COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — BYU men’s tennis resumed competition at the ITA Mountain Regional Championships Friday, garnering seven victories as Wally Thayne and Zach Fuchs (doubles) and Jack Barnett (singles) advanced to keep regional title hopes alive.
Photo Credit: Air Force Athletics
Thayne and Fuchs defeated Denver’s Herrera Cuesta and Sancho Arbizu 8-5 to advance to Saturday’s doubles semifinal. Both juniors, the tandem moved to 3-0 on the weekend. Denver’s Cuesta is ranked No. 111 nationally in singles and is one of four tournament athletes to be nationally ranked (including Thayne at No. 103 singles).
Jack Barnett led the men in singles advancement, going 2-0 on the day en route to Saturday’s quarterfinals. The senior bounced back strong after a first set loss to beat Montana State’s Maximilian Relic 4-6, 6-1, 6-1. He then played Bruno Krenn of rival Utah, dropping the first set before showing resilience as each game progressed, winning with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Thayne and Fuchs both advanced to the singles round of 16, with Thayne besting Weber State’s Tristan Sarap in the round of 32. The triumph included a gritty, opening set tiebreak win of 7-6 (4) before taking control to take it in straight sets at 6-3. The Newbury Park, California native then fell in the following round to Northern Arizona’s Daniel Torres 5-7, 0-6.
After dropping the first set 4-6 in the singles round of 32, Fuchs battled back to take down Idaho’s Taiyo Kurata in a 7-6 (4), second set nailbiter and a 6-4, third set putaway. The junior battled in the next round, winning the first set before falling to Denver's Marvin Schaber 3-6, 6-4, 7-5.
In the doubles consolation quarterfinal round, Jack Barnett and Redd Owen earned a ticket to the semifinals after powering their way to an 8-6 doubles win over Boise State’s James Van Herzeele and Caden Moortgat.
Freshman TJ Wells notched his first collegiate singles win during the consolation round of 32 with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 defeat of UNLV’s Creed Skinner.
The Cougars are back in action Saturday morning, beginning with doubles play at 9 a.m. Stay tuned with player start times posted on X.
See full results below.
Open Singles - Main Draw
Round of 32
No. 103 Wally Thayne def. Tristan Sarap (Weber State) 7-6 (4), 6-3
Sergi Mico Fenollar (Utah State) def. Redd Owen 6-4, 7-6 (8)
Zach Fuchs def. Taiyo Kurata (Idaho) 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4
Jack Barnett def. Maximilian Relic (Montana State) 4-6, 6-1, 6-1
Round of 16
Daniel Torres (Northern Arizona) def. No. 103 Wally Thayne 7-5, 6-0 // R16
Marvin Schaber (Denver) def. Zach Fuchs 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
Jack Barnett def. Bruno Krenn (Utah) 4-6, 6-3, 6-0
Open Singles - Consolation
Round of 32
TJ Wells def. Creed Skinner (UNLV) 6-1, 6-1
Open Doubles - Main Draw
Quarterfinals
Thayne/Fuchs def. Herrera Cuesta/Sancho Arbizu (Denver) 8-5 // Quarterfinals
Open Doubles - Consolation
Quarterfinals
Barnett/Owen def. Van Herzeele/Moortgat (Boise State) 8-6 // C-Quarterfinals