Playing tennis in February in Kansas can be a dicey affair. You never know what the weather will be like.
The Barton men played through some tough conditions Monday in Salina, losing to Kansas Wesleyan, 8-1.
“Conditions for tennis were less than ideal with the Kansas winds howling on a cool February day,” Barton Coach Lyle Stickney said. “Overall our men’s team played well, every match was competitive we just couldn’t finish games.”
The lone win for the Cougars came at No. 2 singles where Lucas Castelani defeated Michael Moody in a tie-breaker. Castelani lost the opening set 3-6 then won 7-6 (5) to set up the tiebreaker. Castelani won that by a 10-8 margin.
“Lucas continues to develop and gain confidence with each match,” Coach Stickney said. “I believe he played his best match, he really persevered in his match winning it in a third set tiebreaker.”
Barton was close in both No. 3 and 4 singles as well. Sam Barker lost 6-2, 6-3 to Samie Lopez at No. 2 and Ray Strunk lost 6-3, 6-3 to Harrison Hightower at No. 4. Cole Hardin dropped a 6-2, 6-2, match to Mitchell Byers at No. 6.
Both No. 1 and No. 5 singles lost by 6-1, 6-1 margins. Benjamin Zamora lost at No. 1 to Mario Rincon and Triston Herbst lost at No. 6 to Mitchell Byers.
The closest doubles match came at No. 1 where Barker and Jones lost an 8-5 match to Rincon and Lopez.
Castelani and Strunk lost 8-3 to Hightower and Moody at No. 2 while Herbst and Hardin lost 8-4 at No. 3 to White and Byers.  
The Cougars will be at home for the first time on the young season when Colorado Christian comes to Veterans Park in Great Bend for a 9 am start.