Friday, September 12
Boise, Idaho
All Day
Montana
at
Dar Walters Classic
Griz open fall season with impressive results at Dar Walters Classic
9/15/2025 12:55:00 PM | Men's Tennis
Griz open fall season with impressive results at Dar Walters Classic
The Montana men's tennis team opened its fall tournament season with a strong showing at the Dar Walters Classic hosted by Boise State over the weekend, with a pair of Grizzlies advancing to the main draw semifinal.
Senior Baltazar Wiger-Nordas, a returning All-Big Sky standout and sophomore Duncan McCall, the defending Big Sky Freshman of the Year, paired up to beat teams from BYU and the University of Portland to earn a trip to the Blue Draw semis.
The Griz also received an impressive debut performance from freshman Matt Upton, who went 3-1 overall in singles and knocked off Boise State's No. 2 player in junior Carson Baker in the first collegiate tournament of his career.
They were all part of four, two-man teams to compete for Montana in Boise.
This year's Dar Walters Classic took on a mini-dual format where two players from each of the nine schools represented paired up to compete as a small team, playing a doubles match and two singles matches against another two-person team. The team that won two of the three points advanced in the bracket.
"This is my favorite fall tournament structure - two-man teams that mimic what we do in the spring on a smaller scale. It's just amazing that these guys get to play together and advance as a team. That part was really cool and was beneficial for our guys," said head coach Jason Brown.
"We got everything we wanted out of it. Eight of our 10 guys competed and everybody got some wins, but nobody went undefeated. In many ways that's a good thing because it shows us what we need to work on. I was really impressed with how the guys supported each other, were class acts on the court, and competed really hard. They got better every day. I think Friday was our worst day and by the end of Saturday, it looked really good."
Montana got the chance to test their early-season mettle against some of the region's top teams in Boise and got a Big Sky preview as well, with players from BYU, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana State, Portland, Utah State, Weber State, and the host Broncos in attendance.
All told, Montana's four, two-man teams went 19-20 overall on the weekend, above .500 at 13-12 in singles and 6-8 in doubles.
Wiger-Nordas and McCall opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of BYU's Duong/Chow pair in the Blue Draw round of 16, winning the doubles round 6-2 before earning a pair of three-set singles wins. Wiger-Nordas beat David Duong 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and McCall knocked-off Brennon Chow in a third set tiebreaker 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4).
The pair picked up more wins in the quarterfinal match, falling to Portland's Keremedchiev/Fernando in doubles, but rebounding to win the match with a pair of singles victories. The Grizzy duo dropped the doubles match narrowly 6-4, but Wiger-Nordas won a tiebreaker in the first singles set and cruised to victory over Keremedchiev in the second 7-6(3), 6-3.
McCall then came out on top of another three-set battle, bouncing back to take down Cade Fernando 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and send the Grizzly pair through to the semi.
In the penultimate round the Grizzly duo picked up another win in the doubles round over BYU's Edmonston/Goldammer pair but ran out of gas in singles. Alex Edmonston pushed passed Wiger-Nordas in the first singles match 6-2, 6-4, and Tygen Goldammer needed a tiebreaker to get past McCall 7-6(4), 6-4.
Upton made his Grizzly debut in the main Blue Draw, pairing up with senior Eivind Tandberg as the second UM team in the top bracket. He earned a singles win over Kin Dinh from Weber State in the opening round before dropping a long three-setter to Idaho No. 1 Chetanna Amadike 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
He followed that up with the win over Baker in the consolation round, taking a tiebreaker in the first set and holding on to win in straights 7-6(3), 7-5. Upton then capped the weekend Sunday with a straight-set win over Montana State junior Andre Stewart 6-3, 6-1.
"Matt looked like an absolute veteran out there this weekend, like he was built for college tennis. So, I'm really excited about him and think he's got the chance to be a player that holds it down for the maroon and silver for a long time," added Brown.
The Grizzlies return to action this weekend as Montana heads south on I-15 again to compete at the Bengal Invitational at Idaho State in Pocatello before setting their sights on the premiere fall event on the calendar – the ITA Mountain Regional tournament in Las Vegas in mid-October.
Dar Walters Classic – Montana Matches
BLUE DRAW
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Round 16
Connor Kruger/Kin Dinh (WSU) def. Matt Upton / Eivind Tandberg (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Kruger/Dinh (WSU) def. Upton/Tandberg (UM) 7-6(3)
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Dinh (WSU) 3-4 ret.
