Missouri Military Academy was strong as a team on Tuesday, April 18 in Jefferson City.

The Colonels finished second at the Helias Invitational round robin tournament, with eight individual finishes in the top four in their respective pools. Junior Nathan Dempsey finished third in doubles with Samuel Way but also earned his 48th career varsity win, tying the school record that has stood since 1992.

Medalists were players who earned either first or second place. In singles, MMA had one first-place finish by Francisco De La Maza, two second-places by Gorka Yarte and Luke Ott and one fourth place by Patricio Bravo Knobloch. The Colonels had a second-place finish by Ernesto De La Maza and Temuulen Manlai and three third-places in doubles by the pairs of Samuel Way and Dempsey, Marco Afane and Zijie Zhou and Maximo Castillo and Banuelos Banuelos.

Mexico gains experience in 9-0 win at young Battle team

Mexico’s more inexperienced varsity tennis players gained some experience on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs won 9-0 at Battle, with several junior varsity players recording wins in varsity play.

“Battle High School is a young team,” head coach Tony Senor said. “We played three of our JV players up to varsity to give them some more experience and to build confidence in our players.”

Camden Williams, Jackson Lamb and Trevor Wright each earned singles victories over Battle (0-3) by respective scores of 6-3, 6-0 and 6-0 along with usual varsity players Zeven Ruiz, Quaid Grubb and Brixton Goerne, with respective scores of 6-1, 6-1, and 6-0. Williams won doubles 8-3 with his partner Ruiz, Lamb and Wright shut out their doubles opponents 8-0, and Grubb and Goerne won 8-2.

Mexico (3-7, 1-2 NCMC) played at North Central Missouri Conference foe Kirksville (5-3, 2-1 NCMC) on Friday before hosting Father Tolton (6-2) at 4:30 p.m. Monday.

Bulldogs 7-2 to conference rival Moberly

Mexico has played Moberly for years, but those who have less experience with the rivalry did well on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs lost 7-2 to their North Central Missouri Conference rival at home but had singles victories from No. 5 and 6 players Quaid Grubb and Brixton Goerne. 

“We had a lot of close matches and it felt like a districts type match,” head coach Tony Senor said. “Just learning how to stay focused and finish games is key. That will come with experience. Quaid and Brixton played well in the 5 and 6 singles spots. They are starting to develop and learn how to play at a varsity level.”

Grubb won his singles match 10-6 and Goerne won his by a score of 10-4 while No. 1 Brendan McKeown lost a close 10-7 match. Declan Gleeson and Zeven Ruiz each lost 10-6.

In doubles, Grubb and Goerne were the closest pair to a victory over Moberly (6-2, 2-1 NCMC) as they lost 10-6.