Boe-Wiegaard wins NCAA tennis title

Bates College senior Will Boe-Wiegaard captured the NCAA Division III men’s singles tennis championship Monday morning by defeating Middlebury College senior Brian Waldron 6-4, 6-3 in Fredericksburg, Va.

He became the first Bates NCAA champion in any sport outside of track and field.

The four-time All-American from Georgetown, Conn., was unseeded in the 32-player field but upset the No. 1 (Matt Seeberger of UC-Santa Clara), No. 2 (Waldron), and No. 8 (MIT senior Evan Tindell) seeds.

All three had beaten Waldron in previous meetings as had Middlebury senior Nate Edmunds, whom he eliminated in the semis.

Boe-Wiegaard, the national runner-up a year ago, concluded his senior season with a 25-6 mark in singles play.

“It hasn’t really hit me yet, but I know this is a dream come true,” said Boe-Wiegaard in a press release issued by the school. “I actually have mixed emotions because I can’t believe it’s over.”

He also teamed with Tristan Beach to reach the quarterfinals in doubles. Boe-Wiegaard played five singles and two doubles matches in less than three days.

Dinardo will replace Shelley

Matt Lundin isn’t the only University of Maine men’s hockey team goalie leaving the program.

Third-string goalie Ryan Shelley from Gray won’t return to the team next season and will be replaced by Dominic Dinardo of Glenburn.

Lundin, who shared the goaltending with Ben Bishop until Bishop won the No. 1 job late in the season, announced recently he was going to play in the United States (Junior) Hockey League next season and then look to move on to another Division I school.

Shelley was the No. 3 goalie for two seasons.

He never played in a game but did practice regularly with the team.

Dinardo, a former John Bapst of Bangor and Bangor High School goalie, was the No. 4 goalie this past season, earning the job via walk-on tryouts.

He practiced with the team only when one of the other three goalies wasn’t available.

“We’re going to miss Ryan a lot,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “He was a great team player for us. He would stay out [at practice] until the last puck was picked up. He was willing to work after hours to help others improve. At the same time, he improved.”

Whitehead said he expects Shelley to return to school and concentrate on academics.

The Maine coach is looking forward to having Dinardo on board.

“He will be a real good addition for us,” said Whitehead. “He’s a hard-working kid with a very good attitude. The guys got to know him a little bit this year.”

Dinardo captained the now-defunct Brewer-based Penbay Mariners of the Continental (Junior) Hockey Association in 2004 before the Mariners folded.