Kenyon’s split squad yields plenty of success

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. LOUIS, Mo. and GAMBIER, Ohio -- Members of the Kenyon College men's tennis team split up over the weekend to compete in two different tournaments. Six members traveled to St. Louis and competed in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association's (ITA) Central Region Championship, while a few stayed back and played at home in the six-team Kenyon Invitational.

At Washington University in St. Louis, Kenyon's doubles teams recorded the best results. In the main draw, the Owls' combo of junior Paulo Pocasangre Kreling and sophomore Alejandro Gonzalez, worked its way through a 64-team draw and into the semifinal round. The two knocked off opponents from Principia College in the first round and then defeated a pair from Case Western Reserve University in the second round.

When things whittled down to 16 doubles teams left in the bracket, Pocasangre Kreling and Gonzalez whipped through a team from Greenville University. That put the Kenyon pair into the quarterfinals, where they defeated Colin Fox and Case Fagan from the host institution Washington University. The Kenyon team claimed its spot in the semifinal, but that was the end of the road, as they fell to Emil Grantcharov and Derek Hsieh from the University of Chicago.

Another Kenyon duo followed a similar path, albeit in the consolation bracket. Senior Rishil Kondapaneni and first-year Juozas Cioladis lost their first match in the main bracket, but rebounded in a big way in the consolation draw. The two won a match, earned a bye, and then won another match to claim a spot in the quarterfinal. Once there, they defeated Cole Shifferly and Tharakesh Ashokar of Wabash College. The Kenyon pairing was then eliminated in the semifinal round, losing a close 8-7 (8-6) battle to Hudson Mosher and Will Cramer from DePauw University.

In singles competition, Cioladis, Gonzalez and Kondapaneni all made their way to the round of 32 before bowing out of the field of 128 players. Pocasangre Kreling got a step farther than the rest, making it to the round of 16. After a bye in the first round, he won his first match 6-1, 6-1. In the round of 32, he defeated Tim Steiner from Wheaton College 6-1, 6-3. Denison University's Jacob Patterson then halted Pocasangre Kreling in the round of 16 by a 6-4, 6-4 final.

Back on campus, just four rostered players participated for the Owls in the Kenyon Invitational. Of those four, sophomore Gianluca Bocanegra posted the top results. He played in two singles matches and recorded wins over opponents from Oberlin College and Centre College. That 2-0 record in singles play was complemented by a 2-1 mark in doubles play. Pairing with first-year Rohan Sriram, Bocanegra went 1-0. Paring with senior Eric Zhang, he went 2-1, bringing his overall personal record to 4-1 for the weekend.

In singles play, Zhang and Sriram logged identical 2-1 records. Zhang chalked up wins against opponents from Oberlin and Centre, before retiring from his match against an opponent from Denison University. Meanwhile, Sriram won one and lost one against counterparts from Allegheny College before completing his singles results with a win against an opponent from Centre.

The two tournaments marked the end of the Owls' fall 2024-25 schedule. The team will return to competition in the spring semester, beginning with matches in February.

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Players Mentioned

Gianluca Bocanegra: Sophomore

Alejandro Gonzalez: Sophomore

Rishil Kondapaneni: Senior

Paulo Pocasangre Kreling: Junior

Eric Zhang: Senior

Rohan Sriram: First-Year

Juozas Cioladis: First-Year

Players Mentioned

Gianluca Bocanegra
: Sophomore

Alejandro Gonzalez
: Sophomore

Rishil Kondapaneni
: Senior

Paulo Pocasangre Kreling
: Junior

Eric Zhang
: Senior

Rohan Sriram
: First-Year

Juozas Cioladis
: First-Year