Oct. 8, 2005
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Lobos’ quest for a Balloon Fiesta title came to an end today. Freshmen Johnny Parkes and Graeme Kassautzki were eliminated in the Singles Flight A Quarterfinals, freshman Chandler Brass was knocked off in the Semifinals of Singles Flight B action and the tandem of senior Eric Conklin and sophomore Derek Lynch fell in the Doubles Quarterfinals.
Brass shut out Texas Tech’s Hay Wofford (6-0, 6-0) in the Quarterfinals before running out of steam in the semis to Arizona’s Peter Zimmer, 6-4, 6-0. Parkes, seeded No. 5, came up just short of an upset of fourth-seeded Marek Dvorak of Colorado, falling 7-6, 2-6, 6-3. Kassautzki, the tournament’s second seed, was upset by seveth-seeded Viktor Zetterholm of Denver, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. Conklin and Lynch fell 8-3 to New Mexico State’s Tim America and Roman Stoisavljevic.
In Flight A’s consolation brackets, Parkes dropped Arizona’s Jason Labrosse, 6-4, 7-5, advancing to the finals tomorrow at 9 a.m. Conklin fell to Stoisavljevic in the Quarterfinals, 6-4, 6-4 while Kassautzki lost 7-6, 6-3 to Claudio Christen of Arizona in the Semifinals.
Lynch, in the Flight B consolation brackets, picked up two three-set wins. He netted a 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 victory over Texas Tech’s James Wilson in the Quarterfinals and a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 win in the semis over Air Force’s Ryan White.
Kassautzki and Parkes fell in the Doubles consolation brackets, 8-5, to White and Keith Cronican. Brass, teamed with NAU’s Scott Carruthers, also fell 8-5 to White and Cronican in the Quarterfinals.
The Balloon Fiesta wraps up play tomorrow, beginning at 9 a.m.