FLORENCE, S.C. -- The Barton Community College men's tennis team scratched and clawed their way to a national runner-up placing at the NJCAA Championships May 16.
Having won the Region 6 Championship three weeks prior, Barton led the four Region members finishing inside the top seven of the Championships, accumulating a national runner-up 33 points, nine points behind winner Tyler Junior College and .5 of a point ahead of third place Collin County.
In addition to the team's accomplishments, Victor Alves captured the No. 2 singles title becoming the first Cougar to win an individual championship since Luis Ramirez won the No. 6 singles action in the 2003 season.
The No. 3 doubles tandem of Mohammed Abuzed and Oliver Naude made a charge into the Championship finals before falling short, while Alves teamed up with Shane Tapera in the No. 2 doubles grouping in giving Barton another final day highlight by winning the consolation title in convincing fashion.
Overall, the squad racked up 21 victories, two losses coming to the eventual national champion, a pair of defeats coming to the eventual national runner-up, with the four quarterfinal losses coming to an opponent who then went on to win the national title.
The next team finishers were coached by former Cougars who played for Head Coach Lyle Stickney in now, head coaching roles. Larned native Jeret Johnson (2012-14) in his third season guided the Pratt Beavers to within a .5 point shy in fourth place accumulating 32 points and a full point ahead of fellow alum Marcel Miasoto's (2014-16) first year leading the Cowley Tigers to a fifth placing with 31 points. Seward County rounded out Region 6 representation with a 7th team placing with 27 total points.
The Cougars went 27-8 overall. With 16 wins and five losses in singles and on the doubles side the team had eleven wins against three losses over their four days of competition at the Eddie Floyd Tennis Center in Florence, South Carolina. The tournament was scheduled for five days, but rain forced the cancellation of day one.
“The rainout helped us," said Barton Cougar tennis coach Lyle Stickney. "The tournament directors decided to forgo playing first round matches in a climate controlled indoor facility on Monday and instead doubled up the singles matches on Tuesday. With four first round byes we mostly missed having to play multiple singles matches on the same day. That was a real advantage not having to compete in the heat” said Barton coach Lyle Stickney.
Florence recorded their hottest day of the season on Thursday. Twenty-two matches were either forfeited before beginning or retired after the match had started.
“The oppressive heat coupled with the high humidity made it feel like the guys were playing in a sauna," Stickney said. "Many players were unable to continue or even start the second round due to cramping and exhaustion, a couple players from Texas were taken by ambulance to the hospital and kept overnight.
“A shout out to our league, too. You don’t have to look any further than team standings to realize the strength of our conference. All four Kansas teams finished in the top seven in the nation. That’s a phenomenal feat. I couldn’t be any prouder of these young men. It was truly a historic season” Stickney added, “these guys gutted and grinded out match after match battling their opponents, the climate and sometimes the near-sighted chair umpires, too”
The 5th ranked Barton Community College men's tennis team made a historic run this past week in matching program history by wrapping up the 2025 season with a national runner-up placing at the NJCAA Division I Championships held at the Dr. Eddie Floyd Florence Tennis Center in Florence, South Carolina.
The Cougars got off to a great start in going on to match the 2002 and 2001 squads for the program's highest ever finish by sending eight of its nine entries into the quarterfinal round. Four entries then advanced into the semifinals with two reaching the title match resulting in its 5th consecutive year of placing in the top eight.
For the second straight season Alves was tabbed the fourth seed, last year in the No. 1 draw being upset in the first round before going on to win the consolation title. This season in the No. 2 draw, Alves' road to the championship began with a victory in the Round of 16 defeating Tom Zimpel of Harford 6-1, 6-1 before dispatching Seward County's Sebastian De Las Salas 6-1, 7-6. In the semifinal, Alves pulled off a comeback victory taking down top seeded Daniel Jankoski of Tyler after losing the first set 6-4 but taking the next two 6-4 and 6-2. The momentum carried into Friday's final day of action by capturing the title in straight 6-2 set scores over 6th seeded Alberto Perez of Eastern Florida.
Teaming with Tapera in the second double's tandem, the duo was locked into a third set battle with Ryland Buford and Gonzalo Cotter of Mississippi Gulf Coast before being forced to retire in the third set due to body cramping. Bounced to the consolation side of the bracket, the duo won all four of its backside matches in convincing fashion including an 8-1 victory over USC Sumter's Aki Harada and Stanley Long giving Barton its third consecutive year of earning a consolation title.
Barton's other title challenge came in the No. 3 doubles draw, 4th seeded Mohammed Abuzed and Oliver Naude falling in the championship match 6-0, 6-3 to Tyler's 2nd seed Daniel Maurico Marincas and Alex Morris. The Cougars began their run with a 6-3, 6-2 win in the Round of 16 over Iowa Central's Mariano Orsini-Rodriguez and Alex Tiffon before their road led to a pair of victories over Region 6 members. In the quarterfinals, the pair notched a twin 6-3 victory over Seward County's Sebastian De Las Salas and Ognjen Gajic then marched into the finals with another straight set win by knocking off Cowley's top seeded Pedro De La Riva and David Hoyos by 6-4 scores.