● Singles 2: Kruger (WSU) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-4, 6-2
Baltazar Wiger-Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) def. David Duong/Brennon Chow (BYU) 3-0
● Doubles: Wiger-Nordas/McCall (UM) def. Duong/Chow (BYU) 6-2
● Singles 1: Wiger-Nordas (UM) def. Duong (BYU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
● Singles 2: McCall (UM) def. Chow (BYU) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4)
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Baltazar Wiger-Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) def. Nikola Keremedchiev/Cade Fernando (UP) 2-1
● Doubles: Keremedchiev/Fernando (UP) def. Wiger-Nordas/McCall (UM) 6-4
● Singles 1: Wiger-Nordas (UM) def. Keremedchiev (UP) 7-6(3), 6-3
● Singles 2: McCall (UM) def. Fernando (UP) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Main Draw, Semifinal Round
Alex Edmonston/Tygen Goldammer (BYU) def. Baltazar Wiger Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Wiger Nordas/McCall (UM) def. Edmonston/Goldammer (BYU) 6-2
● Singles 1: Edmonston (BYU) def. Wiger-Nordas (UM) 6-2, 6-4
● Singles 2: Goldammer (BYU) def. McCall (UM) 7-6(4), 6-4
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Consolation Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Chetanna Amadike/Gabriel Moroder (UI) def. Matt Upton / Eivind Tandberg (UM) 3-0
● Amadike/Moroder (UI) def. Upton/Tandberg (UM) 6-4
● Amadike (UI) def. Upton (UM) 6-3, 2-6, 10-8
● Moroder (UI) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-4, 5-7, 10-5
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Pickup Matches
Matt Upton/Eivind Tandberg (UM) def. Carson Baker/Lukas Velik (BSU) 2-1
● Doubles: Upton/Tandberg (UM) def. Baker/Velik (BSU) 6-3
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Baker (BSU) 7-6(3), 7-5
● Singles 2: Velik (BSU) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-3, 6-4
SUNDAY, Sept. 13 | Pickup Matches
Matt Upton/Eivind Tandberg (UM) def. Andre Stewart/Camille Chantron (MSU) 3-0
● Doubles: Upton/Tandberg (UM) def. Stewart/Chantron (MSU) 7-5
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Stewart (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
● Singles 2: Tandberg (UM) def. Chantron (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
ORANGE DRAW
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Round 16
Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) def. Eric Wang/Valentin Glasl (UI) 2-1
● Doubles: Townes/Wilkinson (UM) def. Wang/Glasl (UI) 6-4
● Singles 1: Wang (UI) def. Townes (UM) 7-5, 7-5
● Singles 2: Wilkinson (UM) def. Glasl (UI) 6-3, 6-4
Eddie Biss/David Ismanescu (MSU) def. Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Biss/Ismanescu (MSU) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 6-3
● Singles 1: Bucurescu (UM) def. Biss (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
● Singles 2: Ismanescu (MSU) def. Watkins (UM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Lucas Kimelman/Tannor Bindor (UP) def. Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) 3-0
● Doubles: Kimelman/Bindor (UP) def. Townes/Wilkinson (UM) 6-2
● Singles 1: Kimelman (UP) def. Townes (UM )6-4, 6-3
● Singles 2: Bindor (UP) def. Wilkinson (UM) 6-4, 6-2
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Consolation Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Sam Wensley/Tyler Dalos (ISU) def. Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) 3-0
● Doubles: Dalos/Wensley (ISU) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 3-0
● Singles 1: Dalos (ISU) def. Watkins (UM) 6-2, 6-3
● Singles 2: Wensley (ISU) def. Bucurescu (UM) 7-6, 6-3
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Pickup Matches
Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) def. Yassin Elaroussy/Max Elijah Calaquian (MSU) 2-1
● Doubles: Townes/Wilkinson (UM) def. Elaroussy/Calaquian (MSU) 7-6(10)
● Singles 1: Elaroussy (MSU) def. Townes (UM) walkover
● Singles 2: Wilkinson (UM) def. Calaquian (MSU) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6
Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) def. Eli Noel/Gian Manhas (UP) 2-1
● Doubles: Noel/Manhas (UP) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 7-6(6)
● Singles 1: Bucurescu (UM) def. Noel (UP) 6-4, 6-2
● Singles 2: Watkins (UM) def. Manhas (UP) 7-5, 6-2
Legend:
BSU = Boise State
BYU = Brigham Young
UI = Idaho
ISU = Idaho State
UM = Montana
MSU = Montana State
UP = Portland
USU = Utah State
WSU = Weber State
The Montana men's tennis team opened its fall tournament season with a strong showing at the Dar Walters Classic hosted by Boise State over the weekend, with a pair of Grizzlies advancing to the main draw semifinal.
