Wabash singles players Ryan Waldon and Jay Horrey each advanced to the round of 64 over the weekend at the Wilson/ITA Central Region Fall Tennis Championships at Washington University - St. Louis. Six members of the 2008-09 Little Giant tennis team participated at the annual event.
Horrey (left) opened the three-day tournament with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Travis Bowman from Washington University before being forced to withdraw from the next match due to a leg injury. Horrey is now seven wins away from the all-time Wabash record in singles play of 63 victories set by Mark Ratner from 1996-2000.
Waldon scored a 6-2, 6-4 win against Transylvania's Lee Gammon in the first round. Kenyon's Josh Stiles defeated Waldon 6-2, 6-2 in the next round.
Sophomore Ricky Ritter (right) lost his opening match in three sets (6-3, 2-6, 7-5) against Jared Katchen from Knox College. Ritter rallied for a three-set victory in the consolation bracket against Danny Frank from Albion (6-3, 3-6, 1-0 retired) before falling 6-3, 6-2 to Brian Piotrowski from Illinois Wesleyan in the next round.
Freshman Peter Gunderman, sophomore Billy Evans, and senior Ian Sequeira each competed in the St. Louis Collegiate bracket. Gunderman opened his Wabash career with a 7-6, 6-1 win against Jon Goorhouse from Calvin, followed by a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Augustana's Chris Fowler. The win sent Gunderman to the quarterfinals, but a 6-3, 6-0 loss to Washington University's Eric Pollak ended his tournament weekend.
Evans scored an opening round win against Tyler Lampe from Monmouth (6-3, 7-6) before a second round loss to Corey Yealy of Washington University (6-0, 6-1). Sequeira was forced to retire with a back injury in his first match of the tournament.
Sequeira and Evans combined for an 8-5 win in the quarterfinals of the doubles consolation bracket. The duo lost 8-4 to Billy Sessions and Chris Tapping from Albion in the semis.