In singles play Abuzed and Naude each were eliminated in the quarterfinal round to an opponent who would then lose to the eventual national champion. Abuzed, seeded 7th in the No. 3 draw, won a pair of matches before losing to the 2nd seeded Jose Castillo of Collin while the 4th seeded Naude won his first match before being knocked out by 5th seeded Hoyos of Cowley in a tough three-set defeat.
Barton's top player Gabriel Garay's time in the No. 1 singles slot ended after a pair of victories before a three-set heartbreaker in the semifinals to Seward County's Samuel Antwi as the Saint would go on to finish national runner-up. Last year in the No. 2 draw, Garay marched to the championship match before coming up short.
Garay and doubles partner Hayden Loffler were dealt a similar fate in the No. 1 draw, winning a pair of matches before falling to the top seed and eventual national champion duo of Daniel Borisov and Alex Despoja of team champion Tyler.
In other singles play action ending in the quarterfinal round, 6th seeded Tapera won a pair of matches before losing to the 3rd seed and eventual national runner-up Enrique Doldan of Collin while Loffler won his first match before falling to 2nd seeded Jacopo Cianfarini of Tyler.
SINGLES
No. 1 – No. 5 Gabriel Garay Round of 16: defeated Joao Teixeira (Iowa Central) Retired *Led 5-1 before Teixeira retired; Quarterfinal: defeated 4th seed James Edley (Wallace State) 6-1, 6-2;
Semifinal: lost to 8th seed Samuel Antwi (Seward County) 6-7, 6-3, 7-5
No. 2 – No. 4 Victor Alves; Round of 16: defeated Tom Zimpel (Harford) 6-1, 6-1; Quarterfinal: defeated Sebastian De Las Salas (Seward County) 6-1, 7-6; Semifinal: defeated Top seed Daniel Jankoski (Tyler) 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Championship: defeated 6th seed Alberto Perez (Eastern Florida) 6-2, 6-2
No. 3 – No. 7 Mohammed Abuzed; Round of 32: defeated Marko Filipovic (Weatherford) 6-2, 6-0; Round of 16: defeated Lucas Fox (Harford) 7-5, 6-1; Quarterfinal: lost to 2nd seed Jose Castillo (Collin) 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 – No. 6 Shane Tapera; Round of 32: defeated Santiago Diaz (Itawamba) 6-1, 6-0; Round of 16: defeated Luke Emerson (Bevill State) 6-2, 6-2; Quarterfinal: lost to 3rd seed Enrique Doldan (Collin) 7-5, 7-5
No. 5 – No. 4 Oliver Naude; Round of 16: defeated Nils Guyot (Coastal Alabama) retired; Quarterfinal: lost to 5th seed David Hoyos (Cowley) 6-4, 6-7, 6-4
No. 6 – Hayden Loffler; Round of 16: defeated Lincoln Young (Bevill State) 6-0, 6-0; Quarterfinal: lost to 2nd seed Jacopo Cianfarini (Tyler) 6-1, 6-3
DOUBLES
No. 1 – No. 4 Gabriel Garay/Hayden Loffler; Round of 16: defeated Daniel Blinov/Alexi Khamartou (Pratt) 6-3, 7-5; Quarterfinal: defeated Kodjo Charles Alipoe Tchotchodji/Joao Teixeira (Iowa Central) 4-6, 7-5, 6-3; Semifinal: lost to Top seed Daniel Borisov/Alex Despoja (Tyler) 6-4, 6-0
No. 2 – No. 4 Victor Alves/Shane Tapera; Round of 16: lost to Ryland Buford/Gonzalo Cotter (Mississippi Gulf Coast) 6-3, 6-7, 3-2 *Barton retired; Consolation Round of 16: defeated Yoog Gundani/Ben Lawrie (Prairie State) 8-2; Consolation Quarterfinal: defeated Djamel-Dine Bey/Mahefa Rakotomalala (Iowa Central) 8-1; Consolation Semifinal: defeated Diego Castellanos/Alex Holderlost (Jones) 8-4
Consolation Championship: defeated Aki Harada/Stanley Long (USC Sumter) 8-1
No. 3 – No. 4 Mohammed Abuzed/Oliver Naude; Round of 16: defeated Mariano Orsini-Rodriguez/Alex Tiffon (Iowa Central) 6-3, 6-2; Quarterfinal: defeated Sebastian De Las Salas/Ognjen Gajic (Seward County) 6-3, 6-3; Semifinals: defeated Top seed Pedro De La Riva/David Hoyos (Cowley) 6-4, 6-4; Championship: lost to 2nd seed Daniel Maurico Marincas/Alex Morris (Tyler) 6-0, 6-3
TOP-10 TEAM STANDINGS 1. TYLER – 42 POINTS; 2. BARTON 33; 3. COLLIN 32.5; 4. PRATT 32; 5. COWLEY 31; 6. EASTERN FLORIDA STATE 28; 7. SEWARD COUNTY - 27; 8. WALLACE STATE - 26.5; 9. MISSISSIPPI GULF COAST - 22; 10. HARFORD and USC SUMTER 20
