Contact: Alex Mielcarz, Athletics Communication Graduate Assistant, ajmielcarz@noctrl.edu 

WHEATON, Ill. (April 21, 2026) - For the third consecutive season, the North Central College men's tennis team has won the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin regular season title. The Cardinals clinched their top spot in the league with a 5-2 victory over Wheaton College on Tuesday evening at the Wheaton Tennis Center.  

The Cardinals went 5-1 in singles play in the match after dropping the doubles point, finishing off a perfect conference season (7-0).  

Jack Briggs and Philipp Wottgen fell in the number two spot 6-2, but Matt Crossland and David Vilarroig Martinez picked them up with a win in the third spot 7-5 to even things up in the doubles contests. Wheaton (5-9, 2-4 CCIW) would clinch the point with a win in the number one match, doing so with a 7-6 defeat of Henry Ros and Andres Valverde Gonzalez.  

Down 1-0 in the match, the Cardinals started on the comeback trail. Wottgen made quick work of his opponent from the top-spot in the lineup, winning 6-2, 6-2 to even the match score at one.  

Vilarroig Martinez gave North Central (14-7, 7-0) a 2-1 lead with a dominant straight set victory in the number six spot, winning 6-1, 6-2. That lead grew to 3-1 after Valverde Gonzalez brought home a straight sets victory of his own (7-6, 6-0).  

With the Cardinals needing just one more singles victory to clinch the title, attention turned to Ignacio Hernandez Ruiz. Ruiz found himself in a grind of a match but was able to get it done in straight sets. After going to a tiebreaker in the first set and winning 7-6, Ruiz clinched the match with the regular season title for the Cardinals with a 7-5 win in the second set.  

Ros added an extra point for good measure, taking home a three-set victory (1-6, 7-6, 6-4).  

With the regular season concluded, the Cardinals, led by Joey Leto, who claimed a conference title after being named interim head coach in January, will turn their attention to the CCIW tournament. Their first match will be on May 1 against the winner of the fourth and fifth seed teams. The league standings will be finalized after the CCIW schedule concludes over the next week.