WEST WINDSOR, N.J. — The Wagner men's tennis team will compete at the NEC Tennis Championships starting on Thursday, April 16.
Last season, the Seahawks earned the No. 7 seed in the tournament, and upset No. 2 Le Moyne in the first round 4-3, before losing in the semifinals to No. 3 LIU. This season, Wagner was picked fifth in the preseason poll after returning two All-NEC performers from last season, graduate student
Gabriele Zugarelli and sophomore
Eddie Schmidt.
Wagner started the spring season with non-conference wins over Sacred Heart, Mount St. Mary's, and Colgate. The Seahawks played their first NEC match against FDU on March 14, and won 5-2 after winning five of six singles matches. They kept the momentum rolling with another 5-2 win against Chicago State on March 27, before losing their first conference match to Stonehill the next day.
The Seahawks bounced back and won their last three matches of the regular season. They swept NEC opponent Le Moyne 4-0, won a thrilling match against Army 4-3, then ended the season with a 4-1 victory over LIU.
Wagner finished 4-1 in the NEC and earned the No. 2 seed in the tournament, their highest seed since 2018, when they went to the championship round before ultimately losing to Bryant University.
Individually, redshirt freshman
Lukas Escher won NEC Rookie of the Week a program-record four times. His doubles partner Schmidt, as well as senior
Pablo Rodriguez Gonzalez, each earned a Player of the Week award during the season.
Three Seahawks led their respective singles courts in wins. Escher led second singles with 12 wins, graduate student
Tom Lamers led third singles with nine wins, and Rodriguez led fourth singles with six wins.
The Seahawks will open the Championships against No. 7 Stonehill on Thursday, April 16. First serve is set for 11:30 a.m. at the Mercer County Tennis Center.
