West Allis, WI, WPH Press, 12/4/22
The Wisconsin Athletic Club played host to the 2022 Milwaukee Classic, one of the Midwest’s premier tournaments featuring 133 players in fourteen divisions.
Three-time R48 champion and current R48 Player’s Champion Martin Mulkerrins headlined a strong 20-player Men’s Open field, as Mulkerrins aimed to bounce back from his first loss of the 2022/23 R48 season in the finals of the 2022 Tucson Memorial.
Hometown favorites Aimee Tuohey and Megan Dorneker headlined the 10-player Women’s Open singles field that included a number of the game’s top collegiate stars.
Men’s Open Singles
Mulkerrins cruised to the final with a quarterfinal win against compatriot Shane Dunne and a two-game semifinal sweep against the resurgent Keven Pettus. Sean Lenning met Mulkerrins in the final, having ousted Jeff Streibig in three games in the quarterfinals and newly minted R48 pro Mark Doyle in the semifinals.
Mulkerrins clinched his first Milwaukee Open title with a two-game sweep against Lenning in the final. “As always it was a tough match with Sean,” stated Mulkerrins. “I had a big lead in game one, 17-5, and Sean came back to 15-18 and then I hit some good serves to win the first. Game two was tied at seven and thankfully I got a run to 13-7 and then 18-12 before getting the last three points.”
Semifinals
Lenning def Doyle 21-9, 21-3
Mulkerrins def Pettus 21-6, 21-13
Final: Mulkerrins def Lenning 21-15, 21-12
Women’s Open Singles
Aimee Tuohey met Megan Dorneker in the final, with the two stars meeting to determine the best in the Midwest. AT took a close first game against the Chicago legend and cruised in game two to repeat as the Milwaukee Open champion.
Final: Tuohey def Dorneker 21-16, 21-6
Thank you to tournament director Jeffrey Werstein and all of the volunteers and players for an outstanding event at the Wisconsin Athletic Club.
Follow all of the brackets from the 2022 Milwaukee Classic HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer