WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Tennessee Tech freshmen Eduardo Mena and Carlos Tejas each fought their way through the entire flight at the Purdue Fall Invitational to capture championships Sunday. Mena won the Flight D title, and Tejas won the Flight E crown.
Mena, a Madrid, Spain native, opened up his fight with a hard-fought battle over Nils Hallestrand from Iowa. Mena took the match 7-6 (5), 2-6, 6-1. In the semifinals, he took down Brandon Woods from Butler, 6-4, 4-3, ret. in a shortened match. Mena's next opponent was from Case Western Reserve. Mena topped CWRU's Will Drougas 6-2, 6-2. In the Flight D championship match on Sunday morning, Mena claimed his first championship in purple and gold as he beat Sven Kraz from the University of Chicago, 7-5, 6-1.
Tejas, a Murcia, Spain native, took down his own array of opponents leading to his first championship. His first opponent hailed form Indiana University Purdue University of Indianapolis. Mena outlasted IUPUI's Marucs Nalley, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1. Roberto Meza from Toledo was Tejas' next victim, as Tejas earned a tough, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4, three-set win. In the quarterifinals, Tejas took down Joey Leto from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, 6-1, 6-3. In the championship showdown, Tejas faced off with Tommy Marx of Butler, taking the crown with a 6-0, 5-7, 6-2 win.
Junior Alex Arovin went 0-3 in Flight A, losing his opening match to Alex Galoustian of DePaul, 6-3, 7-6 (6). In the consolation bracket, Arovin faced off with Chicago State's Mirko Radosevic, losing in a very hard-fought battle, 6-2, 6-7 (9), 11-13. In his third match, Arovin dropped the match 7-6 (3), 6-3, to Mateus Silva of Purdue.
Alvero Cintas went 1-2, winning his opening match 4-6, 7-6, 7-6 over Chris Gonzales from Chicago State. He was then topped by Viswajit Simhardi from Case Western Reserve, 6-4, 7-5. In his third match, Citas lost to Garrett Cona from Toledo, 6-3, 4-6, 10-8.
In the doubles pairings, Mena and Arovin teamed up going 2-1, losing in the quarterfinals, 8-4 to Cleveland State's Colton Buffington and Ali Shabib.
The Golden Eagles will head to the ITA Men's All-American Championships in Tulsa, Okla., Sept. 27 through Sept. 30.