WPH Press, College Station, TX, Texas A&M University, 10/15/23
The Texas A&M University Handball Club was thrilled to present the Jack Gressett R48 Pre Qualifier in College Station, TX at the Student Rec Center, featuring 75 players from Texas, Missouri and Ireland, including current R48 #21 Diarmuid Mulkerrins.
“We were very excited to host the Jack Gressett R48 Pre Qualifier at the Student Rec Center at Texas A&M showcasing many of the game’s top stars and highlighting our growing collegiate handball program at Texas A&M,” stated Mulkerrins. “This Aggieland Classic honored Jack Gressett for his significant contributions to the Texas A&M Handball Club as both a player and coach for decades. It was fitting to have a large entry to the event with 76 participants across all divisions and Texas A&M having more than thirty students playing in the tournament.”
Men’s Pre-Qualifier Singles
The Men’s Pre-Qualifier produced some very exciting match ups with overtime being required in multiple matches. Number one seed Diarmuid Mulkerrins reached the final by beating Jeff Wall and Meleci Gonzalez without dropping a game.
Holden Smith had a more dramatic route to the final, which included a tiebreaker win against Trey Safford and another tiebreaker win against fellow UT alumni, Nate Frank, in the semifinal. Having lost game one and finding himself 14-10 behind in game two, Smith battled back to win 16-14 and force the tiebreaker.
Two tiebreaker wins for Smith took a lot of energy and having to play the final the same day was a bridge too far, especially with Mulkerrins making some exceptional “picks,” as well as serving and killing well. Mulkerrins went on to take the match in two straight games, 15-7, 15-1.
Final: D. Mulkerrins def H. Smith 15-7, 15-1
Women’s Open Singles
The top two seeded players in the Women’s Open, Kristen Hughes and Aoife Holden, swept through their respective quarterfinal and semifinal opponents to meet in a second Texas final in three weeks, with Hughes defeating Holden in a tiebreaker at the Austin City Championships (HERE). Holden clinched game one 15-13 and led 12-9 in game two and it appeared Holden would take the match. However, Hughes had other plans, and found another gear to produce an impressive comeback to win game two 15-13. Hughes would carry this momentum into the tiebreaker to win 11-3.
Final: Hughes def Holden 13-15, 15-13, 11-3
Honors and Hospitality
Texas A&M Handball Club wanted to remember the significant contributions made by Stan Lowy to handball at the University and commissioned a plaque in his memory. The plaque will be engraved with the winners of the Men’s and Women’s Open singles titles of all Aggie Classics going forward. Diarmuid Mulkerrins and Kristen Hughes will be the first to have their names on the plaque.
All participants gathered for some BBQ after the finals and listened to stories about Stan and his life from his son, Lance Lowy. Jack Gressett also addressed the group and spoke about how he started in handball and some of his fond memories he has through handball.
Thank you to Martin Mulkerrins for hosting, organizing and directing the Jack Gressett R48 Pre Qualifier.
Follow all of the results from the Jack Gressett R48 Pre Qualifier HERE
Since 2017, R48 Pre Qualifiers have been held in Pittsburgh, Tucson, Austin, L.A., San Francisco, Salt Lake City, and Portland, creating tremendous excitement for players and fans. The WPH is proud to provide extensive promotion, real-time and post coverage of all R48 Pre Qualifiers.
Martin Mulkerrins
WPH Correspondent