Wayne State University Athletics

Alexander Stage made the finals of the B Draw at the Hillsdale Invitational.

Men's Tennis 9/11/2022 9:16:00 PM Zachary Manning, Sports Information Graduate Assistant

Men's Tennis Has Strong Showing at Hillsdale Invitational

Dom Spicer and Daniel Grey made the semifinals of the A Draw.

HILLSDALE, Mich. -- In its first tournament of the 2022 fall season, the Wayne State University men's tennis team had a strong showing, sending multiple players to the final rounds of their respective draws at the Hillsdale Invitational. The tournament was played Sept. 9-10. The finals of each draw were not completed. Athletes that advanced to the finals of their respective draws were crowned co-champions.

SINGLES A DRAW
The Warriors had three athletes compete in the A Draw. Dom Spicer (London, England) and Daniel Grey (Wiesbaden Germany) each made the semifinals, while Cedric Drenth (Sulzbach, Germany) went 1-1 in the tournament.

Spicer upended his first two opponents in straight sets. He beat Purdue Northwest's Luca Kirchhoff, 6-1, 6-3 in the opening round. From there, he went on to defeat Tyler Conrad of Hillsdale. Spicer downed him, 6-0, 6-1. In the A Draw semifinals, Spicer fell to Tiffin's Ruben Fonga, 3-6, 2-6.

Grey was also strong during his run to the semifinals. He defeated Dallas Ramsey from Findlay in the opening round before going on to beat Tiffin's Micheal Gurtner in the quaterfinals. He would eventually lose to Hillsdale's Brennan Cimpeanu in the semifinal round. The match went three sets.

Drenth won his opening match over Findlay's Luigi Bove 6-4, 6-0. However, he would drop his next match to Fonga in the quarterfinals.

SINGLES B DRAW
Four players played in the B Draw for the Warriors, as Joe Steele (Beverly Hills, Mich. / Univ. of Detroit Jesuit), Joe Kelt (Ilkley, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom), Emil Mikkelsen (Soenderborg, Denmark) and Alexander Stage (Arslev, Denmark) had strong outings in the first tournament of the season.

In his collegiate debut, Stage proved to be a tough out, advancing all the way to the championship match without dropping a set. He upended challengers from Lawrence Tech, Tiffin and Findlay.

Kelt won his first match 6-0, 6-0 over Lawrence Tech's Diego Colombo to open the tournament. He fell in his next match, 5-7, 2-6.

Steele and Mikkelsen both dropped their first matches of the tournament, but they both bounced back and battled their way into the semifinals of the consolation bracket. They would both lose in the semifinals of the B Consolation Draw.

SINGLES C DRAW
Ryan Okonski (Stevensville, Mich. / St. Joseph) went 1-1 in the tournament. He defeated his opponent from Lawrence Tech 6-3, 6-2 in the opening round before falling by default in the quarterfinals.

DOUBLES A DRAW
The returning All-American pair of Drenth and Grey lived up to the billing, as the duo advanced to the championship match of the A Draw. The duo comfortably won 8-3 in the quarterfinals before edging out an 8-6 victory in the semifinals.

DOUBLES B DRAW
Kelt and Okonski paired together and went undefeated in the B Draw. Kelt and Okonski opened the tournament with an 8-6 victory over challengers from Hillsdale. To advance to the finals, the duo edged out a 9-7 win over Findlay's team of Octavio Carrasco and Mark Ivanov.

UP NEXT
The Warriors head to the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Midwest Regional Tournament, as play will run from Sept. 17-19 in Indianapolis, Ind.

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Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth: 6' 3"; Freshman

Daniel Grey: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ryan Okonski: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

Dom Spicer: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

Joe Steele: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Alexander Stage: 5' 11"; Freshman

Emil Mikkelsen: 6' 0"; Junior

Joe Kelt: 5' 9"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Cedric Drenth
: 6' 3"; Freshman

Daniel Grey
: 6' 0"; Sophomore

Ryan Okonski
: 5' 9"; Redshirt Sophomore

Dom Spicer
: 5' 10"; Redshirt Sophomore

Joe Steele
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

Alexander Stage
: 5' 11"; Freshman

Emil Mikkelsen
: 6' 0"; Junior

Joe Kelt
: 5' 9"; Freshman