Wallace State men’s tennis captures NJCAA Division II National Championship

PLANO, Texas — Wallace State captured the NJCAA Division II Men's Tennis National Championship on Friday at Collin College, finishing three points ahead of conference rival Coastal Alabama-South in the final team standings.

The Lions finished with 45 points to claim the national title, while Coastal Alabama-South finished second with 42 points. Mississippi Gulf Coast placed third with 38 points.

Wallace State earned two national championships on the final day of competition as Angel Gautier won the Flight 1 singles title and the doubles team of Tom Kopf and Matias Vargas captured the Flight 3 doubles championship.

Gautier, the No. 3 seed in Flight 1 singles, rallied to defeat top-seeded Juan Pereyra in three sets. After dropping the opening set 7-6, Gautier responded with 6-1 and 6-1 victories in the final two sets to secure the national championship.

Kopf and Vargas completed an undefeated tournament run in Flight 3 doubles with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Taylor Cook and Santiago Enriquez in the championship match.

Wallace State had multiple additional finalists Friday.

Francois Van Wyk reached the Flight 4 singles final before falling to top-seeded Alvaro Velasco 4-6, 6-3, 6-1. Luka Uzelac, the No. 1 seed in Flight 5 singles, finished as national runner-up after a loss to Nils Guyot. Tom Kopf also reached the Flight 6 singles final before falling in a three-set match to Maximo Yanex, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6.

In doubles competition, Gautier and Alexander Grube Andersen reached the Flight 1 doubles final before falling to Ryland Buford and Angel Hernandez in three sets. Badenhorst and Van Wyk also advanced to the Flight 2 doubles final, where they fell to Jan Bako and Warren Hudson.

The national title caps a dominant postseason run for Wallace State, which also won the ACCC championship earlier this spring.