April 26, 2007

Central third in league tournament

IOWA CITY— Central College outlasted Wartburg College 5-4 Thursday to secure a third-place showing in the Iowa Conference men’s tennis tourney.  

It’s Central’s 16th consecutive top-three finish in the league meet and the third straight finish at No. 3.

The third-seeded Dutch opened with a 5-1 win over sixth-seeded Simpson College before getting shut out by defending champion Coe College 5-0. Central came back in the third-place match with the win over Wartburg.

Top-seeded Luther College (26-6) ended Coe’s six-year title streak, defeating the Kohawks 5-2 in the championship match. Loras was a 5-3 winner over Simpson for fifth place.

Central closes the dual season at 14-9 under interim coach Greg Gilmore and continues play Friday and Saturday with the league individual tournament in Cedar Rapids. Players are divided into the A, B and C flights in singles and into the A and B flights in doubles. Friday’s Flight A matches are at Coe College with Flights B and C contested at Veterans Park. Saturday’s action will be at Coe.