The No. 16 ranked Barton Community College men's tennis team finished twenty-first in the nation at the NJCAA Division I National Tennis Championship held this week in Plano, Texas.  Returning to the national tournament after a year removed, the Cougars concluded play Thursday evening but had to wait until the tournament wrapped up play on Friday to secure their placing one spot ahead of their 2015 championship appearance.

Giovanni Fragalle had a busy Thursday, beginning and ending his three match day in singles with his doubles match sandwiched between.  Fragalle opened up play in his No. 3 flight match, dispatching Paradise Valley's Brian Tuncap 7-5, 6-2 before coming up short for a back draw championship losing 6-1, 6-2 to Region VI foe Lukas Michenka of Cowley College. 

Joining forces with No. 2 doubles partner Kaio Massao in the afternoon, the duo took on Pima Community College's Dalton Reisig and Francisco Sotelo in the consolation semifinals.  Dropping the first set 7-6(3), the Cougars roared back in the second 6-2 to split the match.  The two teams slugged it out in the third set super tiebreaker until Barton opened up a 7-4 lead before Pima stormed back getting the final point on a double fault for an 11-9 victory to end Barton's season a match shy of the consolation championship.

Barton had two other singles matches in the consolation semifinals but each came up shy of the championship match as well.  In the No. 4 slot, Massao took a 6-1 first set beating but came back in the second coming up on short end of a 7-5 score to end his season to the eventual champion Callan Shinall of Meridian Community College.  

Juan Jaimes' bid for the No. 5 back draw championship also came up short in a tough three setter against Reid Cudd of Mississippi Gulf Coast.  With Cudd taking the first set 6-3, Jaimes same back to take the second by an identical score before the two went toe-to-toe in the third with Cudd prevailing 10-7.

Barton day four singles results:

No. 3 Singles: Giovanni Fragalle, def. Brian Tuncap, Paradise Valley, 7-5, 6-2; Lukas Michenka, Cowley College, def. Giovanni Fragalle, 6-1, 6-2
No. 4 Singles: Callan Shinall, Meridian Community College, def. Kaio Massao, 6-1, 7-5
No. 5 Singles: Reid Cudd, Mississippi Gulf Coast, def. Juan Jaimes, 6-3, 3-6, 10-7

Barton day four doubles results:

No. 2 Doubles: Dalton Reisig/Francisco Sotelo, Pima CC, def. Giovanni Fragalle/Kaio Massao, 7-6(3), 2-6, 11-9

Division I Final Standings:

1. ASA Miami - 44
2. Tyler - 43
3. ABAC - 35
4. Seward - 32
5. Laredo - 29
6. Cowley - 28
7. Mesa - 27
8. Collin - 23
9. Jacksonville - 20.5
10. Seminole - 17.5
11. Meridian - 17
12. Harford - 15
12. NMMI - 15
14. Paradise Valley - 11.5
15. Pima - 11
16. Mississippi Gulf Coast - 10.5
17. Copiah-Lincoln - 8
17. Jones County - 8
19. Marion Military - 7
19. Wallace St. - 7
21. Barton - 6.5
22. Prairie St. - 5
23. Lewis & Clark - 3
24. College of DuPage - 2
24. Oakton - 2
26. Lake County – 0

Complete NJCAA Division I National Tennis Championship information found here