West Allis, WI, WPH Press, 12/3/23
The Wisconsin Athletic Club played host to the 2023 Milwaukee Classic, one of the Midwest’s premier tournaments featuring 137 players in fourteen divisions.
Twenty-two time Race 4 Eight champion and current Race 4 Eight Player’s Champion Killian Carroll and six-time Race 4 Eight champion and current Race 4 Eight #2 Martin Mulkerrins headlined a strong Men’s Open field that also included R48 #8 Sam Esser, SR48 #2 Bill Mehilos, Mankato Race 4 Eight pros Jab Bike, Mark Doyle and Ray Ure, St. Louis’s Race star Jeff Streibig and a number of other contenders. The Women’s Open also featured a deep draw, with Megan Dorneker, Clodagh Munroe and Taylor Bell headlining the sixteen-player field.
Men’s Open Singles
Top-seeded and defending champion Martin Mulkerrins marched to the final with comprehensive quarterfinal and semifinal wins against Race 4 Eight pros Jeff Streibig and Mark Doyle.
Killian Carroll was dominant in the bottom half of the draw, defeating the Midwest’s Dave Munson in the quarterfinal and Ray Ure in the semifinals following Ure’s impressive quarterfinal sweep against Sam Esser.
Mulkerrins and Carroll dazzled the appreciative West Allis galleries with handball at its highest level, blasting power drives, incredible retrieves and bottom board kills.
“The match was played at a very high intensity throughout and most mistakes were punished but overall Killian served and played better and deserved the win today,” stated Mulkerrins.
“Killian was serving the ball great and he was making some incredible gets like he always does,” stated Race 4 Eight pro and WPH correspondent Jab Bike. “It’s always fun to watch them play against one another.”
Semifinals
Mulkerrins def Doyle 21-8, 21-12
Carroll def Ure 21-14, 21-6
Final: Carroll def Mulkerrins 21-17, 21-16
Women’s Open Singles
Megan Dorneker entered the Milwaukee Classic as the top seed and allowed just three points in her first two matched en route to the semifinals. Dorneker faced a stern test from fellow Lake Forester Emma Kinane. After taking the first game of the semifinal, Kinane rallied to even the match. Dorneker pulled away in the tiebreaker to advance to the final.
WR48 #6 Clodagh Munroe had little trouble in the bottom half of the draw, cruising past Audrey Peters and Carly Munson to meet Dorneker in the final.
Munroe clinched one of the biggest titles of her career in the final, defeating the future hall of famer in two games.
“I feel like I got my z serve down pretty well and she was struggling a bit on the return,” stated Munroe. “I also was killing the ball a lot better and was taking my chances when I was set up. I’ve been trying to stay more focused and composed in the game and that has worked well for me. I haven’t been giving out to myself also.”
“Clodagh played really well, consistent,” reported Bike. “Megan has a lot of power and used it well but Clodagh was able to control most of the rallies in game one. Megan almost came back in game two. There were a good amount of long rallies. Both players served well but Clodagh probably served better between the two.”
Semifinals
Dorneker def Kinane 21-7, 14-21, 11-5
Munroe def C. Munson 21-4, 21-8
Final: Munroe def Dorneker 21-8, 21-18
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 2023 Milwaukee Classic HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer