Naperville, Ill. - The Wheaton Thunder men's tennis team defeated Illinois Wesleyan 5-0 on Thursday afternoon in the opening round of the 2018 CCIW Men's Tennis Tournament.

Wheaton led 3-0 early in the match by sweeping doubles. The Thunder No. 1 doubles team of Jeremiah Yi and Dane Paulsen defeated Illinois Wesleyan's Kurt Meyer and Ryan Yoo 8-4. Karl Wenzel and Anderson Park teamed for an 8-1 victory against Tim Hughes and Dylan Mikali at No. 2 doubles. Wheaton's No. 3 doubles unit of Alexander Winters and Andrew Bristol earned an 8-4 victory against Justin Piotrowski and Jimmy Kase.

Winters  was a 6-2, 6-0 winner against Kase at No. 6 singles.Yi secured the win for Wheaton by getting the fifth victory of the match for the Thunder. Yi defeated Yoo 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles to lock up the win.

Wheaton, the tournament's No. 2 seed faces No. 6 seed North Central on Friday at 2:00 p.m. in one of two semifinal matches North Central advanced to the second round with a 5-3 victory against No. 3 seed Carroll on Thursday afternoon. Augustana, the top seed, will face fourth-seeded Carthage on Friday in the other semifinal matchup. The victors of Friday's semifinal matches will play in the CCIW Tournament Championship match to earn the CCIW's Championship and the conference's automatic bid to the upcoming NCAA Division III Men's Tennis Tournament.

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WHEATON 5, ILLINOIS WESLEYAN 0
Singles competition
1. Anderson Park (WHEATON) vs. Kurt Meyer (IWUM) unfinished
2. Dane Paulsen (WHEATON) vs. Tim Hughes (IWUM) unfinished
3. Jeremiah Yi (WHEATON) def. Ryan Yoo (IWUM) 6-0, 6-0
4. Josh Cheng (WHEATON) vs. Justin Piotrowski (IWUM) unfinished
5. Karl Wenzel (WHEATON) vs. Dylan Mikaili (IWUM) unfinished
6. Alexander Winters (WHEATON) def. Jimmy Kase (IWUM) 6-2, 6-0

Doubles competition
1. Jeremiah Yi/Dane Paulsen (WHEATON) def. Kurt Meyer/Ryan Yoo (IWUM) 8-4
2. Karl Wenzel/Anderson Park (WHEATON) def. Tim Hughes/Dylan Mikaili (IWUM) 8-1
3. Alexander Winters/Andrew Bristol (WHEATON) def. Justin Piotrowski/Jimmy Kase (IWUM) 8-4

Match Notes
Illinois Wesleyan 3-13
Wheaton (IL) 9-10
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (6,3)
CCIW Men's Tennis Tournament First Round