From the Graduation Stage to the National Stage
By: joe Rafter
By: Joe Rafter
AUBURN, Ala.--- Gabe Puthoff recently completed his undergraduate degree in secondary education with a focus in social studies. While most graduates would take a few weeks after graduation to celebrate this accomplishment, Puthoff is right back to the grind but not in the classroom. He is shifting his focus to the tennis courts.
In April he traveled to Orlando, Florida where he was able to claim a spot in the National Semifinal for the A-Division of the Intercollegiate Wheelchair Tennis division which will be played this coming weekend in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Oklahoma State University.
The wheelchair athletes will be participating at the same time as their able bodied counterparts as a part of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association and NCAA’s efforts to include adaptive athletes.
Puthoff enters the weekend as the fourth seed but he still likes his odds to claim the national title.
“I am very confident in my abilities going into the first round on Friday.” Puthoff said when asked about how he is feeling going into the semifinals.
He will face off against the number one seed Martha Harris from the University of Alabama who he lost to in Orlando for the first time this season.
Nick Tijerina (University of Houston) will face off against Eric Court (University of Arizona).
To prepare for the big weekend Puthoff and his coach Nathan Waters traveled to Texas this past weekend to get some warm up matches under his belt.
Puthoff has not played a real match since he qualified for the Semi’s in April so he was happy to be back out on the court.
“I won my first matchup pretty easily,” Puthoff said. “I lost my next matchup 6-4, 6-1.”
While Puthoff lost to Jose Arriaga, he did see improvement from the beginning of the season.
“I have lost to him 6-1,6-0 before,” Puthoff said about his second round matchup, “So there has been improvement.”
While there is not much time left before his match on Friday, he has been making the most of his preparation.
“I got back last Monday, we have been doing two-a-days everyday plus the tournament this past weekend,” Puthoff said. “ We go from 8-9:30 AM then 3:30-5:00 PM.”
Not only is he putting in hours on the court, he has also been watching film of his opponents.
“I watched Martha and Eric’s match from Orlando just the other day and Nick and Eric’s matchup last week,” Puthoff said.
Winning the championship would be a huge accomplishment for Puthoff but he wants to do it more for the program than himself.
“It will make kids want to come here because it will show them what they can do here,” Puthoff said, “ Alabama has won the last couple of championships but they didn’t this year so now it is kind of our time to become the top-dog.”
Puthoff will be in action on Friday and the match should be found through this link Track Tennis