Oct. 22, 2011
Evanston, Ill. – University of Iowa senior Christopher Speer won his tenth consecutive singles match for the men’s tennis team, reaching the semifinals of the Flight C singles bracket at the Wildcat Invitational Saturday in Evanston, Ill.
Speer knocked off DePaul’s Mathias Hambach in a 3-6, 6-1, 13-11 marathon match in the quarterfinals. Speer opened with a 6-3, 6-3 win over DePaul’s Aaron Chaffee on Friday. The Vernon Hills, Ill., native will face Toledo’s Grant Adams for a spot in the finals match on Sunday.
“Christopher continues to shine for us, and overall I feel like we’re doing well here considering several of our top players are not competing at this event,” said head coach Steve Houghton.
Junior Garret Dunn advanced to the Flight A singles consolation semifinals with a three-set victory over Marquette’s Logon Collins. Dunn won 3-6, 6-3, 11-9. Fellow junior Connor Gilmore also picked up a victory, defeating Northern Illinois’ Maksym Lagutin 6-1, 6-2. Gilmore will play in the Flight C singles consolations semifinals tomorrow.
Junior Mitch Beckert and sophomore Michael Swank will also play consolations matches in their respective singles flights tomorrow as well. Iowa’s Flight A doubles tandems of Dunn and Swank, and Speer and Gilmore will also have a consolation match Sunday.
Action will begin tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. for the final day of competition at the Wildcat Invitational.
Wildcat Invitational
Flight A Singles
Garret Dunn (IOWA) def. Logon Collins (Marquette) 3-6, 6-3, 11-9
Flight B Singles
Roman Turtygin (NIU) def. Andres Estenssoro (IOWA) 6-4, 6-4
Zeyad Montasser (WMU) def. Mitch Beckert (IOWA) 6-3, 7-5
Flight C Singles
Connor Gilmore (IOWA) def. Maksym Lagutin (NIU) 6-1, 6-2
Christopher Speer (IOWA) def. Mathias Hambach (DePaul) 3-6, 6-1, 13-11
Flight D Singles
Adam Reinhart (DePaul) def. Michael Swank (IOWA) 6-4, 6-2
Flight A Doubles
Muddappa Appanervanda/Willi Peter (ISU) def. Garret Dunn/Michael Swank (IOWA) 9-8
Zeyad Montasser/Simon Blomberg (WMU) def. Christopher Speer/Connor Gilmore (IOWA) 8-4
Flight B Doubles
Filip Dzanko/Adam Reinhart (DePaul) def. Mitch Beckert/Andres Estenssoro (IOWA) 8-6