Griz make historic runs at ITA Mountain Regional

Monday, October 5

Provo, Utah

All Day

Montana

ITA Mountain Regional

10/11/2026 5:10:00 PM | Men's Tennis

Complete Results

By: Montana Sports Information

MISSOULA - The Montana men's tennis team put in a historic performance against the best in the west at this year's ITA Mountain Regional Championship at BYU in Provo over the weekend.

The Grizzlies advanced deeper in the brackets than ever before at the premier event of the fall season, with both a singles player and doubles team coming within one win of a trip to the NCAA Championships.

Sophomore Matt Upton made the deepest singles run in Montana history, picking up four wins against the region's top competition to earn a place in the tournament semifinal, highlighted by a straight-set win over Utah's No. 1 player.

Upton again made Griz history in doubles with his partner Duncan McCall who teamed up to advance all the way to the main draw title match where they pushed the first set to a tiebreaker before eventually falling to the tourney's No. 1 seed from UNLV.

The Grizzlies were the only team out of the 15 schools represented at the tournament to see a player through to the doubles final and singles semifinal. Other programs competing included Air Force, Boise State, BYU, Denver, Idaho, Idaho State, Montana State, Nevada, UNLV, New Mexico, NAU, Utah, Utah State and Weber State.

"It really was a phenomenal weekend for the Griz. Outside of our two conference championships, I feel like this was a pinnacle moment in the growth of this program, and I really think it will set the tone for our season in the spring. I'm just incredibly proud," said head coach Jason Brown.

"We just had great energy and great fight all week. I think it showed some of the newer guys and guys lower in the lineup what it takes to compete at that level. We didn't win a singles match at last year's regional, so to have more Grizzlies around than any other school at the end of the tournament was a really cool feeling, and I want to make it an annual occurrence if we can."

Upton, a 2025 second-team All-Big Sky honoree in both singles and doubles and UM's second winningest individual, has been on a tear since the end of his freshman season with several wins in Europe over the summer and two semifinal appearances in tournaments so far this fall.

He opened the regional tournament with a win over the No. 10-seeded Ander Tarrio Ponte from Denver (6-3, 7-5) and followed that up with a Big Sky win over Idaho State's Justin Ilic (6-4, 6-2) to punch his ticket to the main draw round of 16.

He then picked up two more wins, beating Utah's top-line player Emmett Potter in straight sets (6-4, 6-4) and Boise State No. 1 Filip Soderqvist in the quarterfinal, bouncing back from a first-set tiebreaker loss to win 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4.

His dream run came to an end against the tournament's No. 4 overall seed Xavier Calvel of Utah State in the semifinal.

"Matt has had a good fall, and I think he was expecting to play well, but watching him compete was really exciting. Even in the semifinal he had a real shot. It was a close, high-level match. Hats off to his opponent from Utah State who played just a pinch better in a couple of the critical points, but it was razor thin," Brown said.

"He played three doubles for us as a freshman last year so it's really impressive that he's playing at the highest levels of doubles in the region now. His learning curve has been so steep."

In the doubles bracket Upton and McCall were at the same time pairing up to make another deep run of their own throughout the week, before falling in the title match. They highlighted an overall strong performance from the Griz, who had three pairs earn round of 64 wins.

Upton and McCall started the tournament with a win over Idaho State's Vujacic/Ciguenza pair 8-2 before upsetting Denver's Davies/Tarrio Ponte pair 8-3 to make the round of 16. There they took down Utah State's Lange/Nobel pair 8-5, and in the quarterfinal beat Boise State's Orgiles/Pougault pair 8-4.

In the semifinal they again took out a pair of Bengals, beating Sep De Visser and Timo De Visser convincingly 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the title match. They met their match in a tight championship battle against UNLV's Maksimovic/Karakas pair, dropping a first set tiebreaker 7-6(4) before falling 6-3 in the second.

The run was especially impressive for McCall (the 2025 Big Sky Freshman of the Year and the No. 7 ranked doubles player in the Mountain Region in 2026) who was playing his first competitive tennis in five months after coming back from a foot injury.

"To make a run to the doubles final in his first event back, and to have a real shot at winning it against a great UNLV squad was amazingly good. No shame in either of those losses for Matt and Duncan. You can't be ashamed of losses in spots you've never been," said Brown.

"There's nothing better when your two hardest workers and your two most dedicated guys get the best results. It was really fun to just see them shine on the biggest stage we have in the fall, and they're going to get rewarded with another chance to qualify for the NCAAs because of their efforts."

The two singles finalists and doubles winner at regional tournaments around the country automatically punched their ticket to the NCAA Fall Championship Tournament in Athens, Georgia, Nov. 17-22.

