TOPEKA, Kan. -- Washburn enters the final stretch of the fall season heading to the ITA Central Region Tournament in Edmond, Okla. beginning Thursday, Oct. 20 playing to advance into the ITA Cup. 
 

First Serve

• Washburn men's tennis enters ITA competition at the ITA Central Region Tournament. 
• The regional competition will take place Thursday, Oct. 22 through Sunday, Oct. 25 at Edmond Center Court in Edmond, Okla. 
• Washburn is 1-0 on the year in duals with a win over Creighton in the only dual this fall.
• The Ichabods are coming off a 20-6 season overall in 2025-26 while going 5-0 in the MIAA/GAC North Division. They won a fourth straight MIAA/GAC Tournament Championship and advanced to the NCAA National Quarterfinals.
• Washburn's 2026-27 roster features eight players with one senior, four sophomores and three freshman.
• All eight Ichabods will participate in singles and doubles competition in the tournament.

ABOUT THE ITA CENTRAL REGION TOURNAMENT

• The tournament consists of every team in the central region both singles and doubles with two draws for each competition.
• All matches will be played in Edmond, Okla. at Edmond Center Court. 
• Doubles competition will open the day at 9 a.m. on Friday with the first round of singles set to begin at 10:45 a.m. 
• In singles play Kilian Martinez, Petr Leipner, Benjamin Fock, Keita Kuroda, Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa, Yuto Miyagawa and Gael Mourmant will play in the main flight while Graham Faris will compete in flight B.
• All four Washburn duos will compete in the main flight of doubles. 

SINGLES SITUATION

• Washburn has a 55-21 (72.4%) mark in singles play so far this season.
• Both Nicolas Hurtado and Keita Kuroda are 11-0 this season to begin the year. 
• Benjamin Fock is 8-2 in singles action this season in the fall.
• Kilian Martinez has posted a 7-1 record in singles competition on the year.
• Petr Leipner has gone 6-2 this season in singles action.
• Gael Mourmant is 6-5 in singles play to begin his freshman season.
• Yuto Miyagawa has compiled a 4-3 record in singles action.
• Graham Faris has posted a 2-8 record to begin the season.

DOUBLES DOWNLOAD

• The Ichabods have posted a 17-13 (56.7%) record in doubles action to begin the season.
• Benjamin Fock and Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa have posted a 6-3 record in doubles action this season.
• Keita Kuroda and Gael Mourmant have posted a 4-2 doubles record.
• Kilian Martinez and Gael Mourmant are 3-0 this season together in doubles play.
• Gael Mourmant has a team-high seven doubles victories this season. 

LAST TIME OUT 

MIDWESTERN STATE INVITATIONAL - OCTOBER 10, 2026

WICHITA FALLS, Tex. -- Washburn wrapped up the Midwestern State Invitational with a pair of singles flight winners in the Lone Star State. Next the Ichabods will turn to the ITA Regional Tournament in Edmond, Okla. beginning Friday, Oct. 23. 

In doubles competition Kilian Martinez and Yuto Miyagwa lost a tight quarterfinal round dual in the blue flight, 7-6(6) in a tiebreaker. Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa and Benjamin Fock were forced to drop out of the flight due to injury. 

Playing in the red flight, Gael Mourmant and Keita Kuroda worked a 6-4 opening round victory before being knocked out by the same score in the semifinals. Petr Leipner and Graham Faris went into a tiebreaker in their dual, coming up just short falling 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals. 

On the singles side Kilian Martinez completed his run through the blue flight winning 6-1 and 6-2 sets in the championship match. Keita Kuroda and Nicolas Hurtado-Novoa each settle for a share of the red flight title after the teammate's championship match was abandoned.  

Head Coach Kirby Ronning

• Ronning is in year seven 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 217-71 combined record with Washburn.
• Has been named the ITA Central Region Coach of the Year six times, MIAA Coach of the Year four times and was the ITA/Dunlop Women's Coach of the Year once in 2026. 
• 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 eight 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. 
• Assistant coach Santiago Rendon begins year three as a coach with the Ichabods and his first as a full-time assistant after being elevated from a graduate assistant before the 2026-27 season.
• He moved from playing to the sidelines after wrapping up a three season career with the Ichabods headlined by an ITA Cup Doubles National Championship in fall of 2023. 

MILESTONE MARKERS

• Yuto Miyagawa is one singles victory away from reaching 30 in his career.
• Benjamin Fock needs to win five more singles matches to reach 40 career singles victories.

FALLING FORWARD

• Qualifiers from the ITA Cup will advance onto the ITA Division II Singles and Doubles Championships will complete on Nov. 4-8 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.