April 28, 2007

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA . . . The Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (IIAC) crowned champions in five individual flights (three singles and two doubles) on Saturday at the Conference men’s tennis Individual Flighted Tournament. The Conference also announced the 2007 IIAC men’s All-Conference Team. The Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year will be announced next week.

In Flight A singles, top-seeded Max Busch of Luther defeated #2-seed Ryan Yao of Coe (6-2, 6-3) to become the eighth different Luther player to win an A Flight singles title, the most of any school in IIAC history. Yao finishes his collegiate career with four top-three Conference finishes including back-to-back second-place finishes, a 2005 title and 2004 third-place finish. Busch defeated Coe’s Joey Lankelma (6-4, 7-6(4)) and Yao defeated teammate Tom Jennings (6-3, 7-6(5)) in the semifinals. Lankelma defeated Jennings for third-place (4-6, 7-6, 10-4).

Flight B singles saw four Luther players in the semifinals where Reid Mason defeating Alex Lewke (6-2, 6-1) and Matt Olson defeating Jake Reitz (6-2, 6-1). Olson defeated Mason (6-1, 2-6, 10-5) in the Championship match, and Reitz won the third-place match by default over Lewke.

Flight C singles was an all Dubuque final with Cory McCarthy defeating David Jacobsen (6-2, 6-1) to give the Spartans their first Conference individual champion since Jeff Benson in 1980. In the semifinals, McCarthy defeated Wartburg’s Andrew Seeba (6-2, 6-0) and Jacobsen defeated Luther’s Zach Nordby (6-3, 6-4). Nordby took third-place with a three-set win over Seeba (6-4, 2-6, 10-6).

In Flight A doubles, Luther’s Brad Nelson/Utsab Rijal defeated Coe’s Greg Janssen/TJ Leicht in the Championship match (8-3). It is Nelson’s second doubles title in three years. Chad Evans/Sam Zerbib defeated Tom Jennings/Ryan Yao (9-8) in an all-Coe third-place match. Nelson/Rijal defeated Evans/Zerbib (8-3) and Janssen/Leicht defeated Jennings/Yao (8-5) in the semifinals.

In Flight B doubles, Cole Henry/Jared Wiklund won an all Luther final, defeating teammates Scott Martin/Jacob Reitz (9-7). Wartburg’s Pat Mullen/Tylor Schlader defeated Dubuque’s Jose Garcia/Austin Stewart in the third-place match (8-6). In the semifinals, Henry/Wiklund defeated Mullen/Schlader (8-2) and Martin/Reitz defeated Garcia/Stewart (8-1).

Complete results from the two-day Individual Flighted Tournament are here.

All-Conference: The quarterfinalists in Flight A singles and the semifinalists in Flight A doubles are recognized as All-Conference. The 2007 Iowa Intercollegiate Athletic Conference men’s tennis All-Conference Team is here.

-30-