Nick Rohner backhand April 25, 2008

Rohner to semifinals in league tourney

CEDAR RAPIDS—Central College’s Nick Rohner (senior, Wichita, Kan., Kapaun Mount Carmel HS) advanced to the semifinals of the Flight B singles at the Iowa Conference men’s tennis tournament Friday.

Rohner defeated Jonathan Kroll of Dubuque 10-3, Scott Martin of Luther 7-5, 6-3 and teammate Jacob Veldhuizen (freshman, Wausau, Wis., East HS) 6-3, 6-2. Saturday he’ll meet Luther’s Steve Holt for a berth in the finals. Veldhuizen and Justin Scherff (senior, Denison, Denison-Schleswig HS) each won two matches before being ousted.

Central’s Flight A singles players didn’t fare as well. Dan Bowser (freshman, Fort Dodge) won his opening match, outlasting Luther College’s Derek Hoffman 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (3) but was sidelined by Joey Lankelma of Coe College 6-1, 6-2. Jared Feddersen (senior, Fort Dodge) was seeded third but was knocked off by Luther’s Samriddh Burman 6-1, 6-2 in the second round. Central’s other Flight A entrants were eliminated in the opening round. Lucas Boyd (sophomore, Fort Dodge) fell to Luther’s Tim Eisele 7-5, 6-1 and Chris Bliss (senior, Ottumwa) came up just short against Sam Zerbib of Coe 2-6, 6-1, 1-0 (9).

In Flight A doubles, Boyd and Feddersen were seeded fourth but dropped an 8-4 decision to Luther’s Bradley Nelson and Utsab Rijal. Bliss and Scherff fell to Luther’s Jono Martin and Scott Martin 8-1.

Weather played havoc with the schedule, forcing several matches indoors. The Flight B doubles are barely out of the blocks, although Jacob Dreyer (freshman, Cedar Falls) and Joel Druvenga (junior, Spencer) picked up a first-round win. Bowser and Rohner are seeded first and received an opening-round bye.