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Grove City College Athletics

GROVE CITY COLLEGE WOLVERINES
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Ryne Talko & Karsten Lagerquist (left) won the B1 Doubles title at the ITA Southeast Championships while Michael Odrey & Jameson Sposato won B2 Doubles.

Men's Tennis

Wolverines 'double up' at ITAs

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. -- The Grove City College men's tennis team produced a pair of victorious doubles pairings last weekend at the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Southeast Championships, hosted by University of Mary Washington. 

Senior Karsten Lagerquist (Pittsburgh, Pa./Fox Chapel) and junior Ryne Talko (Cresson, Pa./Bishop Guilfoyle) captured the B1 Doubles championship while sophomores Michael Odrey (New Kensington, Pa./Valley) and Jameson Sposato (Frewsburg, N.Y./Frewsburg Central) won the B2 Doubles title. 

Both Grove City duos went 4-0 in winning their respective tournaments. The Lagerquist-Talko team opened the B1 tournament with an 8-7 win over the Haverford duo of Jason Edmonds and Kirin Eicher. In the quarterfinals, the Grove City tandem topped Henry West and Anthony Wilson of Virginia Wesleyan, 8-6. 

Lagerquist and Talko earned another 8-6 victory in the semifinals, this time over the Salisbury team of Christopher Catan and Mitchell Desman. In the finals, the Lagerquist-Talko team outlasted the Franklin & Marshall team of Anthony Casale and Pedro Norte, 8-6.

"They beat four talented teams back-to-back and all of the matches were dogfights," Grove City head coach Nathaniel Horner said. "Ryne showed gritty competitiveness and Karsten was relentless. It's awesome for Karsten to bring home an ITA trophy in his senior year."

The Odrey-Sposato combination started its championship run with an 8-2 victory over Sam Sheats and Tyler VanValkenburg of St. Mary's (Md.). Odrey and Sposato picked up an 8-3 win over the Hampden-Sydney team of Frank Borden and John Kendrick in the second round.

In the semifinals, Odrey and Sposato combined for an 8-5 win over the Washington (Md.) College duo of Christian Gruyon and Andrew Smith. The Grove City pair then clinched the title with an 8-5 triumph over Bridgewater's Gabe Elder and Matthew Gordon.

"Mike and Jameson are two sophomores who vibe well together. Their energy was great," Horner said. 

Sophomore Collier Kaufman (Lowell, Mich./Lowell) and sophomore Gavin Miller (Clayton, N.C/Corinth Holders) went 2-2 in the B2 doubles tournament. Bridgewater's Elder and Gordon edged the Kaufman-Miller tandem, 8-6, in the opening round. Kaufman and Miller won twice in the consolation bracket before falling in the consolation final to Sheats and VanValkenburg, 8-5.

"I want to express my appreciation for Collier and Gavin on this trip," Horner said. "They didn't get the results that they wanted but without them, the other guys would not have won their titles. They should be proud of how they played. As a coach, I am proud of all of the guys."

Lagerquist, Odrey and Talko all competed in singles action. Lagerquist dropped a pair of matches in the Championship singles draw while Odrey went 0-2 in B2 Singles. Talko defeated Christopher Newport's Tyler Hyun in the B4 Singles first round, 7-5, 6-3. Talko then dropped a 6-4, 6-1 verdict to Artis Hart of host Mary Washington in the second round.

"The ITA weekend was an extremely solid weekend for the guys," Horner said. "We took some tough losses that I think opened our eyes a little and made us realize how consistent we need to be to win at this level. However, it's hard to be disappointed with the results we had. We made program history with the two doubles titles."
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Players Mentioned

Karsten Lagerquist

Karsten Lagerquist

Junior
Ryne Talko

Ryne Talko

Sophomore
Collier Kaufman

Collier Kaufman

Freshman
Michael Odrey

Michael Odrey

Freshman
Jameson Sposato

Jameson Sposato

Freshman
Gavin Miller

Gavin Miller

Freshman

Players Mentioned

Karsten Lagerquist

Karsten Lagerquist

Junior
Ryne Talko

Ryne Talko

Sophomore
Collier Kaufman

Collier Kaufman

Freshman
Michael Odrey

Michael Odrey

Freshman
Jameson Sposato

Jameson Sposato

Freshman
Gavin Miller

Gavin Miller

Freshman