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Tennis second to Coe in IIAC Championship

Date 5/5/2005 12:00 AM | Topic: Sports

Although the Luther College Men's Tennis team is a relatively young squad, they proved to the rest of the conference that they are going to be a force to be reckoned with, finishing second behind Coe at the Iowa Conference Championships.

The Norse were awarded the second overall seed and faced off against seventh seeded Loras in the first round. Luther had no problem with the Duhawks, winning 6-0.

In the semifinals, the Norse faced off against a pesky Central squad, but prevailed, winning 4-2.

Jono Martin ('08), Christian Klein ('05), Brad Nelson ('08) and Bjorn Hanson ('07) all picked up singles victories. The doubles team of Jared Wiklund ('08) and Hanson came through huge for Luther, winning at the number three doubles spot 8-5, propelling the Norse to face off with number one seeded Coe in the finals.

The Kohawks were too much for the Norse, though, capturing their fifth straight title 4-1. The only two victories for the Norse came from Klein at number three singles 7-5, 6-2, and Martin and Nelson at number one doubles 8-6.

The loss marks the third time in four years that Luther has finished 2nd.

"We were fortunate to get past Central in the semifinals," said Brian Huinker, Luther head coach. "We played Coe tough, but didn't have enough to come away with the victory. We also proved that we have the talent to compete at the top of the conference, but we need to improve doubles play in the offseason."

On April 29-30 the individual conference championships were held, with champions crowned in five flights - three in singles and two in doubles.

All-conference performers were only those who were playing in the flight A singles and flight A doubles competitions.

In flight A singles, Wiklund became the first Luther player to reach the semifinals since 1999, placing fourth.

Wiklund was defeated by eventual champion Ryan Yao of Coe College 6-1, 6-0. Wiklund was then defeated in the third place match by Jeff White of Coe 7-5, 6-1.

Klein also earned all-conference honors, reaching the quarterfinals before dropping a decision to conference runner-up and number two seed Nick Cochrane of Central 6-1, 6-1.

Earning second team honors were Hanson, Alex Lewke ('07), Matt Olson ('08) and Reid Mason ('08).

In flight A doubles, Martin and Nelson defended their number one ranking by claiming the 2005 Iowa Conference doubles title. The duo defeated the number three seeds Cochrane and Aaron Enderlin of Central (8-6) in the title match.

Klein and Olson earned second team all-conference honors, advancing to the quarterfinaals before being eliminated.

With the two wins and one loss in the team competition, the Norse finished the season 25-10. With the 25 wins, the Norse set a new single season record.

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Jonathan Carlson

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