As two of the other top-four finishers at regionals, Upton and McCall will now get another chance to qualify for the NCAA tourney with a place in the bracket at the West ITA Sectional Championships at Arizona State in Phoenix Nov. 5-8. The West Sectional gathers the top finishers from the Mountain, Northwest and Southwest regions to battle it out for six singles and three doubles slots in Athens.

"The dream of the NCAAs didn't die on Saturday for these boys, and rightfully so. They've earned a shot at competing in the national championship because they're playing at that kind of level right now," Brown said.

Montana Singles Results

Main Draw R64
Timo Meyer (UM) def. Rafael Maya (ISU) 6-3, 5-7, 6-3
Eliot Nobel (USU) def. Duncan McCall (UM) 6-2, 3-6, 6-2
Theo Coats (DU) def. Darrshan Suresh Kumar (UM) 6-2, 6-3
Matt Upton (UM) def. [10] Ander Tarrio Ponte (DU) 6-3, 7-5

Main Draw R32
Samuel Rovi (DU) def. Timo Meyer (UM) 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-5
Matt Upton (UM) def. Justin Ilic (ISU) 6-4, 6-2

Main Draw R16
Matt Upton (UM) def. Emmett Potter (UU) 6-4, 6-4

Main Draw Quarterfinal
Matt Upton (UM) def. Filip Soderqvist (BSU) 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-4

Main Draw Semifinal
[4] Xavier Calvelo (USU) def. Matt Upton (UM) 6-3, 7-5

Qualifying Draw R64
Joseph Townes (UM) def. Roberto Hernandez (UNLV) 6-2, 6-1
Samuel Pohl (UNLV) def. Jake Watkins (UM) 6-0, 6-3
Lenny Haddad (UNLV) def. Johnny Wilkinson (UM) 6-4, 7-6(5)
Connor Dils (UNM) def. Mason McCarty (UM) 6-3, 6-2

Qualifying Draw R32
Gabriel Moroder (UI) def. Joseph Townes (UM) 6-2, 6-2

Extra Matches 10/7
Jake Watkins (UM) def. Oliver Mesicek (UU) 6-4, 6-4
Mason McCarty (UM) def. Jack Calleri (ISU) 6-2, 6-0

Extra Matches 10/8
Ibrahim Snoussi (UN) def. Darrshan Suresh Kumar (UM) 6-4, 6-3
Mason McCarty (UM) def. Roberto Hernandez (UNLV) 7-5, 6-4
Juan Jose Neira Rodriguez (UNM) def. Jake Watkins (UM) 6-1, 6-1
Daniels Tens (NAU) def. Johnny Wilkinson (UM) 6-4, 6-4

Extra Matches 10/9
Joel Gibson (UNLV) def. Johnny Wilkinson (UM) 6-4, 6-2
Otto Schreiner (BYU) def. Mason McCarty (UM) 4-6, 7-6(5), 1-0(7)
Philip Bosin (UNM) def. Jake Watkins (UM) 6-2, 6-2
Darrshan Suresh Kumar (UM) def. Connor Dils (UNM) 6-1, 6-2
Julius Seifert (BSU) def. Timo Meyer (UM) 6-4, 6-3

Montana Doubles Results

Main Draw R64
Julius Seifert/Eyad Reda Ezzat Mohamed Sherif (BSU) def. Joseph Townes/Jake Watkins (UM) 8-3
Timo Meyer/Darrshan Suresh Kumar (UM) def. Justin Ilic/Lewie Bouman (ISU) 8-5
Johnny Wilkinson/Mason McCarty (UM) def. Matthew Staton/Jaden Woller-Li (AF) 8-5
Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) def. Luka Vujacic/Hayden Ciguenza (ISU) 8-2

Main Draw R32
Stewart Aronson/Filip Soderqvist (BSU) def. Timo Meyer/Darrshan Suresh Kumar (UM) 8-4
Jakub Jedrzejczak/Vincent Vohl (NAU) def. Johnny Wilkinson/Mason McCarty (UM) 8-3
Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) def. Dylan Davies/Ander Tarrio Ponte (DU) 8-3

Main Draw R16
Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) def. Alvar Lange/Eliot Nobel (USU) 8-5

Man Draw Quarterfinal
Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) def. Izan Orgiles/Arsene Pougault (BSU) 8-4

Main Draw Semifinal
Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) def. Sep De Visser/Timo De Visser (ISU) 6-4, 6-2

Main Draw Final
[1] Marko Maksimovic/Kemai Arda Karakas (UNLV) def. Matt Upton/Duncan McCall (UM) 7-6(4), 6-3

Teams Represented
AF        Air Force
BSU     Boise State
BYU     Brigham Young
DU       Denver
UI        Idaho
ISU       Idaho State
UM      Montana
MSU    Montana State
UN       Nevada
UNLV   Nevada Las Vegas
UNM   New Mexico
NAU     Northern Arizona
UU       Utah
USU     Utah State
WSU    Weber State