TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn will head five minutes off campus to begin the ITA Central Region Championships at the Kossover Tennis Center beginning Friday, Sept. 26 through the 28th. 
 

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis begins fall ITA play at home this weekend at the ITA Central Region Championships at the Kossover Tennis Center.
• The tournament will run from Friday, Sept. 26 through Sunday, Sept. 28. 
• The Ichabods are coming off a 2024-25 season that saw a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament and and an appearance in the National Championship match. 
• Last season Washburn also won a program record 23 matches, going 23-4 and won a third straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship. 
• Washburn's 2025-26 roster features 10 players with five seniors, two juniors and three freshmen. 

Pairings and Draws

• All ten Ichabods will compete in the tournament either in the Main Draw or in Flight B. 
• Day one will begin with doubles followed by singles, on the final two days the order will flip with singles starting the day off. 
• Graham Faris will take on Sebastian De Las Salas of Southern Arkansas at 10:30 a.m. in the Main Draw.
• Tommy Cecchetti faces Gwendal Mazuay of Emporia State at 10:30 a.m. in the Main Draw. 
• Also in the Main Draw, Zino Nahirniak takes on Benjamin nahuel Fracassi of Southeastern Oklahoma State at 10:30 a.m.
• Benjamin Fock is matched up against Gage Foltz of Northwest Missouri at 10:30 a.m. in the Main Draw on Friday. 
• Yuto Miyagawa will begin at 11:45 a.m. in the Main Draw against Simeon Latinchev of Arkansas-Fort Smith. 
• Pavlos Parson matches up against David Javadov of Newman at 12 a.m. in the main draw. 
• Rounding out the Main Draw singles draws, Moritz Pieper takes on Anton Sarunic of Emporia State at 12:15 a.m.
• In Flight B, Petr Leipner begins at 1:15 p.m. while Mason Fair and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji start at 1:30 p.m. 
• In doubles play, Pavlos Parson and Yuto Miyagawa will play against Newman at 9 a.m. on Friday. 
• Petr Leipner and Tommy Cecchetti begin the tournament against Augustana at 9 a.m. in the Main Draw.
• Zino Nahirniak and Benjamin Fock take on Southeastern Oklahoma State at 9 a.m. as well.
• In the doubles B Draw, Moritz Pieper and Mason Fair get a bye and will not play until 4 p.m. on Saturday. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Graham Faris take on Arkansas-Fort Smith at 9 a.m. on Friday in the B Draw. 

Singles Statistics

• Through two tournaments in the new year Washburn has gone 31-23 (57.4%) in singles matches. 
• Benjamin Fock leads the team with a 6-0 singles record so far. 
• Yuto Miyagawa has posted a 5-1 record through two tournaments. 
• Both of Pavlos Parson and Moritz Pieper have gone 4-2 to begin the season. 
• Tommy Cecchetti is 3-2 so far on the new year. 
• Zino Nahirniak is an even 3-3 through two tournaments in singles. 
• Graham Faris has played in just one tournament, going 2-1 in singles.
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji is 2-4 so far in singles. 
• Mason Fair has started the season out 2-5 while Petr Leipner is 0-3.

Doubles Download

• On the year Washburn has gone 15-10 (60.0%) in doubles. 
• Yuto Miyagawa and Pavlos Parson have gone 4-1 together in doubles. 
• Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak are off to a 3-2 start together. 
• Yoshinobu Nakatsuji and Graham Faris have posted a 3-2 mark together. 
• Moritz Pieper and Mason Fair are also 3-2 on the year so far. 
• Tommy Cecchetti and Petr Leipner are 2-3 together on the year. 

LAST TIME OUT

TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn men's tennis wrapped up the Washburn Invite with one draw winner on Saturday in the fall home opener. The Ichabods will compete next in two weeks for the ITA Central Region Championship back at Kossover Tennis Center in Topeka.  

In doubles play Graham Faris and Yoshinobu Nakatsuji won an 8-5 match to open the day. Benjamin Fock and Zino Nahirniak fell just short, losing 8-7(4), while Moritz Pieper and Mason Fair dopped a 8-5 encounter.  

In the main draw for singles Benjamin Fock came from behind to win in three sets to win the red draw tournament. In the finals for the orange draw Graham Faris fell in two sets.  

The remaining Ichabods competed in consolation brackets and extra matches added to the tournament.  

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year six as the head coach of the men's and women's tennis teams at Washburn  
• Has led both teams to the NCAA Tournament in every season at the helm with a 176-60 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year four times and the MIAA Coach of the Year twice. 
• Prior to joining the Ichabods Ronning spent four seasons as the assistant coach at Azusa Pacific from 2016-2022.
• As a player, he played for four years at Bethel University (Minn.). Ronning received his bachelor's degree in Business from Bethel in 2014 and earned his master's degree in Physical Education at Azusa Pacific in May 2020.

The Assistants

• Kurt Reid enters year seven as a volunteer assistant coach for the Ichabods. Reid started his collegiate tennis career at Tulsa (1977-78) before transferring to Washburn for the 1978-79 season.
• A Topeka-native, Reid played tennis at Topeka West High School and was elected to the Topeka West Sports Hall of Fame in 2015. 
• Graduate assistant Santiago Renton is entering his 2nd season as part of the Washburn coaching staff.  
• He moved from playing to the sidelines after wrapping up three seasons with the Ichabods headlined by an ITA Cup Doubles National Championship in fall of 2023. 
• Vasek Schneider joins the Washburn coaching staff as a graduate assistant for 2025-26 after finishing his playing career with the Ichabods in 2024-25. 
• Schneider was an All-American in singles and set a program record with 32 singles victories in his lone season in Topeka going 32-7 overall. 

FALLING FORWARD

• Next up Washburn will head to the Omaha Invitational between Oct. 3-5 in Omaha, Neb. 
• The ITA Cup will take place between Oct. 16-19 in Rome, Ga. 
• The fall season will come to a close back at home for the Washburn Invitational beginning Oct. 24 and running through Oct. 25 at the Kossover Tennis Center.