Box Score PEORIA, Ill. – They were the No. 3 seed coming in, the champions going out.
 
Cornell juniors Alexander Hadler-Strumlauf and Federico Polidori earned a pair of tough 8-6 wins on their way to claiming the No. 1 doubles title at Sunday's Midwest Conference Men's Tennis Individual Championships at The Clubs at River City.
 
Cornell's top doubles pair rallied for an 8-6 victory over Ripon's fifth-seeded Drew Jorgensen and Caleb Sippel in the championship match. Hadler-Strumlauf and Polidori overcame a 6-3 deficit, winning the final five games to take the title and earn first team all-MWC honors.
 
Hadler-Strumlauf and Polidori rolled 8-2 over Illinois College in the quarterfinal. Cornell's duo then sprung an 8-6 semifinal upset over Lake Forest, which had beaten the Rams' tandem twice this month, including Friday's semifinal dual.
 
"This is a culmination of all the hard work Alex and Federico have put in this season," Cornell head coach Trent Schneider said. "It was very cool to see them click and play their best tennis at the end of the year."
 
Hadler-Strumlauf and Polidori improved to 17-11 as partners this season. They became Cornell's third MWC No. 1 doubles champions in the past five contested Championships. Shoma Kishimoto coupled with Hayden Dzurisin for the title in 2018, and Gabriel Souza for the crown in 2017. The Rams also won No. 1 doubles in 1976 (Brad Wright/Scott Haymond).
 
First-year Zachary Ong was voted the MWC's Newcomer of the Year after a strong rookie season in which he recorded 32 total wins. Ong advanced to the semifinals at No. 3 singles and finished the year at 17-12. He compiled a 15-14 doubles mark.
 
Ong and first-year Jackson Smock went 1-1 in the No. 2 doubles flight this weekend. They fell 8-3 to No. 2 seed Lake Forest in the semifinals. Edwin Holyoake and August Krahn reached the No. 3 doubles semifinals, where they lost 8-2 to Lake Forest.
 
Cornell fielded semifinalists in all six singles brackets. Hadler-Strumlauf prevailed in three sets in his opening match at No. 1 before dropping a 6-4, 6-1 semifinal decision to eventual champion Oleksyi Vyshyvanyuk of Lake Forest.
 
Polidori at No. 2, Ong at No. 3, Holyoake at No. 4, Smock at No. 5 and Krahn at No. 6 all came up one win short of advancing to the finals in their respective singles draws.
 
Hadler-Strumlauf concluded a strong campaign with 32 total wins, tying Ong for the team lead. Polidori racked up 27 total victories.