John Kauss emerged a double champion at the Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Tennis championship held at Gustavus last weekend.  He dominated the singles draw, losing only eight total games in five matches in route to the final.  Teammate Charlie Paukert offered stiff resistance in the first set. The consistency, power, and quickness by both players were remarkable. John won 6-3, 6-2, thereby earning All American ranking in singles for the first time.  He had come so close in last year’s final, serving at 5-4 against Andy Bryan in the third set.  John’s sustained intensity throughout this tournament sent the clear message that he did not intend to have the title slip away again.

John’s doubles victory with Mike Burdakin was equally convincing.  They advanced to final, losing only seven games in four matches.  In the final they broke serve in the first game, and never looked back as they cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory over teammates Kevin Stickney and Nick Hansen.  A year ago John and Mike had the title in their grasp, serving at 40-love with three consecutive match points, only to have Andy Bryan and Charlie Paukert sneak out a victory.  This year it was different.  Mike claims his second ITA/Midwest doubles title, the first coming two years ago with Paukert.  John becomes an All American in doubles for the first time.

Other strong performances by Gustavus players included Ashok Jethwa’s 7-5, 6-1 upset of seventh seed Max Busch from Luther, Patrick Clark’s 6-7(3), 6-2 (10-7) defeat of thirteenth seed Joey Lankelma from Coe, and Kevin Stickney’s 6-3, 6-1 upset of eleventh seed Winston Park from Carleton.  Three out of four singles semifinalists from Gustavus and two finalists have been the record for the last eight years.  In doubles the unbroken record of Gustavus champions goes back sixteen years.

In the Midwest Open, a “B” tournament for lower ranked players, two University of Wisconsin schools dominated.  In singles Will Krieger from Whitewater beat David Torres from Bethel 5-7, 6-1, 7-5 in a close, hard fought battle.  In the doubles final it was all Eau Claire.  Dirk Van Rybroek and Eric Wollum beat Aaron Johnson and Chris Kuna 8-3 for the title.

In the Wilson/ITA consolation singles final Gustavus freshman Daniel Pomeranc won by default over Thomas Orser from Luther.  In doubles Kirby Johnson and Jordan Swanson from Concordia beat Nathan Fekete and Nick Piotrowski from University of Wisconsin- LaCrosse 8-5.

One hundred ninety seven players from 22 schools participated in the Wilson/ITA Regional and the Midwest Open tournaments.  John Kauss and Mike Burdakin now advance to the Wilson/ITA national singles and doubles tournaments in Mobile, Alabama from October 16 to 19.