DULUTH, Minn. – The University of Northwestern men's tennis team matched-up with St. Scholastica on Saturday for the 2019 UMAC Championship. With an NCAA bid on the line, the Eagles fell to the UMAC's regular season champion Saints, 8-1.
 
Today's match marked Northwestern's tenth straight UMAC tournament championship appearance, facing Scholastica in all 10. The Eagles came out on top of the Saints in 2011 and 2018, last year earning Northwestern's first ever NCAA postseason appearance with a 5-4 upset. Today's win for the Saints marks the college's first NCAA bid.
 
The Eagles dropped all three doubles matches to begin Saturday play. The no. 3 duo of Matthew Wedin (Litchfield, Minn./Litchfield Senior) and Colton Paskewitz (Browerville, Minn/Staples) took the most games from their opponent out of the three – falling in an 8-5 final.
 
Wedin also recorded the Eagles lone singles win – taking down his opponent at no. 5, (6-4, 7-5). Three of Northwestern's singles matches were pushed to third set tiebreakers, but all resulted in a Saints win.
 
At no. 1 singles, Landon Ridpath (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) took set one from Scholastica (6-4), but dropped the second set and fell in a 10-4 third set tiebreaker. Austin Bricker (Arroyo Grande, Calif./Arroyo Grand) dropped his first set at no. 3, but made a strong comeback – winning set two in dominant 6-2 style before suffering a third set tiebreak loss. Isaac Velgersdyk (Savage, Minn./Southwest Christian) experienced much of the same – his six singles match resulting in a (3-6, 6-4, 4-10) score.
 
The Eagles end the 2019 season with a 16-8 overall mark – finishing second in the UMAC. Landon Ridpath (St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Tech) concludes his standout career tied for the most singles wins in school history (57).
 
Keep up with Northwestern men's tennis online at www.unweagles.com