Nicholas Romano and Connor Mogle have been teammates for almost a decade – first on the college tennis team at Spring Arbor University near Jackson, Michigan, and now as up-and-coming pickleball players.

In late September they secured their biggest win yet together, winning gold at The Kitchen Open Austin and the $25,000 check that comes with it.

The duo went undefeated in pool play and didn’t drop a game in any of their four bracket matches in the "open" division of almost 50 top amateur teams. The final rounds of bracket play were held at The Kitchen HQ near downtown Austin -- check out highlights here or find a replay on The Kitchen YouTube page.

Nearly 400 players competed across all divisions over the four-day event — many connecting and organizing games through PlayTime Scheduler, The Kitchen’s community parter for recreational play and tournament promotion.

“We’ve been friends for a long time and we love to play together and compete, so this was a great experience for us,” Romano said. “It was a blast.”