For more stories and past seasons, go to Men's Tennis Archives
June 2
Senior Mike Walz, who played to a 22-10 singles record in 2004, was named “Most Valuable Player” for the Illinois Wesleyan men’s tennis team. Walz was a first team all-College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin selection and ended his IWU career with a 44-20 singles record. The 44 wins makes him No. 12 among IWU players. Combining his 28-38 two-year singles mark at Bradley, Walz’s college singles record was 72-58. Mike O’Keefe, 7-0 playing at No. 6 singles, was named the team’s “Most Improved Player” and Matt Rineberg was a second team all-CCIW selection as he posted an overall singles record of 25-8. The 25 wins is the most at IWU since Chad Moser won 26 matches in 1998. Coach John Fish, whose team finished second in the CCIW tournament, awarded letters to seven players. In addition to Walz, O’Keefe and Rineberg, the lettermen are Pat Fischer, Jason Love, Ryan Stitt and Chauncey Staples.
April 24
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team finished second in the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin tournament, falling 7-0 to Carthage in the championship match on Sat., April 24, at Bloomington's Evergreen Racquet Club. No. 2 seed IWU had its closest competition in doubles where the No. 2 doubles team of Matt Rineberg and Chauncey Staples and the No. 3 team of Pat Fischer and Mike O'Keefe both lost, 8-6.
April 20
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team took four dual matches, including two from College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin squads, during the weekend of April 17-18. The Titans beat North Central (7-0) and Elmhurst (4-3), then downed Chicago (5-2) and Rose-Hulman (6-1). Matt Rineberg won all four of his No. 2 singles matches and Ryan Stitt won twice at No. 5 and twice at No. 6. The No. 1 doubles team of Mike Walz and Jason Love and the No. 3 team of Pat Fischer and Mike O’Keefe were also four-time winners over the weekend. The Titans are 19-4 in dual matches and will play in the CCIW championship tournament April 23-24 at Bloomington's Evergreen Racquet Club.
April 10
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team finished third in the 2004 Hack Kellner Men’s Tennis Tournament, hosted by the University of Illinois at Springfield. The Titans' No. 1 doubles team of Mike Walz/Jason Love was 3-0 to win championship at that position. McKendree College won seven of the nine championship matches, all except No. 2 singles and the No. 1 doubles, to win the tourney, while Lewis & Clark Community College finished the tournament in second place. St. Ambrose took fourth place, Illinois-Springfield was fifth, the University of St. Francis finished sixth, and Greenville was seventh. Love finished third at No. 4 singles and Ryan Stitt placed third at No. 6 singles.
April 7
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team took a College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin match from Wheaton, 5-2, on Tues., April 6, at IWU’s Beadles-Morse Courts. The Titans are 13-4 in dual matches and 2-1 against CCIW opponents. Pat Fischer and Ryan Stitt won their matches at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, respectively, and teamed up for an 8-5 win at No. 3 doubles over the Thunder’s No. 3 team of Graham Johnson and Jeff Danforth.
April 5
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team won two of three matches during the weekend of April 3-4 and improved to 12-4 in dual matches. The Titans downed Quincy, 6-1, on Sun., April 4, after splitting College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin matches on Sat., April 3. IWU defeated Augustana, 7-0, and lost to Carthage, 7-0. Jason Love improved to 10-4 at No. 5 singles and Mike Walz (No. 1) and Matt Rineberg (No. 2) are both 12-4 at their respective singles slots. Rineberg and Chauncey Staples won twice at No. 2 doubles to better their mark to 13-3.
March 27
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team improved to 10-3 with a split of matches against Iowa schools on Sat., March 27. The Titans lost to Coe, 7-0, and defeated Grinnell, 5-2. Mike Walz downed Jim Finnessey of Grinnell, 6-2, 6-0 at No. 1 singles. Matt Rineberg and Chauncey Staples were winners at No. 2 doubles against both Coe and Grinnell and Rineberg was 1-1 in singles at No. 2.
March 17
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team added two more dual match victories during their spring break trip to Orlando, Fla., on March 17. The Titans are now 7-2 overall with wins over Babson College (6-1) and Baker University (5-2). Freshman Matt Rineberg won twice at No. 2 singles and twice at No. 2 doubles, teaming with Chauncey Staples. The other four-time winner on March 17 was Mike Walz (No. 1 singles and doubles). The IWU women's team also notched a win, topping Baker, 6-3.
March 15
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis Illinois Wesleyan swept a dual match against The Cooper Union on Monday, March 15, during the team’s spring trip to Orlando, Fla. The Titans improved to 5-2 in dual matches. Freshman Chauncey Staples was a winner at No. 3 singles by a 6-1, 6-0 count over Andre Simion and Staples teamed with freshman Matt Rineberg for a 6-0 win over Simion and Steve Darienzo at No. 2 doubles.
March 6
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team swept all matches from Wabash, 7-0, on March 6 in Crawfordsville, Ind. The Titans improved to 4-2 in dual matches and the Little Giants fell to 5-4. Mike Walz won at No. 1 singles and teamed with Jason Love for an 8-5 win at No. 1 doubles. Matt Rineberg, Love, Chauncey Staples, Pat Fischer and Mike O'Keefe were other Titan winners.
February 28
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team lost a pair of dual matches at Greencastle, Ind., on Sat., Feb. 28. The Titans, now 3-2 this spring, lost by a 7-0 count to host DePauw and fell 8-1 to the (Division II) Univ. of Southern Indiana. Freshman Matt Rineberg was IWU's only singles winner as he downed Southern Indiana's Weston Phillips, 7-6, 7-6 at No. 2. Mike Walz and Jason Love won, 8-6, at No. 1 doubles over DePauw's team of Billy Elliott and Donald Person.
February 8
The Illinois Wesleyan men's tennis team swept three dual matches at the Wisconsin-Whitewater tournament on Feb. 7-8. The Titans downed Luther (4-3), Wisconsin-Oshkosh (7-0), and the host school (4-3) as Mike Walz and Pat Fischer were 3-0 at No. 1 and No. 5 singles, respectively. The freshman doubles team of Matt Rineberg and Chauncey Staples was also 3-0 playing at No. 2 for IWU, ranked No. 9 in the most recent ITA Division III rankings.
September 29, 2003
Illinois Wesleyan's Mike Walz advanced to the quarterfinals and Matt Rineberg advanced to the round of 16 at the 2003 Intercollegiate Tennis Association Small College Central Region Singles and Doubles Championships, held Sept. 26-29 at DePauw University in Greencastle, Ind. Walz, who had a first round bye, and Rineberg were both 3-1 in singles play while Jason Love and Chauncey Staples were 1-1. Rineberg and Staples teamed to go 3-1 and advance to the quarterfinals in doubles; Love and Walz were 1-1 in doubles.
