Western Wayne Today

Wayne State University's men's tennis team is set to host the Third Annual Mike Kneale Doubles Tournament on Friday, October 31. The event will take place at the Doris J. and Donald L. Duchene, Sr. Athletic Facility in Detroit.

The Warriors are coming off a strong showing at the Viking Invitational, hosted by Cleveland State University. As a team, Wayne State recorded 25 wins and 16 losses in singles matches and achieved a 12-6 record in doubles play. The duo of Tom Wasner from Altenholz, Germany, and Sam Knowles from North Shields, Tyne and Wear, England went undefeated with a 4-0 record over the weekend and secured the doubles main draw title. In singles competition, Wasner advanced to the championship match but was defeated 6-3, 6-2. Three Wayne State players—Wasner, George Day from Southampton, United Kingdom, and Benjamin Hill from Düren, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany—reached the semifinals of the singles main draw.

For this year's tournament, Wayne State will host teams from Tiffin University and the University of Findlay. Matches are scheduled to begin at 10:00 AM on Friday. Wayne State pairings have won both previous editions of the tournament; Cedric Drenth from Sulzbach, Germany teamed with current graduate assistant coach Daniel Grey from Wiesbaden, Germany to win the inaugural event. Last season saw Drenth partner with Day for another victory.

The tournament honors Michael (Mike) Kneale, a former Wayne State student-athlete and Detroit native who played for the university's tennis squad between 1979 and 1982. Kneale earned team MVP honors after both the 1979 and 1980 seasons. He contributed to Wayne State’s GLIAC championships in both 1980 and 1981 alongside his partner Bob Jackson—a member of the WSU Hall of Fame.

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