Poncio and Manzo make it to the Sweet 16 at the ITA Regional Championships

MARION, Ind. - Playing against the best competition in the Midwest, two Foresters made it to the Sweet Sixteen in singles action of the ITA Regional Championships hosted by Indiana Wesleyan over the weekend.

Playing in the main draw as the No. 9 seed, Ignacio Poncio cruised to a pair of wins over conference foes, Taylor’s Victor Chang (6-2, 6-2) and IWU’s Tyler Abbott (6-3, 6-0) before dropping a 6-0, 6-4 decision to a tough UNOH opponent in Gjorgii Popovski.

#14-seeded Rodrigo Manzo, also playing in the main draw, came up short to advancing to the Elite Eight with a loss to Artur Culicovschi of UNOH 6-2, 6-1. His two earlier wins included a 6-4, 6-2 decision over Lawrence Tech’s Patrick Szymczak and a 6-2, 6-3 decision over IWU’s Austin Christner.

For the second straight year, a pair of Foresters claimed the Men’s B Doubles Consolation draw. Volodymyr Kohut and Brody Worl cruised to an 8-1 win over the IWU tandem of Casey Mellinger and Levi Rees in the consolation finals to be deemed the men’s B doubles consolation champions.  

In other doubles action, Poncio and Mariano Echevarria teamed up in the main draw as the No. 5 seed to take down IWU 8-3 in the first round before losing to Indiana Tech’s Rui Lima and Alvaro Garrido 8-5 in the Sweet Sixteen.

The Foresters (5-2) return to action today with a home match against Indiana Wesleyan at 4:00 p.m.

SINGLES MAIN DRAW
#9 Ignacio Poncio: (2-1)
Round of 64 - Defeated Victor Chang (TU) 6-2, 6-2
Round of 32 – Defeated Tyler Abbott (IWU) 6-3, 6-0
Round of 16 – Lost to Gjorgii Popovski (UNOH) 0-6, 4-6

#14 Rodrigo Manzo: (2-1)
Round of 64 – Defeated Patrick Szymczak (LTU) 6-4, 6-2
Round of 32 – Defeated Austin Christner (IWU) 6-2, 6-3
Round of 16 - Lost to Artur Culicovschi (UNOH) 6-2, 6-1

Giovanni Martinez: (0-2)
Round of 64 – Lost to Adam Yoder (GrC) 3-6, 3-6
Consolation Rd. 1 – Lost to Alex Reinbold (SAU) 6-7 (4-7), 6-1, 9-11

Mariano Echevarria: (2-2)
Round of 64 – Lost to Eli Steiner (IWU) 2-6, 0-6
Consolation Rd. 1 – Defeated Andre Danelli (TU) 6-4, 7-5
Consolation Rd. 2 - Defeated Alex Reinbold (SAU) 6-3, 6-2
Consolation Rd. 3 - Lost to Lukas Kanther (GC) by default

Jacob Shelton: (0-2)
Round of 64 - Lost to Mason Wenzel (LTU) 1-6, 1-6
Consolation Rd. 1 -  Lost to Salvador Lo Cascio (TU) 1-6, 0-6

Brody Worl: (0-2)
Round of 64 - Lost to Joel Montgomery (IWU) 0-6, 0-6
Consolation Rd. 1 - Lost to Marcos Salazar (UNOH) 0-6, 0-6

Luke Buttermore: (0-2)
Round of 64 - Lost to Iustin Baciu (UNOH) 0-6, 0-6
Consolation Rd. 1 - Lost to Lukas Kanther (GC) 3-6, 4-6

DOUBLES MAIN DRAW
Poncio/ Echevarria: (1-1)
Round of 32 – Defeated Yoder/John Gerard (IWU) 8-3
Round 16 - Lost to Rui Lima/Alvaro Garrido (IT) 5-8

Martinez/Manzo: (0-2)
Round of 32 – Lost to Joel Montgomery/Austin Christner (IWU) 4-8
Consolation Rd. 1 – Lost to Noah Roberts/Alex Wittenbaum (MU) 8-9 (7-9)

Shelton/Buttermore: (0-2)
Round of 32 – Lost to Vincent Colarossi/Mason Wenzel (LTU) 4-8
Consolation Rd. 1 - Lost to Jake Herbruck/Alex Jung (TU) 6-8

SINGLES B DRAW
Volodymyr Kohut: (1-1)
Mark Lewandowski: (1-1)

DOUBLES B DRAW
Kohut/Worl: (1-1)
First Rd. – Lost to Kent Sadler/Drew Shriner (TU) 2-8
Consolation Finals – Defeated Casey Mellinger/Levi Rees (IWU) 8-1

The Huntington University Foresters compete in 17 intercollegiate sports for men and women. In the past decade, Huntington has produced 38 NAIA All-America honors and 274 All-America Scholar Athlete honors. Huntington University is a comprehensive Christian college of the liberal arts offering graduate and undergraduate programs in more than 70 academic concentrations. U.S. News & World Report ranks Huntington among the best colleges in the Midwest.