UMAC Men's Tennis Postseason Awards
St. Paul, MN - It was a historic year in the Upper Midwest Athletic Conference (UMAC) for tennis, as four new members joined the league this season to form the south division, those schools were Greenville University, Principia College, Webster University, and Westminster College. Both the north and south divisions had their own awards and not surprisingly the north division champion, Wisconsin-Superior, and the south division champion and UMAC Tournament champion, Greenville, led the way in this year's postseason awards.
On the north side, Igor Guetten Chaves capped off his fantastic freshman campaign by receiving both the UMAC North Division Player of the Year award, and the Rookie of the Year award, CeeJay Schaffner was awarded the UMAC North Division Coach of the year as well for the Yellowjackets. Along with Guetten Chaves, Ren Kurachi and Andre Guedes joined him on the North Division First Team-All-Conference list. On the second team, three more Yellowjackets were recognized including, Vitor Sasay Sakakibara, Jacob Zacharias, and Jace Gilbertson.
Northwestern also had a strong showing on the all-conference teams, with five Eagles being recognized. Davis Pfaff and Stewart Morrell were both recognized with first team honors, while Jacob Weddle and Griffen Jarchow were on the second team and Jack Geurkink on the honorable mention team.
Bethany Lutheran rounds out the first team, with Marcos Borobia Arias earning first team honors and Heitor Damaso earning second team honors. Minnesota Morris received three all-conference designations as well with Matthew Gearu on second team and Carver Hammond and Marshall O'Meara on honorable mention.
Martin Luther was named the Team Sportsmanship winner for the north division, which is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
In the south division, Greenville and Principia highlighted the major awards with Andres Sanchez of Greenville winning UMAC South Division Player of the Year, Ernesto Botero of Principia won Rookie of the Year and Principia head coach Rusty Jones was named Coach of the Year.
Greenville led the south division with six all-conference selections after winning the UMAC Tournament title last weekend. Andres Sanchez, Rafael Rodriguez, and Jordi Matuhen were named first team all-conference while Clark Kent and Luke Motzinger were named to the second team. Thibaut Tignee rounds out the postseason awards for the Panthers by being named an honorable mention selection.
Principia was right behind with five all-conference selections. The Panthers had two first team selections in Juan Segovia and Kuda Sandi. Ernesto Botero, Rafter Sprague, and Alvaro Moliz were named to the second team. Webster rounds out the all-conference teams with Alex Pinkston being named to the first team, Carson Fisher earning second team honors, and Nick Granada and Matt Birchmeir earning honorable mention selections.
Webster University was named the Team Sportsmanship winner for the south division, which is selected by the UMAC coaches and awarded to the team that best represents sportsmanship throughout the entire season, including the championship event. Each team also had one representative named to the individual sportsmanship award list.
2022-23 UMAC Men’s Tennis North Division Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Igor Guetten Chaves (Wisconsin-Superior)
Rookie of the Year: Igor Guetten Chaves (Wisconsin-Superior)
Coach of the Year: CeeJay Schaffner (Wisconsin-Superior)
Team Sportsmanship Award: Martin Luther College
UMAC Men’s Tennis North Division First Team All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Andre Luiz de Melo Guedes |
Sr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Brasilia, Brazil |
| Davis Pfaff |
Gr. |
Northwestern |
Maple Grove, MN |
| Igor Guetten Chaves |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Foz do Iguaçu, Brazil |
| Marcos Borobia Arias |
Jr. |
Bethany Lutheran |
Zaragoza, Spain |
| Ren Kurachi |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Yokohama, Japan |
| Stewart Morrell |
Jr. |
Northwestern |
Elk River, MN |
UMAC Men’s Tennis North Division Second Team All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Griffen Jarchow |
Fr. |
Northwestern |
Luverne, MN |
| Heitor Damaso |
So. |
Bethany Lutheran |
|
| Jace Gilbertson |
So. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Menomonie, WI |
| Jacob Weddle |
So. |
Northwestern |
Rhinelander, WI |
| Jacob Zacharias |
Jr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
Cambridge, MN |
| Matt Gearou |
So. |
Minnesota Morris |
Zimmerman, MN |
| Vitor Sasaya Sakakibara |
Fr. |
Wisconsin-Superior |
São Paulo, Brazil |
*There was a tie for the final spot on the 2nd team, which is why there are 7 athletes listed.
UMAC Men’s Tennis North Division Honorable Mention
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Carver Hammond |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Bloomington, MN |
| Jack Geurkink |
Sr. |
Northwestern |
Hudson, WI |
| Marshall O'Meara |
Jr. |
Minnesota Morris |
Minneapolis, MN |
Men's Individual North Division Sportsmanship Awards
David Comings (Crown)
Kyle Deyo (Bethany Lutheran)
Brian Friesenegger (Martin Luther)
Max Gmuender (Minnesota Morris)
Davis Pfaff (Northwestern)
Jacob Zacharias (Wisconsin-Superior)
2022-23 UMAC Men’s Tennis South Division Postseason Awards
Player of the Year: Andres Sanchez (Greenville)
Rookie of the Year: Ernesto Botero (Principia)
Coach of the Year: Rusty Jones (Principia)
Team Sportsmanship Award: Webster University
UMAC Men’s Tennis South Division First Team All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Alex Pinkston |
So. |
Webster |
Boonville, IN |
| Andres Sanchez |
So. |
Greenville |
Chiapas, Mexico |
| Jordi Matuhen |
Fr. |
Greenville |
Sant Jaume d'Enveja, Spain |
| Juan Segovia |
Sr. |
Principia |
Bogotá, Colombia |
| Kuda Sandi |
So. |
Principia |
Harare, Zimbabwe |
| Rafael Rodriguez |
So. |
Greenville |
Morelia, Mexico |
UMAC Men’s Tennis South Division Second Team All-Conference
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Álvaro Martín Moliz |
Fr. |
Principia |
Salobreña, Spain |
| Carson Fisher |
So. |
Webster |
Dallas, TX |
| Clark Kent |
So. |
Greenville |
Hermann, MO |
| Ernesto Botero |
Fr. |
Principia |
Cartagena, Colombia |
| Luke Motzinger |
Jr. |
Greenville |
Marion, IL |
| Rafter Sprague |
Jr. |
Principia |
San Diego, CA |
UMAC Men's Tennis South Division Honorable Mention
| Name |
Year |
School |
Hometown |
| Matt Birchmeir |
Jr. |
Webster |
Swartz Creek, MI |
| Nick Granada |
Fr. |
Webster |
Cerritos, CA |
| Thibaut Tignee |
Jr. |
Greenville |
Theux, Belgium |
Men’s Individual Sportsmanship Awards
Rafael Rodriguez (Greenville)
William Johnson (Principia)
Britton Struewing (Webster)
Aiden Petterson (Westminster)