Back on Top: TJC tennis squad wins national championship for 60th title in school history

Published 10:07 pm Friday, May 18, 2018

Tyler Junior College, a blue blood in juco tennis, returned to its net throne on Friday, capturing eight of the possible nine championship matches in securing the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Tournament title.

The Apaches, under coach Dash Connell who was named Coach of the Tournament, ran away with the championship by scoring 53 points to runner-up ASA Miami’s 43 in the weeklong tournament held at Collin College in Plano. 

It is the men’s first national title since 2013 and 16th overall. It is also the 60th national championship in TJC’s history.

“It’s been a whirlwind the last two weeks,” said Connell, whose women’s team won the national championship last week in Waco. “It’s just a testament to the guys on how hard they work.

“Coming into the tournament, it was really 50-50 with us and ASA Miami. Our guys just showed up and fought for every point.”

Earning national titles and All-America status in singles were No. 1 seed Marcus Walters (Flight 1), No. 1 Alex Parker (Flight 2), No. 1 Luke Simkiss (Flight 3), No. 1 Alejandro Hayen (Flight 4) and No. 2 Karl Mosterd (Flight 6).

Drew Brown finished runner-up in Flight 5.

The Apaches swept the doubles, despite not being a top seed in any of the three flights.

“About a month ago the sophomores came up to me and said they thought this wasn’t our best doubles lineup,” Connell said. “After a lot of discussion, we decided to stick with the lineup. We worked on a lot of things the last month. After the matches, the sophomores came up to me and told me they were glad we stuck with the lineup.”

No. 2 seeds Parker and Walters upset No. 1 seeds Tin Chen and Sergio Ingles of ASA Miami, 7-5, 7-6 (3), with Hayen and Aaron Westerlund, also the No. 2 seeds, topping No. 4 Andres Cabezas and Kentaro Mizushima, of ASA Miami, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

In Flight 3, Brown got his championship with partner Mosterd, the No. 4 seeds, as they defeated No. 2 Benji Finet and Carlo Izurieta of Seward County (Kansas), 7-6 (8), 6-2.

In the point totals, Seward County was third with 38 points, followed by Cowley (Kansas) (27), Seminole State (Oklahoma) (25.5), Eastern Florida State (25), Laredo (Texas) (25), Abraham Baldwin (25), Mesa (Arizona) (21.5) and Collin (Texas) 20.5. Jacksonville College finished 11th with 17 points. There were 26 teams entered.

Jacksonville had two netters in the consolation finals.

In Flight 5, Tomas Torres lost a three-setter to Victor Paulino, of Abraham Baldwin (Georgia), 5-7, 6-1, (10-3). In Flight 6, Beau Boyer, of Pima (Arizona), defeated Samuel Ghigiarelli, 7-6 (1), 6-3.

Tyler Junior College Tennis Results

Tyler singles championship match results:

Flight 1 — No. 1 Marcus Walters, TJC, def. No. 2 Tin Chen, ASA Miami, 6-2, 6-1.  

Flight 2 — No. 1 Alex Parker, TJC, def. No. 2 Duo Opacic, Seward County (Kansas), 6-4, 6-1.

Flight 3 — No. 1 Luke Simkiss, TJC, def. No. 2 Hugo Lobo, Seward County (Kansas), 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

Flight 4 — No. 1 Alejandro Hayen, TJC, def. No. 2 Andres Cabezas, ASA Miami, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

Flight 5 — No. 3 Kentaro Mizushima, ASA Miami, def. No. 1 Drew Brown, TJC,  6-3, 6-1.

Flight 6 — No. 2 Karl Mosterd, TJC, def. No. 1 Tomas Santantonio, ASA Miami, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Tyler doubles championship match results:

Flight 1 — No. 2 Parker-Walters, TJC, def. No. 1  Chen-Ingles, ASA Miami, 7-5, 7-6 (3).

Flight 2 — No. 2 Hayen-Aaron Westerlund, TJC, def. No. 4 Cabezas-Mizushima, ASA Miami, 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Flight 3 — No. 4 Brown-Mosterd, TJC, def. No. 2 Benji Finet-Carlo Izurieta, Seward, 7-6 (8), 6-2.