Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu
GREENCASTLE, Ind. (Feb. 21, 2026) – The North Central College men's tennis program traveled to Greencastle, Ind. on Saturday to take part in a pair of dual matches, facing off against Wabash College and DePauw University at DePauw's Indoor Tennis and Track Center. The Cardinals fell in both matches, losing the morning match to Wabash 4-3 in a nail-biter and dropping the nightcap 6-1 to RV Depauw.
Match One: North Central v. Wabash
On a neutral site, the Cardinals did battle with the Little Giants, putting on one of the most exciting duals the country has seen this season, with the match coming down to a tiebreaker in the final singles match.
Wabash (4-4) opened the festivities by taking the doubles point. Phillip Wottgen and Rafael Lessa fell in their match 7-6, while Jack Briggs and David Vilarroig Martinez dropped their match 6-4. The Cardinals did win one of the doubles matchups, as Henry Ros and Andres Valverde Gonzalez took down their opponents 6-4, but it wasn't enough, as the Little Giants claimed the doubles point 2-1.
Wottgen, playing as North Central's No. 1, got his first win in that role this season, defeating Wabash's Cole Shifferly in a tiebreaker. Wottgen dropped the first 6-2, but quickly rebounded in the second set to win 6-1, forcing a tiebreaker, which Wottgen won 10-3.
Lessa, the No. 3, fell in his match in straight sets 6-0, 6-4, giving Wabash a 2-1 advantage in the dual.
Briggs, playing as the No. 6, grabbed a critical win in his match, joining Wottgen with a three-set victory. After coming up short 6-2 in the opening set, Briggs responded with a 6-1 second-set win and a clutch 10-7 victory in the tiebreaker, evening the dual at 2-2.
North Central (1-2) jumped out in front in the dual after Valverde Gonzalez's straight sets win over his opponent, 6-4, 6-4, but Depauw evened things up at three with a narrow victory in the battle of the number twos, as North Central's Ros fell to Rafael Rin in three sets. Ros won the opening set 6-3, but fell 6-3 in the second set, forcing yet another tiebreaker in singles. While Ros gave Rin a good fight, Rin took the tiebreaking third set 11-9.
The match came down to the two teams' number fives: North Central's Ignacio Hernandez Ruiz and Wabash's Edmon Neto. This matchup needed a tiebreaker as well, the fourth singles match to require an extra frame in the contest.
Hernandez Ruiz won the opening set 7-5, but Neto responded with a 6-3 win in the second-set. It was Neto who claimed a tightly contested tiebreaker 10-8, giving Wabash its match-deciding fourth point.
Match Two: North Central at Depauw
Depauw (3-3), which had received votes in the most recent ITA poll, won six of the seven available points in its match with the Cardinals.
The Tigers won two of the three doubles matches to claim the doubles point. Ros and Valverde Gonzalez won their second doubles match of the day, taking their match 6-4.
North Central's (1-3) lone point in the match came from Valverde Gonzalez's second singles victory of the day, defeating his opponent 7-6, 6-2.
Briggs, the only other Cardinal to win a set in singles in the match against Depauw, went three sets with Thomas Hargreave. Briggs took the first set 6-4, but fell in the second set 6-2, and in the third 6-3.
North Central has a quick turnaround, as it finishes a three-match weekend with a showdown on the road with Kalamazoo College at 11 a.m.
