The Barton County Community College men's team competed this past weekend at the Southwest JUCO hosted by Collin College in Plano, Texas.
The No. 1 duo of Samrakshyak Bajracharya and Eduardo Morais led the 7th ranked Cougar results of the two-day tournament with a second place finish, winning their semifinal match by an 8-4 score before dropping the title 8-2.
Barton earned a trio of third place finishes, two in singles play and one in doubles action.
Morais dropped to the No. 3 singles third place match following an 11-9 third set loss after taking the first 6-2 but forced to the deciding set after losing the second 6-3.
No. 5 player Barnabas Kalaba began his day with a 6-4, 6-0 win before losing in the semifinals by twin 6-2 scores.
The Cougars' other third place finish came from the No. 2 doubles tandem of Kalaba and James Kaoma after losing 8-4 in the semis.
Kaoma and Victor Pestana took fourth overall in the No. 2 and No. 4 spots respectively, each dropping a pair of 6-2 losses in the semifinals. Kaoma had a tough quarterfinal victory of 6-4, 4-6, 10-8 while Pestana had a quarterfinal bye before taking the court for the first time with the semifinal loss.
Bajracharya finished fifth overall in the No. 1 singles draw but was impressive in doing so. Dropping to the consolation side 6-2, 6-0 to one of the top players in the nation, Bajracharya lost just six more games in his next four sets, winning his first consolation match 6-3, 6-2 before nearly shutting out his fifth place opponent by 6-0, 6-1 scores.
Sixth place finishers in singles action were Leonel Caspe in the No. 6 slot, Yordi Ponce in the No. 7, and Felipe Serrate in the 8th spot.
Barton also had a pair of sixth place doubles finishes, Pestana and Ponce in the No. 3 and Caspe and Serrate in the No. 4.
Barton returns to conference action for its next meet, traveling to Liberal on Saturday for a 1:00 p.m. first serve against 3rd ranked Seward County Community College.