DECORAH — A young Central College men's tennis squad was eliminated from the American Rivers Conference tournament Thursday by a veteran Luther College team on the road in a 5-0 loss.

The Norse (24-6), who finished the league slate undefeated, will host Coe College in the tournament final Saturday afternoon in Decorah.

Coach Ryun Ferrell knew his young Dutch (9-13) were facing an uphill battle against one of the best teams in the region.

"Our goal was to have no excuses and go after them as hard as we could," coach Ryun Ferrell said.  "We had some chances in some of the matches to win and came up a little short. We played free and relaxed. It was a nice solid brand of tennis that I enjoyed coaching and watching."

The Dutch return all six starters from Thursday's match for next season: Ayden Fletcher (junior, Waukee), AJ Wilkins (junior, Grinnell), Alejo Marcon (sophomore, Resistencia, Argentina, Pella Christian HS), Ernest Alvarez Chedzoy (freshman, Kerrville, Texas, Tivy HS), Travis Subbert (freshman, McKinney, Texas, North HS) and Alex Slaymaker (freshman, Geneseo, Ill.). In fact, Central returns its entire roster for the 2024-25 campaign as it had no seniors on the roster and that has optimism at the forefront of Ferrell's brain.

"This is not a time for sadness because we aren't saying goodbye to anybody," Ferrell said. "The best years are in front of us for sure. We've got the right pieces coming back and some good pieces coming in. We can really be formidable in the future. We just need to put it in the work this summer."