Senior Baltazar Wiger-Nordas, a returning All-Big Sky standout and sophomore Duncan McCall, the defending Big Sky Freshman of the Year, paired up to beat teams from BYU and the University of Portland to earn a trip to the Blue Draw semis.
The Griz also received an impressive debut performance from freshman Matt Upton, who went 3-1 overall in singles and knocked off Boise State's No. 2 player in junior Carson Baker in the first collegiate tournament of his career.
They were all part of four, two-man teams to compete for Montana in Boise.
This year's Dar Walters Classic took on a mini-dual format where two players from each of the nine schools represented paired up to compete as a small team, playing a doubles match and two singles matches against another two-person team. The team that won two of the three points advanced in the bracket.
"This is my favorite fall tournament structure - two-man teams that mimic what we do in the spring on a smaller scale. It's just amazing that these guys get to play together and advance as a team. That part was really cool and was beneficial for our guys," said head coach Jason Brown.
"We got everything we wanted out of it. Eight of our 10 guys competed and everybody got some wins, but nobody went undefeated. In many ways that's a good thing because it shows us what we need to work on. I was really impressed with how the guys supported each other, were class acts on the court, and competed really hard. They got better every day. I think Friday was our worst day and by the end of Saturday, it looked really good."
Montana got the chance to test their early-season mettle against some of the region's top teams in Boise and got a Big Sky preview as well, with players from BYU, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana State, Portland, Utah State, Weber State, and the host Broncos in attendance.
All told, Montana's four, two-man teams went 19-20 overall on the weekend, above .500 at 13-12 in singles and 6-8 in doubles.
Wiger-Nordas and McCall opened the tournament with a 3-0 sweep of BYU's Duong/Chow pair in the Blue Draw round of 16, winning the doubles round 6-2 before earning a pair of three-set singles wins. Wiger-Nordas beat David Duong 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and McCall knocked-off Brennon Chow in a third set tiebreaker 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4).
The pair picked up more wins in the quarterfinal match, falling to Portland's Keremedchiev/Fernando in doubles, but rebounding to win the match with a pair of singles victories. The Grizzy duo dropped the doubles match narrowly 6-4, but Wiger-Nordas won a tiebreaker in the first singles set and cruised to victory over Keremedchiev in the second 7-6(3), 6-3.
McCall then came out on top of another three-set battle, bouncing back to take down Cade Fernando 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 and send the Grizzly pair through to the semi.
In the penultimate round the Grizzly duo picked up another win in the doubles round over BYU's Edmonston/Goldammer pair but ran out of gas in singles. Alex Edmonston pushed passed Wiger-Nordas in the first singles match 6-2, 6-4, and Tygen Goldammer needed a tiebreaker to get past McCall 7-6(4), 6-4.
Upton made his Grizzly debut in the main Blue Draw, pairing up with senior Eivind Tandberg as the second UM team in the top bracket. He earned a singles win over Kin Dinh from Weber State in the opening round before dropping a long three-setter to Idaho No. 1 Chetanna Amadike 6-3, 2-6, 10-8.
He followed that up with the win over Baker in the consolation round, taking a tiebreaker in the first set and holding on to win in straights 7-6(3), 7-5. Upton then capped the weekend Sunday with a straight-set win over Montana State junior Andre Stewart 6-3, 6-1.
"Matt looked like an absolute veteran out there this weekend, like he was built for college tennis. So, I'm really excited about him and think he's got the chance to be a player that holds it down for the maroon and silver for a long time," added Brown.
The Grizzlies return to action this weekend as Montana heads south on I-15 again to compete at the Bengal Invitational at Idaho State in Pocatello before setting their sights on the premiere fall event on the calendar – the ITA Mountain Regional tournament in Las Vegas in mid-October.
Dar Walters Classic – Montana Matches
BLUE DRAW
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Round 16
Connor Kruger/Kin Dinh (WSU) def. Matt Upton / Eivind Tandberg (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Kruger/Dinh (WSU) def. Upton/Tandberg (UM) 7-6(3)
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Dinh (WSU) 3-4 ret.
