Brownsburg, Ind. -- For the third-consecutive season, the Wheaton men's tennis team sent some of its players to participate in the ITA DIII Regional tournament. This year's Central Regional Championship was hosted by Wabash College and had to be held across three separate locations in east-central Indiana due to unfavorable weather conditions that affected Friday's outdoor matches. Four players from the Thunder roster took park in this weekend's competition, and three of these student-athletes competed in both the singles and doubles bracket fields.

Wheaton's two doubles teams at the event were the senior duo of Andrew Jang and Andrew Winters along with David Hill and Ryder Ward. The former triumphed in their opening match by a score of 8-3 over a pair from Franciscan University before falling by the same margin in the second round to the eighth-seeded team from Kenyon College. The latter partnership fell, 8-2, in the first round to a Lake Forest College duo and moved over to the consolation bracket, where they suffered a hard-fought 8-7 tiebreak defeat to an Ohio Northern University pair.

Jang, Hill, and Winters continued their weekend slate in the singles competition. Hill enjoyed two successes in the Flight C main draw and advanced to the quarterfinal stage before being forced to withdraw due to injury. The junior rolled past his first round opponent from Principia College, 6-4, 6-0, before grinding out an impressive 6-2, 4-6 [10-5] upset of the sixth-seeded competitor from Wooster in the Round of 16. Winters joined Hill in the C flight and was topped, 6-3, 6-3, in his first match against a rival from Hanover College. He then fell in the consolation bracket's Round of 16 by a 7-5, 6-2 scoreline at the hands of an Illinois College participant.

Representing the Thunder in the Flight A bracket, Jang met a familiar face from North Central College in the opening round and dropped a 6-1, 6-3 decision. But the Texas native rallied to win two matches in the consolation field and reach the quartefinals before having to cut his weekend short due to the competition extending over into Sunday. Jang dispatched his Albion College counterpart, 7-6 [7-3], 6-2 in his first consolation fixture, then proceeded to beat a Wittenberg University challenger in straight sets in the Round of 16 at a 6-1, 6-4 line.

After gaining some valuable experience against the best of the Central region and notching multiple noteworthy results, this weekend's four competing Wheaton players will rejoin their teammates in the offseason routine. The Thunder squad will officially begin its dual match schedule and 2027 season in February.