April 22, 2005

Wolverines lead after first day of PAC Championships

ERIE, Pa. -- The Grove City College men's tennis team is in first place after the first day of the two-day Presidents' Athletic Conference Championships at the Pennbriar Fitness and Racquet Club. The Wolverines accumulated 32 team points and will have representatives in seven of the nine championship matches Saturday afternoon.

Waynesburg is second with 26 points while Washington and Jefferson is third with 20. Westminster (16), Thiel (12) and Bethany (2) round out the six-team field.

At first singles, junior Brent Moon (Lima, Ohio/Shawnee) downed Thiel's Brian Gowday in the semifinals, 6-4, 6-0. Moon is the top seed and will play Waynesburg's Matt Otis in the finals. Sophomore Brock Thompson (Hudson, Ohio/Cuyahoga Valley Christian) advanced to the second singles finals with a 6-3, 7-5 win over No. 5 seed Dave Molitor of Westminster. Thompson will play third-seeded Ali Nemazee of Washington and Jefferson in the finals.

Second-seeded freshman Chris Baker (Bethlehem, Pa./Erie McDowell) downed No. 6 seed Dennis Wright of Thiel in the third singles semis, 6-0, 6-1, and will face top-seed Mark Gates of Waynesburg in Saturday's finals. Senior Phil Springirth (Erie, Pa./Harborcreek) is in the fourth singles finals after topping the No. 4 seed, Waynesburg's Joe Koch, in the semifinals, 6-2 and 6-1. Springirth is the top seed.

At fifth singles, junior Sam Fortna (Annville, Pa./Annville-Cleona) reached the finals after entering as the second seed. Fortna downed No. 3 seed Ryan Floyd of Waynesburg 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals and will meet top seed Doug Johnston of Washington and Jefferson in Saturday's finals.

At first doubles, Moon and Thompson are in the finals after advancing past Washington and Jefferson's Gary Tan and Jeff Tomaino in the semifinals, 8-3. Moon and Thompson will meet Waynesburg's Otis and Bryan McAnulty for the first doubles title Saturday.

Baker and Springirth are in the second doubles finals following their 8-1 win over Westminster's Bryan Gesinski and Chris Gesinski. They will square off with Washington and Jefferson's Nemzaee and Johnston in the finals.

At sixth singles, junior Sam Dickmann (Sarasota, Fla./Hope Presbyterian) fell in the semifinals to Westminster's Ryan Mistovich, 6-4 and 6-2. Dickmann will play Washington and Jefferson's Matt Riddle for third place. Fortna and freshman Matt Hearn (Montrose, Pa./Montrose) are in the third doubles consolation match after falling to Westminster's Ben Libert and Gene Cunningham, 8-2. Fortna and Hearn will play Bethany's Brian Cerullo and Jason Brun for third place.

Grove City is seeking its 15th straight Presidents' Athletic Conference title.

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