● Singles 2: Kruger (WSU) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-4, 6-2
Baltazar Wiger-Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) def. David Duong/Brennon Chow (BYU) 3-0
● Doubles: Wiger-Nordas/McCall (UM) def. Duong/Chow (BYU) 6-2
● Singles 1: Wiger-Nordas (UM) def. Duong (BYU) 6-2, 3-6, 6-4
● Singles 2: McCall (UM) def. Chow (BYU) 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4)
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Baltazar Wiger-Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) def. Nikola Keremedchiev/Cade Fernando (UP) 2-1
● Doubles: Keremedchiev/Fernando (UP) def. Wiger-Nordas/McCall (UM) 6-4
● Singles 1: Wiger-Nordas (UM) def. Keremedchiev (UP) 7-6(3), 6-3
● Singles 2: McCall (UM) def. Fernando (UP) 3-6, 6-4, 6-4
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Main Draw, Semifinal Round
Alex Edmonston/Tygen Goldammer (BYU) def. Baltazar Wiger Nordas / Duncan McCall (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Wiger Nordas/McCall (UM) def. Edmonston/Goldammer (BYU) 6-2
● Singles 1: Edmonston (BYU) def. Wiger-Nordas (UM) 6-2, 6-4
● Singles 2: Goldammer (BYU) def. McCall (UM) 7-6(4), 6-4
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Consolation Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Chetanna Amadike/Gabriel Moroder (UI) def. Matt Upton / Eivind Tandberg (UM) 3-0
● Amadike/Moroder (UI) def. Upton/Tandberg (UM) 6-4
● Amadike (UI) def. Upton (UM) 6-3, 2-6, 10-8
● Moroder (UI) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-4, 5-7, 10-5
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Pickup Matches
Matt Upton/Eivind Tandberg (UM) def. Carson Baker/Lukas Velik (BSU) 2-1
● Doubles: Upton/Tandberg (UM) def. Baker/Velik (BSU) 6-3
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Baker (BSU) 7-6(3), 7-5
● Singles 2: Velik (BSU) def. Tandberg (UM) 6-3, 6-4
SUNDAY, Sept. 13 | Pickup Matches
Matt Upton/Eivind Tandberg (UM) def. Andre Stewart/Camille Chantron (MSU) 3-0
● Doubles: Upton/Tandberg (UM) def. Stewart/Chantron (MSU) 7-5
● Singles 1: Upton (UM) def. Stewart (MSU) 6-1, 6-3
● Singles 2: Tandberg (UM) def. Chantron (MSU) 6-2, 6-2
ORANGE DRAW
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Round 16
Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) def. Eric Wang/Valentin Glasl (UI) 2-1
● Doubles: Townes/Wilkinson (UM) def. Wang/Glasl (UI) 6-4
● Singles 1: Wang (UI) def. Townes (UM) 7-5, 7-5
● Singles 2: Wilkinson (UM) def. Glasl (UI) 6-3, 6-4
Eddie Biss/David Ismanescu (MSU) def. Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) 2-1
● Doubles: Biss/Ismanescu (MSU) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 6-3
● Singles 1: Bucurescu (UM) def. Biss (MSU) 3-6, 6-4, 7-5
● Singles 2: Ismanescu (MSU) def. Watkins (UM) 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Main Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Lucas Kimelman/Tannor Bindor (UP) def. Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) 3-0
● Doubles: Kimelman/Bindor (UP) def. Townes/Wilkinson (UM) 6-2
● Singles 1: Kimelman (UP) def. Townes (UM )6-4, 6-3
● Singles 2: Bindor (UP) def. Wilkinson (UM) 6-4, 6-2
FRIDAY, Sept. 11 | Consolation Draw, Quarterfinal Round
Sam Wensley/Tyler Dalos (ISU) def. Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) 3-0
● Doubles: Dalos/Wensley (ISU) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 3-0
● Singles 1: Dalos (ISU) def. Watkins (UM) 6-2, 6-3
● Singles 2: Wensley (ISU) def. Bucurescu (UM) 7-6, 6-3
SATURDAY, Sept. 12 | Pickup Matches
Joseph Townes/Johnny Wilkinson (UM) def. Yassin Elaroussy/Max Elijah Calaquian (MSU) 2-1
● Doubles: Townes/Wilkinson (UM) def. Elaroussy/Calaquian (MSU) 7-6(10)
● Singles 1: Elaroussy (MSU) def. Townes (UM) walkover
● Singles 2: Wilkinson (UM) def. Calaquian (MSU) 6-1, 4-6, 10-6
Dragos Bucurescu/Jake Watkins (UM) def. Eli Noel/Gian Manhas (UP) 2-1
● Doubles: Noel/Manhas (UP) def. Bucurescu/Watkins (UM) 7-6(6)
● Singles 1: Bucurescu (UM) def. Noel (UP) 6-4, 6-2
● Singles 2: Watkins (UM) def. Manhas (UP) 7-5, 6-2
Legend:
BSU = Boise State
BYU = Brigham Young
UI = Idaho
ISU = Idaho State
UM = Montana
MSU = Montana State
UP = Portland
USU = Utah State
WSU = Weber State
Players Mentioned
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