Marshall also competes at NCMC Tournament
by Hobby King/SPORTS EDITOR
Managing to win only one of three doubles matches, the Marshall Owls’ tennis team dropped an 8-1 North Central Missouri Conference match at Moberly Tuesday.
Owl junior Joseph Leavitt and sophomore Lee Morales teamed up to defeat Moberly sophomore John O’Laughlin and junior Michael O’Laughlin 10-7 at No. 2 doubles.
Other results were: (Singles) (1) junior Erlan Jones lost to sophomore Ryan O’Laughlin 10-6; (2) Leavitt lost to senior John Meystrick 10-2; (3) junior Andrew Ybarra lost to John O’Laughlin 10-1; (4) junior Connor Slusher fell to Michael O’Laughlin 10-1; (5) junior Hunter Vestal lost to freshman Enda Chang 10-1; and (6) Morales dropped a 10-7 decision to sophomore Ryan Richardson.
In doubles, (1) Jones and Ybarra were beaten by Ryan O’Laughlin and Meystrick 10-3; and (3) Slusher and Vestal lost to Chang and Richardson 10-4.
The Owls dropped to 3-12 overall and finished 1-4 in NCMC duals. Moberly improved to 9-5 and 3-2, respectively.
The Owls played in the conference tournament Wednesday at Mexico.
The Owls had two singles players place fourth, three fifth and one sixth. All three doubles teams finished fifth.
Jones claimed fifth at No. 1 singles, beating Fulton junior Beau Edwards 8-2 in the fifth-place match. Jones went 1-1. The champion was Mexico junior Brendan McKeown, who defeated Jones in the first round. He defeated Kirksville junior Gavin Pike in the title match.
Leavitt was fifth at No. 2 singles. He defeated junior Andrew Holmes of Fulton 8-3 in the fifth-place match. Leavitt went 1-1. Hannibal senior Parker Terrill defeated senior Timothy Cason of Kirksville 10-3 in the title clash.
Ybarra was fourth at No. 3 singles. He received a first-round bye, then lost his semifinal match to senior Wesley Martin of Kirksville 10-3. He dropped the third-place match to sophomore Boston Davolt of Mexico 8-3. Ybarra went 0-2. Senior Gabriel Foster of Hannibal won the title with a 10-7 victory over Martin.
At No. 4 singles, Slusher was sixth after dropping the fifth-place match to Moberly’s Chang 8-0. Slusher went 0-2. Senior Augustus Herrin of Hannibal won the title with an 11-9 victory over Kirksville senior Turner Peterson.
Vestal was fifth at No. 5. He won the fifth-place match 8-1 over Fulton freshman Chase Feltner. Vestal was 1-1. Freshman Zane Lomax of Hannibal won the singles bracket with a 10-6 victory over senior Max Walker of Kirksville.
At No. 6 singles, Morales finished fourth. He lost the third-place match to Kirksville senior John Boyer 9-8 (7-5 tiebreaker). Morales was 0-2. Hannibal sophomore Jace Lee was champion with a 10-0 win over Mexico sophomore Quaid Grubb.
The Owls’ No. 1 doubles team of senior Aidyn Garrison and sophomore Paul Benjamin was fifth. They defeated Fulton sophomore Aaron Sebacher and freshman Charles Eckert 8-4 in the fifth-place match. Garrison and Benjamin were 1-1 on the day. Kirksville sophomore Preston Puckett and junior Simon Mollick won the bracket with a 10-3 triumph over sophomore Kevin Westhoff and senior Garrett Heaton of Hannibal.
Marshall sophomore Timothy Mann and freshman Viktor Medina finished fifth at No. 2 doubles. They lost in the first round to sophomore Trevor Wright and sophomore Carter Blackburn of Mexico 10-5 and then had no opponent in the fifth-place match. Moberly sophomore Josiah Owen and sophomore Christian Lucas won the bracket with a 10-6 decision over Hannibal senior Stephen Sankpill and senior Rylee McAfee.
At No. 3 doubles, Owl senior Nick Shireman and junior Daniel Russell finished fifth. They lost their first-round match 10-4 to sophomore Dragan Schweim and sophomore Brennon Beasley of Mexico and then had no opponent in the fifth-place match.
Hannibal won the team title with 47 points. Kirksville was second with 45 points, followed by Mexico with 35, Moberly 30, Marshall 19 and Fulton eight.
The Owls next play in the Class 1, District 13 Tournament. Fourth-seeded Marshall hosts the fifth-seeded Knob Noster Panthers in the first round at 4:30 p.m. Monday. If the Owls win, they will take on top-seeded Warrensburg Tuesday. The championship match is Wednesday. Others in the six-team district are (2) Higginsville and (3) Boonville.