MIDDLETOWN, CT. - With the match tied up at three, the match point fell to the dual taking place at No. 1 singles for the Wesleyan men's tennis team. Facing #4 Middlebury College in the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC Championship, Wesleyan's season came to an end in a 4-3 loss on Friday afternoon at the John Wood Memorial Courts.
A strong start for the Cardinals opened what became a highly contested conference match up. In the March 8 meeting between the two clubs, the Panthers bested the Cardinals a 5-2 finish. Wesleyan entered the NESCAC tournament for the ninth time, the first under head coach
Roland Thornqvist, with a 5-5 record at #4 while Middlebury finished 7-3 at #3.
The Cardinals clinched a must win doubles point early in the afternoon with wins at No. 1 and No. 2. The Panthers finished first with a win at No. 3, but the Cardinals still had tricks up their sleeves as
Harry Collomb '26 'and
Chase Burke '29 fought to a tiebreak win over Thehan Wijemmane and Reif Larsen, 7-6 (7-3).
Chase Kasday '26 and
Ryuto Saito '29 played to extra games, defeating Julian Wu and Hugh Hentschel in a 7-5 finish.
Leading the Cardinals to a 2-0 lead with singles play underway, Burke dropped just two games to Larsen at No. 4 and climbed to 6-1, 6-1 win. Clearing wins at No. 3 and No. 5, the Panthers tied the match up at two.
Facing Noah Lewis at No. 2, Saito gave the lead back to the Cardinals with the third win of the afternoon in a 6-1, 6-0 final. A win for the Panthers at No. 6 left Collomb within striking distance at No. 1.
Julian Wu earned a set one win over Collomb despite Collomb's efforts to force the set into extra games. Collomb's 5-4 lead was cut short as Wu flipped the match, but Collomb tied the match at six to force the tiebreaker. Climbing to a 3-1 lead, Collomb's hold fell as Wu won seven in a row to finish the match 7-5, 7-6 (7-3) to advance the Panthers to the semifinal.
The Cardinals finish the 2025-26 season with a 7-10 overall record.
