Maverick Men’s Club Handball Team Wins National Title, Women's Team Finishes Second
Mavericks combine for second-place overall men's/women's finish.
Mankato, Minn. – The Minnesota State University, Mankato men’s club handball team won its first-ever open division national title, and the Maverick women’s handball team finished second nationally at the 67th annual United States Handball Association’s National Collegiate Handball Championships, held Feb. 20-25 in Minneapolis.
The men’s team beat the University of Texas by a score of 2,148-2,118 to win the national title.
The top six players score towards the team score. Tyler Stoffel, Michael Gaulton, Adrian Anderson, Clay Edwards, Sam Ure and Matt Johnson scored for the Maverick men’s team. Stoffel and Gaulton earned All-American honors.
The Maverick women’s team finished runner-up to Missouri State University by a score of 2,287-2,232. Scoring for the Maverick women’s team were: Ciana Ni Churraoin, Carina Aguilar, Kendra Kaupa, Maddie Kennedy, Courtney Sill and Crystal Theobald. Ni Churraoin and Aguilar earned All-American honors.
In the combined championship, the Mavericks finished runner-up to Missouri State by a score of 4,382-4,380, a one-match difference, in the closest score in the history of the event.
Individually, several Mavericks placed in their divisions:
• Ni Churraoin won the women’s open singles over Dublin City University’s Fiona Tully 21-5, 21-16.
• Ni Churraoin and Aguilar won the women’s open doubles over Dublin City University’s Tully and M Ni Dhalaig 21-15, 15-21, 11-6.
• Stoffel finished runner-up in the men’s open singles losing to University College Dublin’s Galen Riordan 18-21, 21-8, 11-3.
• Theobald finished runner-up in the women’s A2 singles losing to University of Alberta’s Erin Lovie, 21-5, 16-21, 11-4.
• Matt Johnson and Andrew Unick finished runner-up in the men’s B doubles losing to Stony Brook University’s Yang and Han, 21-5, 21-7.
The tournament was held at the University of Minnesota’s Recreation and Wellness Center.
For more information, contact Minnesota State Mankato handball coach Mike Wells by email at michael.wells@mnsu.edu.
The Minnesota State Mankato handball club is one of the sport clubs offered through the University’s Office of Campus Recreation.
The mission of the Office of Campus Recreation is to promote long-term healthy lifestyle behavior through participation in multi-faceted recreational, educational and leisure opportunities.
Minnesota State Mankato, a comprehensive university with 14,227 students, is part of the Minnesota State system, which includes 30 colleges and seven universities.
