written by: Andy Rebhun, Wisconsin Club Tennis President and CollegeClubTennis.Com Advisory Board Member
6 months of planning was combined into a successful weekend of great competition, new friends, and great food.
There were teams that came from all across the country to participate in this great event. From the West Coast: Portland State; From the East Coast: Delaware, Towson, Rutgers; From the South: Texas; From the Rocky Mountains: Colorado. Other teams outside the Midwest Section included: Northern Iowa, Minnesota, Wash U, and Iowa State
The Badger Classic started off Friday morning with pool play matches. Matches were played both indoor and outdoor starting at 8:00am and concluding at 10:00pm. For the morning period Panera donated 12 bags of bagels, pastries, bread, and cookies for people's morning breakfast. The breakfast served to fuel the players for what was a long day of matches. Throughout the day various other sponsors brought food to the tournament. Flat Top Grill donated gift certificates which allowed players to eat free stir fry at their restaurants. Quinton’s Bar and Deli donated sandwiches as well as chips and salsa. For dinner that evening Chin’s Asia Fresh donated Chinese food for 300 people. Without the help of these sponsors donating the delicious food the tournament would not have been nearly as successful. I owe a lot of gratitude to Jamie Curtin who is the regional director of Chin's Asia Fresh and has been a great supporter of Wisconsin Club Tennis these last few months.
Pool A: Included teams Colorado A, Loyola A, Minnesota B, and Iowa State. Colorado dominated competition in this pool which eventually lead to them gaining a birth in the gold bracket. Colorado won a total of 88 games and lost only 30 to gain a second seed for the gold bracket competition.
Pool B: Included teams Whitewater A, Wisconsin C, Portland State, and Miami A. This pool had some very tight competition with Miami A edging out a close win against Wisconsin C 24-23. Miami A lost some of their strongest players from last year’s competition but the defending champions of the Badger Classic managed to still make their way with a seventh seed in the gold bracket.
Pool C: Included teams Texas, Whitewater B, Michigan State, and Ferris State. The teams found out quickly why Texas has a great reputation as being one of the toughest teams in the country. Texas won all 90 games, which means they didn’t drop a set in pool play competition. They also only lost an astounding 17 games on their way to the number 1 seed in pool play competition.
Pool D: Included teams Wisconsin A, Rutgers, Depaul, and Miami B: I wanted to personally congratulate Depaul on successful formation of a club team and competing in one of their first major tournaments. Wisconsin A cruised to the gold bracket despite having a tight match with Rutgers in which Wisconsin prevailed 28-24. Wisconsin ended up getting the 3rd seed in the gold bracket.
Pool E: Included teams Wisconsin B, Minnesota A, Indiana, and Wash U. The Wisconsin B team was successful against the three different A teams in the bracket. Indiana and Minnesota both provided tough competition for the Badgers. Wisconsin B was able to serve Indiana with their first loss of the season with a 29-20 win over the Hoosiers. The Wisconsin B team got the fifth seed in the gold bracket.
Pool F: Included teams Illinois, Northwestern, Colorado 2, and Northern Iowa. The Fighting Illini had no problem getting through pool play with dominating wins over all the schools they played in the pool. Colorado 2 put up a tough fight in Pool F's last match but Illinois was able to prevail 28-21.
Pool G: Included teams: Delaware, Marquette, Central Michigan, and Loyola 2. The Delaware team traveled many hours to compete in the classic and they showed right away why they came. Delaware cruised over their teams in the bracket and had an astounding defeat over Loyola 2; 30-1. Delaware captain Shane Baker was very proud with his team’s performance.
Pool H: Included teams: Milwaukee, Towson, Purdue, and Eastern Michigan. Purdue had a very easy time wrapping up pool H with dominating wins over Towson and eventual Silver bracket Champions UW Milwaukee. The boilermakers ended up being seeded 8th in the gold bracket but proved to be very tough competition for schools in their pool.
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