Men's tri-level team claims historic national championship in super-tiebreak thriller

A feat that hasn’t been accomplished in recent USTA Kansas history was achieved by a men’s high tri-level league team: a national championship title.

The Wichita-based team, captained by Steven Wegner, took San Diego by storm at the Tom Fey Tri-Level National Invitational on March 6-8. The team comprised of 18 & Over 4.0, 4.5 and 5.0 players won the championship match in a third-set tiebreaker, 12-10. Dylan Jones, USTA Kansas district league coordinator, was on the deciding court alongside Klaus Serwatka Olive.

The team has played together for a few years and qualified for nationals in their first year together, finishing as the national runner-up to USTA Texas. As a result, they had to sit out the next year before making a run at a national title once again.

“We had such a great time together two years ago in San Diego and desperately wanted to get the team back there,” Wegner said.

Wegner shared that while the team was successful during the regular season, it was during the USTA Missouri Valley 18 & Over Tri-Level Invitational on Nov. 7-9 in Wichita that they saw what type of competition they’d be up against at nationals.

“The competition at sectionals was pretty strong,” Wegner said. “We knew what it would take to get a bid to nationals from the previous years. But it still felt great after having to wait a year to get the team back together and qualify again.”

The road to the title was hard fought by the team, with the deciding match coming down to a super tiebreaker. Wegner was so proud of his team for toughing it out for top honors.

The win was especially gratifying for Jones, who has qualified for nationals with seven different USTA Kansas teams. This was his first national championship crown. He has competed on 70 USTA League teams since 2017.