in action for the first time, and to see our returning guys begin to embrace new roles for our group. I’m hopeful the valuable experience we gained this weekend will help us build confidence for the upcoming ITA regional,” Valentini said.
Gustavus returns home to Swanson Tennis Center to host the ITA Midwest Regional Championships September 30-October 2.