WATERLOO — The Central College men's tennis team had a representative in the semifinals in all three flights of the American Rivers Conference Individual Championships Saturday.
           
In the A-Flight, William Isiminger (junior, North Aurora, Ill., West Aurora HS) finished fourth after No. 1 seed Cole Schneider (Luther College) beat him 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinal. Nyathi Motlojoa (Luther) upended him 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 in the third-place match.
           
Isiminger was the first player to make the A-Flight semifinals in coach Ryun Ferrell's five seasons.
           
"He played well today," Ferrell said. "He had a lot of chances to win games against Schneider, but didn't take advantage. By the end of Saturday, you get to be pretty exhausted. William was running on fumes by the end of the day."
           
Tanner Finken (sophomore, Carroll, Kuemper Catholic) played for the B-Flight singles title after a 6-3, 6-3 semifinal win over Jose Mancilla (University of Dubuque). He fell in the championship 6-1, 6-0 against Luther's Charlie Weill.
           
"He played smart tennis," Ferrell said. "I wouldn't say it's his best tennis, but he played really tough. He didn't play like a sophomore, he played like an upperclassman."
           
An impressive opening weekend saw Trey Melvin (freshman, Lawrence, Kan., Free State HS) beat Hayden Retzlaff of Nebraska Wesleyan University in the third-place match. He earlier had lost to Simpson College's Peter Walkwitz 6-2, 2-6, 11-9 in the semifinal.
           
"Trey is a nice player with a lot of skill," Ferrell said. "He was able to relax more in the second match and destroy his opponent."
           
A select few players will go to Saint Peter, Minnesota next Friday-Saturday for the USTA/ITA Division III Midwest Regional.