OWENSBORO, Ky. – Early into the chill of the night as the dust settled from a long day at Centre Courts, two programs emerged out of the semifinals to begin the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Men’s Tennis Championship bracket.
No. 1 Hillsdale and No. 3 Tiffin both won their respective matchups to make Saturday’s final in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference Women’s Tennis Championship bracket on Friday evening.
The outdoor Centre Courts with Kentucky Wesleyan College served as host for this year’s event once again as the top four seeds began the postseason.
Hillsdale, the conference regular season champion, blanked No. 4 Findlay to the point of decision with an impressive display down the lineup. Led by conference coach of the year Keith Turner, the Chargers won three singles in straight sets and were leading the other three contests when the match was clinched.
Great Midwest Freshman of the Year Brennan Cimpeanu won his No. 2 singles battle vs. second team all-conference Oiler Florian Bauer. Sean Barstow and Daniel Gilbert also went final at No. 4 and No. 5, respectively.
Barstow and first team all-conference selection Tyler Conrad defeated the UF all-conference tandem of Bauer and first teamer Jorge Barnuevo in a close one, 6-4. A tiebreaker helped the Chargers win the decisive No. 3 battle as the last match to finish.
Hillsdale improve to 14-2 overall this season and Findlay officially closed out 2020-21 with a 6-7 record.
Conference Player of the Year Jakob Riglewski accounted for the lone point for No. 2 seed Walsh in the other semi as the Dragons methodically pulled away. Riglewski earned his 16th singles victory in straight sets.
Tiffin won the first two doubles matchups to set the tone going into singles. Then it was Nair Adi (first team all-conference), Matthew Telford and Joe Gilman (second team all-conference) to secure successive victories on the court.
Gilman bounced back against Walsh Elite 23 Award winner Clemens Wagner in a No. 3 battle, 7-5, 3-6, 7-45.
Tiffin and Hillsdale will compete for the conference title on Saturday afternoon at 2 pm CT local time.