For the 15th time this century, Ohio State men's tennis has won the Big Ten Tournament.
Ohio State beat Michigan, 4-1, at the Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois, on Sunday to win its 15th Big Ten Tournament championship since Ty Tucker took over as head coach in 2000. It also marked the Buckeyes' 16th conference tournament title all-time.
Just too good pic.twitter.com/xHi9ojzUMn
— Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioStateMTEN) April 28, 2024
Ohio State won the doubles point with ease, as Cannon Kingsley and Jack Anthrop defeated Mert Oral and Bjorn Swenson, 6-1, and No. 35 Justin Boulais and Andrew Lutschaunig defeated Patorn Hanchaikul and Will Cooksey, 6-3. The Buckeyes were also in control of the third doubles match, as No. 2 Robert Cash and JJ Tracy led No. 17 Gavin Young and Jacob Bickersteth, 5-3, when the second match ended.
Following a brief intermission, Ohio State and Michigan started singles matches. As was the case with the doubles point, the Buckeyes cruised to victories over the Wolverines.
On Court 4, No. 29 Anthrop demolished Hanchaikul, 6-1, 6-0, and put Ohio State ahead 2-0 on the scoreboard. Around 15 minutes later, the Buckeyes claimed their third point of the afternoon when No. 18 Kingsley breezed past Bickersteth, 6-6, 6-1, on Court 2.
The third match to end occurred between No. 19 Young and No. 33 Boulais. In the lone ranked vs. ranked dual in the conference championship, Young bested Boulais, 6-1, 6-4, to put Michigan on the board.
With a 3-1 team lead, Ohio State veteran Tracy, the No. 16-ranked singles player in America, sealed the victory for the Buckeyes. As he has done for over 100 singles wins in his college career, Tracy delivered, as the senior from Hilton Head, South Carolina, defeated Swenson, 6-3, 7-6.
In addition to winning its 16th Big Ten Tournament title, Ohio State completed a season sweep of Michigan on Sunday. Before this weekend, the Buckeyes beat the Wolverines 4-0 in Ann Arbor (March 17) and 4-0 in Columbus (April 14) in the regular season.
As the Big Ten regular-season and postseason champions and the No. 1 team in the latest ITA Poll, Ohio State is all but guaranteed to earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament. As such, the Buckeyes will host an NCAA Regional at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center and Auer Tennis Complex from May 3-5. If Ohio State advances, it will also host an NCAA Super Regional in Columbus on May 10-11. The final three rounds of the NCAA Tournament will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma, from May 16-19.
