Wallace State men’s tennis leads NJCAA Championship after unbeaten day

PLANO, Texas — Wallace State men's tennis stayed unbeaten Wednesday at the NJCAA Division II National Championship at Collin College, sending all six singles entries and all three doubles teams into Thursday's semifinal round.

The Lions also moved into first place in the team standings after Day 3 with 36 points. Wallace State holds a two-point lead over second-place Coastal Alabama-South and a three-point lead over Jones College and Mississippi Gulf Coast, which are tied for third.

Wallace State went 6-0 in singles play and advanced in all three doubles flights. Through Wednesday's matches, the Lions have not dropped a singles or doubles match in the championship brackets.

Angel Gautier, the No. 3 seed in Flight 1 singles, defeated Ari Andreopoulos 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals. Alexander Grube Andersen, the No. 2 seed in Flight 2, defeated Luke Gardiner 6-1, 6-2.

Jean Badenhorst, seeded No. 4 in Flight 3, moved on with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Chi-Wei Wang. Francois Van Wyk, the No. 2 seed in Flight 4, defeated Giulio Benussi 6-4, 6-3.

Wallace State's two No. 1 singles seeds also advanced in straight sets. Luka Uzelac defeated Fergus Larkin 6-0, 6-2 in Flight 5, while Tom Kopf defeated Brady Holliman 6-1, 6-0 in Flight 6.

In doubles, Gautier and Grube Andersen, the No. 3 seed in Flight 1, defeated Jared Escobar and Daniel Espin 6-4, 6-4. Badenhorst and Van Wyk, seeded No. 3 in Flight 2, advanced by walkover against Ilian Delalande and Mijael Obregon. Kopf and Matias Vargas, the No. 1 seed in Flight 3, defeated Giulio Benussi and Vicente Rojas 6-1, 6-0.

Wallace State will return to the court Thursday with semifinal matches scheduled in all nine flights.

Thursday schedule

Singles
Flight 1: Angel Gautier [3] vs. Nikoloz Gurgenidze [2], 9 a.m.
Flight 2: Alexander Grube Andersen [2] vs. Jared Escobar [6], 9 a.m.
Flight 3: Jean Badenhorst [4] vs. Milan Olagnon [1], 9 a.m.
Flight 4: Francois Van Wyk [2] vs. Ridge Jones [3], 9:30 a.m.
Flight 5: Luka Uzelac [1] vs. Nick Dulaney [4], 9:30 a.m.
Flight 6: Tom Kopf [1] vs. Justin Gray [5], 9:30 a.m.

Doubles
Flight 1: Angel Gautier/Alexander Grube Andersen [3] vs. Jake Bucek/Nikoloz Gurgenidze [2], 1:30 p.m.
Flight 2: Jean Badenhorst/Francois Van Wyk [3] vs. Nils Guyot/Milan Olagnon, 1:30 p.m.
Flight 3: Tom Kopf/Matias Vargas [1] vs. Cooper Ford/Braden Henderson [5], 1:30 p.m.