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The College of Wooster men’s tennis team enjoyed a banner year in 1994 as the program qualified as a team for the NCAA Div. III Championship for the first time ever and ended the year ranked 12th in the national poll, the highest end-of-year ranking in program history. Warren Cham-A-Koon anchored that team holding down the first singles and doubles flights as a junior, and earned All-American honors in both. In fact, Cham-A-Koon’s four All-American certificates rank as the most in program history.
Cham-A-Koon’s success at the national level started during the individual tournament portion of the 1994 national championships. In doubles, Cham-A-Koon and James Weaver advanced to the quarterfinals with an impressive 7-6 (3), 6-2 win over Emory University’s sixth-seeded tandem in the second round, before bowing out during a three-set back-and-forth thriller.
In the singles competition, Cham-A-Koon advanced to the round of 16, and earned a second All-American certificate before dropping a tightly-contested three-set match. Notable, Cham-A-Koon became the second student-athlete in program history to earn All-American certificates in singles and doubles.
During the team dual-match portion of the national championship, Cham-A-Koon went a combined 3-2 between singles and doubles. Wooster went 1-2 as a team and placed 11th in the highly-competitive field.
A year later, Cham-A-Koon’s success came in singles, where he advanced to the quarterfinals at the national championships without dropping a single set in his first three matches. Notable, in the third round, Cham-A-Koon topped the fourth-ranked student-athlete in the competition 6-4, 6-4. Cham-A-Koon and partner Joe Jenckes were unable to repeat the Scots’ success from a year prior in doubles and bowed out in the first round.
“Warren was a good teammate and could play with anyone,” said Hayden Schilling, Wooster’s head coach at the time, when highlighting Cham-A-Koon’s doubles success.
Cham-A-Koon earned all-North Coast Athletic Conference laurels in all four years he competed in both singles and doubles, and ended his career as the NCAC Player of the Year in 1995. He later went on to earn a spot on the NCAC 20th Anniversary All-Decade Team in both singles and doubles.
For his career, Cham-A-Koon won 122 matches, a mark sixth in the program annals. He ranks fifth all-time with 56 doubles triumphs, while his 66 singles wins rank seventh.
“Warren was able to get to the top once he got into the swing of things,” added Schilling. “He had quite an advantage with the ability to play indoors in one of the few indoor facilities in Montana. He is one of the greats (in program history), who could easily have played Div. I tennis at competitive schools.”
In fact, Cham-A-Koon almost played Div. I tennis as he was set to attend Ohio University, but the Bobcats dropped their men’s tennis program, and Wooster was next on his list.
After graduating from the College with a bachelor’s degree in studio art, Cham-A-Koon briefly played in professional futures events and then started a painting business that is still his primary employment to this day. He also is certified by the U.S. Professional Tennis Association and spent 10 years giving back to the sport by teaching lessons. Today, Cham-A-Koon remains an avid player, and enjoys art as a hobby.
Personally, Cham-A-Koon is married to Hannah and still calls Great Falls, Mont., his home.