BEAUMONT, Texas – The Lamar University men's tennis team walked away with a 7-5 (.583) overall singles recorded, and a 3-2 (.600) doubles record after the 2018 Ron Wesbrooks Invitational held at the Thompson Family Tennis Center Friday through Sunday. The Cardinals closed out the tournament with sophomore Nicolas Mayr taking the flight one singles runner-up and classmate Carlos Paton Canal taking third in the same bracket.
 
"Today we had some good results and everyone competed hard," said LU head coach Scott Shankles. "We fell short in a couple of matches, but we came through in a couple others that I was really proud of. All in all, it was a good tournament for us. We've got some things we need to work on, like doubles, and we need to cut down on some mistakes in singles, but we have time to work on those things.
 
"It's always great to have Ron and Mrs. Wesbrooks out for the tournament every year. They support our teams at every match and we really appreciate everything they do for both our men's and women's teams," added Shankles.
 
Mayr advanced to the flight one singles championship with a 3-0 mark in pool play and squared off again flight one pool B champion Yehonatan Kaufman from UT Rio Grande Valley. The match went right down to the wire as Mayr jumped on top in the first set, 6-4. Unfortunately, Mayr was unable to hold the momentum as the match went the distance as Kaufman pulled out the final two sets, 6-1 and 11-9.
 
Paton Canal's match didn't go three sets, but it was a battle right down to the end. LU's sophomore faced off against Xavier Lawrence who posted a 2-1 record in pool play. Paton Canal got the early advantage with a seemingly easy 6-1 victory in the opening set. The 6-1 decision was where the "ease" of the match ended. The second set went to a tiebreaker before the Cardinals pulled out a 7-6 (7-5) victory.
 
The Cardinals will have two weeks to prepare for the ITA Regional Championships in Waco. The regionals are slated to begin Friday, Oct. 19 through Monday, Oct. 22, and will take place on the Baylor campus.