CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – A spot in the 2024 Division III Men’s Tennis Championships is on the line this week as the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) Men’s Tennis AQ Tournament commences today, Tuesday, April 30. The six-team tournament will conclude on Saturday, May 4 when a champion will be crowned at the highest remaining seed in the tournament. 
 
In Waverly, No. 3-seed Wartburg College Knights (11-17 overall, 6-2 A-R-C) will play host to the No. 6-seed Loras College Duhawks (8-13 overall 3-5 A-R-C).  When the two teams met on April 3 in Waverly, Iowa, the Knights won 8-1. 
 
The Knights will be guided by Cade Davis, Sean Oslund, Jeff Miller, Kyle Sehlin, Eli Swanstrom, and Ola Palmertz in singles. Doubles duos will include Davis and Swanstrom, Sehlin and Oslund, and Miller and Palmertz. 
 
The Duhawks starting lineup at singles will include: Gage Becker, Thomas Kampmier, Sean Gelski, Sam Canas, Lucas Healy, and Andrew Day. Becker and Kampmier, Gelski and Canas, and Healy and Day will all be seen in action in doubles on Tuesday afternoon. 
 
The match in Waverly, Iowa will take place on the campus of Wartburg College and is slated for a 4:00p start. The winner will face the No. 2-seeded Coe College Kohawks in the semifinals in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, May 2 at 4:00p. 
 
The fourth-seeded Central College Dutch (8-11 overall, 5-3 A-R-C) will host fifth-seeded Nebraska Wesleyan University Prairie Wolves (4-7 overall, 4-4 A-R-C) in the second quarterfinal match. The two teams met back on April 3 in Pella with the Dutch earning the 9-0 victory. 
 
The Dutch will be led at singles by Ayden Fletcher, AJ Wilkins, Alejo Marcon, Ernest Chedzoy, Travis Subbert, and Alex Slaymaker. Wilkins and Subbert, Fletcher and Slaymaker, and Chedzoy and Marcon will all team up in doubles for the tournament.
 
Nebraska Wesleyan will travel to Iowa with hopes of grabbing an upset with Ryan Carey, Jacob Balfany, Ian Armbrust, Sam Rademacher, Daniel Bernhardson, and Tyler Blair. Teaming up in doubles will be Carey and Balfany, Rademacher and Blair, and Ambrust and Bernhardson. 
 
The match in Pella, Iowa will take place on the campus of Central College and is slated for a 4:00p start. The winner will face the No. 1-seeded Luther College Norse in the semifinals in Decorah on Thursday, May 2 at 4:00p. 
 
The Luther College Norse (25-3 overall, 8-0 A-R-C) men’s tennis team defeated Nebraska Wesleyan University on Saturday, April 20 to complete their fourth-consecutive 8-0 American Rivers Conference season. Winning the regular season championship for the fourth straight time and 35th time overall, thus earning them the top seed in this year’s AQ Tournament. Luther will face the winner of Central and Nebraska Wesleyan on Thursday, May 2 in Decorah, Iowa. The semifinal match is scheduled for a 4:00p start. During conference play, the Norse defeated the Dutch 9-0 on April 6 and Nebraska Wesleyan 9-0 on April 20. 
 
The No. 2-seed in this year’s tournament, the Coe College Kohawks (15-13 overall, 7-1 A-R-C) enter the tournament in search of their first AQ title since the 2018-19 season. The winner of Wartburg and Loras will advance to Thursday’s semifinal round where they will face Coe. The semifinal match is scheduled for a 4:00p start in Cedar Rapids on Thursday, May 2. Coe defeated Wartburg 9-0 on March 23 and Loras 8-1 on April 9. 
 
The championship match is slated to begin Saturday, May 4 at 1:00p at the highest seed remaining in the tournament. 
 
The tournament champion receives the league’s automatic berth to the 2024 NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Championships.