The name Tom Wynne and UND tennis go hand-in-hand. Entering his 30th year as UND's head coach in 2020-21 season, Wynne has carved out a tradition of athletic and academic success for the North Dakota tennis program. He announced in June 2020, that the 30th season would be his last as he would retire at the conclusion of the year.
In the 29 years that have preceeded it, Wynne has seen it all. Including last year (2019-20), when play was halted midway through the championship portion of the schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic. On the men's side, the Fighting Hawks were having a statement season and were on pace to shatter multiple program records. UND ended the year with a 9-2 mark, the best winning percentage in school history, while also rattling off a program-record nine straight victories and finishing a perfect 2-0 in Summit League play. Freshman Andreja Petrovic became the first freshman in program history to win his first nine singles matches and ended the year with a 9-1 mark at the top spot. Fellow newcomer Johnatan Parat also became the first Fighting Hawk to finish a singles season with an undefeated mark at 10-0.
On the women's side, a young UND squad was just rounding into shape as the season came to a halt, finishing with a 4-4 record. The Hawks closed the year by winning four of their final five matches, including a pair of home victories and a comeback triumph over Kansas City. A pair of freshman Swedes, Frida Soko and Andrea Jansson, led the way combined for 10 singles victories while senior Kaede Amano won three matches at the top position.
He took both of his programs to new heights in their first year as a Summit League program in 2018-19, helped the UND women's tennis team advance to the Summit League Tournament and earn a second-place finish in the regular season standings. Three Fighting Hawks earned all-conference honors, including Preethi Kasilingam, who became the first player in program history, men's or women's, to earn 100 career victories at the program. Fellow teammates Isa Sullivan and Kaede Amano were also named to the all-league team.
On the men's side, the Fighting Hawks set a program record with a Division I record 11 wins and just missed the postseason. Freshman Nejc Sitar was named the Summit League's Newcomer of the Year and helped UND finish fifth in the league standings.
During the 2016-17 season, the UND women's tennis team reached new heights, earning the program's first trip to the Big Sky Conference Championships, with a seventh-place finish in the conference standings.
When UND joined the Big Sky Conference beginning in the 2012-13 season, North Dakota brought back men's tennis, this time at the NCAA Division I level. Wynne guided both squads as they began competing in the new conference. In the spring of 2014, UND earned its first Big Sky Conference awards as Callie Ronkowski was named to the All-Big Sky Second Team and Ryan McGuigan was named one-of-two Big Sky Scholar Athletes.
In 2011-12, UND's last season in the Great West Conference, the women's squad concluded the year with a 2-18 record. The young UND team was led by sophomore Stephanie Petsis who won a team-high nine matches, all at the No. 1 singles position, and was named to the All-GWC First Team.
In 2010-11, Wynne's squad advanced to its second straight Great West Conference championship match, earning league runner-up honors. Sophomores Chelsey Galipeau and Hallie Welk and freshman Stephanie Biehn were named to the All-GWC Second Team, tying UND for the most selections in the league. Welk and fellow sophomores Erin Kappers and Megan Sween were named to the GWC Winter/Spring All-Academic Team, while Galipeau was named UND's Female Sioux Service Award winner (all sports).
In 2009-10, Wynne led the Sioux to the Great West Conference championship match while placing three student-athletes on the All-GWC team: seniors Katie Callison and Emma Larson, and freshman Erin Kappers. Callison and Larson, the team's only upperclassmen, were also named to the GWC Spring All-Academic Team.
In 2008-09, Wynne guided UND through its first season of Division I tennis while maintaining the program's high standards, on and off the court. On the court, the Sioux posted a 10-10 record. In the classroom, Wynne's squad maintained the highest grade point average (3.654) of any UND team. Four student-athletes -- seniors Emily Callison and Katie Wessman,junior Katie Callison and freshman Tiffany Reisenauer -- were named Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) Scholar-Athletes. Wessman, Katie Callison and junior Molly Maurer were named to the 2009 Great West Conference Winter/Spring All-Academic team.
Wynne guided UND to North Central Conference championships in 2008, 2004 and 2003 and NCAA Division II postseason appearances in each of the program's final seven seasons of DII competition.
A four-year letterwinner at UND, in 1979 Wynne led the Fighting Sioux to their first NCC title in 42 years. After graduating with a journalism degree in 1978, Wynne played professional tennis on the Marlboro Tour in France in 1980. He served as an assistant coach for five seasons, leading UND to conference titles in 1984 and 1985. Wynne was then named head coach of both men's and women's teams in 1986, a position he held until 1990 when the tennis programs were discontinued. When women's tennis returned to UND in 1998, Wynne was named head coach.
In 2000 Wynne and his brother, Tim Wynne, were named winners of the Word Burton Junior Development Award for their work with local junior tennis program. The award is given out annually by the United States Tennis Association (USTA) Northern Section to individuals or organizations that promote and achieve success in the development of junior tennis players.
A Grand Forks native, Wynne was the NCC's No. 1 singles champion in 1976 and was runner-up in 1975 and 1977. He also qualified for the NCAA national tournament in 1977.
Wynne was inducted to the University of North Dakota Athletic Hall of Fame in 1999.
