LA CROSSE, Wis. – The University of Northwestern Men's Tennis team spent Saturday afternoon in a sunny but windy La Crosse, Wisconsin. A pair of non-conference opponents awaited the 12-4 Eagles, but UNW was unable to come out victorious in either match. Northwestern dropped a tight 4-5 match to Wartburg to open the day before being swept 0-9 by UW-La Crosse. However, a milestone in the program was reached as junior
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) recorded his 100
th career win.
Match One: Wartburg College Knights
Much like the women's match, the Wartburg and Northwestern men went down to the wire. The Knights took an early lead after an 8-4 #2 doubles win over
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt). The #3 doubles match went the way of Wartburg as well, 8-5 over
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Eli Henderson (Andover, Minn/Andover). UNW got one back at #1 doubles, as the dynamic duo of
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) won 8-7 (7-5). The win was the 100
th of Weddle's career as he became only the fifth player in the history of the program to reach that mark. His teammate, Morrell, is one of the other four.
The teams continued to trade blows as singles matches began.
Caleb Jergenson (Livingston, Mont./Park) fell at #6 singles by a 0-6, 0-6 score, but Haack was dominant at #3 singles, 6-1, 6-0. Rupp dropped his #5 singles match, 0-6, 2-6 but Weddle got one back in response, winning 6-1, 5-7, 10-6 in the #2 spot. The Knights secured the win at #4 singles when Jarchow lost 6-7 (6-8), 3-6.
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) won 6-4, 6-4 at #1 singles to keep the final score close, but it was indeed a 5-4 win for Wartburg.
Match Two: University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles
The Eagles looked to bounce back at 4:00 against UW-La Crosse, but the road was not much easier against the 11-6 Eagles. UWL took control from the start of doubles matches, as
Griffen Jarchow (Luverne, Minn./Luverne) and
Eli Henderson (Andover, Minn/Andover) lost 1-8 at #3 doubles to kick things off. The other two matches were much closer but did not go UNW's way.
Stewart Morrell (Elk River, Minn./Homeschool) and
Jacob Weddle (Rhinelander, Wis./Rhinelander) lost a nail-biter at #1 doubles 7-8 (6-8), and
Carson Haack (Elk River, Minn./Elk River) and
Darin Rupp (Sioux Falls, S.D./Roosevelt) fell 7-8 (4-7) in their #2 doubles match.
Trailing 3-0 entering singles matches, Northwestern desperately needed to swing the momentum. Unfortunately, it stayed with UW-La Crosse.
Caleb Jergenson (Livingston, Mont./Park) came up short at #6 singles, 2-6, 2-6, then Rupp suffered a 2-6, 0-6 loss at #5 singles that officially gave UWL the win. Haack's 3-6, 2-6 loss at #3 singles made it 6-0, but Morrell got the Eagles on the board with a 1-6, 6-1, 11-9 win in the #1 spot. Weddle made it back-to-back victories for UNW, winning 6-4, 6-2 at #2 singles to cap off an impressive 3-1 in addition to his milestone. The final match of the day went to UWL, 6-4, 6-4 over Jarchow at #4 singles.
Next Up
Northwestern will finally make its home debut on Thursday, April 11
th versus Hamline at 1:00 PM and Martin Luther at 7:00 PM. The Martin Luther match will be a non-conference match despite both teams being UMAC competitors. Come on out and support your Eagles at the Johnson Tennis Complex!
