Around The Oval: Men’s Tennis Defeats No. 3 UVA and No. 13 Wake Forest, Melissa Schaub Becomes OSU Women’s Tennis’ All-Time Wins Leader and Wrestling Bounces Back Vs. No. 14 Rutgers

By Chase Brown on February 5, 2024 at 1:05 pm
Men's Tennis
Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
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Ohio State's Olympic sports continue to excel.

In this week's edition of Around The Oval, Eleven Warriors' one-stop shop for coverage of the Buckeyes' non-revenue programs, we'll look at performances from Ohio State men's tennis, women's tennis, wrestling and more.

Over the weekend, we also covered wrestling's loss to No. 1 Penn State and women's basketball's win over No. 10 Indiana.

Let's take a stroll around The Oval, Ohio State’s 11-acre lawn at the heart of campus.

Men’s Tennis

If the NCAA men’s tennis championship occurred in January and February, Ohio State would win the national championship year in and year out.

Over the past decade, Ohio State has defeated some of the best teams in America in Columbus and on the road to kick off the new year. In 2023, the Buckeyes beat No. 5 Virginia (twice), No. 6 Texas, No. 9 Wake Forest and No. 10 Baylor in the two months. In 2024, the Buckeyes are off to another successful start, beating No. 3 Virginia (7-0) and No. 13 Wake Forest (6-1) on Friday and Sunday.

Virginia

Singles
  1. Justin Boulais def. Jeffrey Von Der Schulenburg (UVA) 7-5, 6-4 
  2. Cannon Kingsley def. Dylan Dietrich (UVA) 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 
  3. No. 4 JJ Tracy def. Edoardo Graziani (UVA) 6-1, 6-3 
  4. No. 11 Jack Anthrop def. Alexander Kiefer (UVA) 6-3, 6-3 
  5. Robert Cash def. James Hopper (UVA) 6-0, 6-4 
  6. No. 103 Alexander Bernard def. Måns Dahlberg (UVA) 6-3, 6-1 
Doubles
  1. JJ Tracy and Cannon Kingsley def. James Hopper and Edoardo Graziani (UVA) 6-3 
  2. Justin Boulais and Andrew Lutschaunig def. Jeffrey von der Schulenburg and Douglas Yaffa (UVA) 6-3 3. 
  3. Robert Cash and Alexander Bernard vs. Alexander Kiefer and Dylan Dietrich (UVA) 5-4, unfinished 

Wake Forest

Singles
  1. Cannon Kingsley def. No. 54 DK Suresh Ekambaram (WFU) 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 
  2. Justin Boulais def. No. 7 Filippo Moroni (WFU) 6-3, 6-0 
  3. No. 4 JJ Tracy def. Luciano Tacchi (WFU) 6-3, 6-2 
  4. No. 11 Jack Anthrop def. Matthew Thomson (WFU) 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 
  5. Holden Koons (WFU) def. Robert Cash 4-6, 6-3, 10-4 
  6. No. 103 Alexander Bernard def. Luca Pow (WFU) 6-1, 6-3 
Doubles
  1. No. 18 DK Suresh Ekambaram and Holden Koons (WFU) def. Andrew Lutschaunig and Justin Boulais 6-2
  2. Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy def. Filippo Moroni/Matthew Thomson (WFU) 6-4 
  3. No. 27 Bryce Nakashima and Robert Cash def. Luciano Tacchi/Luca Pow (WFU) 6-3 

The Buckeyes will return to action when they host No. 2 South Carolina at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center on Sunday. The match is scheduled to start at noon and will be streamed on the team’s website.

Women’s Tennis

Since its loss to Oklahoma State on Jan. 21, Ohio State women’s tennis has responded well with four consecutive 4-0 wins over Notre Dame, Arizona State, No. 17 Duke and No. 13 UCLA. The Buckeyes’ victories over the Blue Devils and Bruins came over the weekend at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

Duke

Singles
  1. No. 15 Irina Cantos Siemers def. No. 65 Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-2, 6-1
  2. No. 85 Luciana Perry vs. No. 74 Emma Jackson (DU) 2-6, 6-3, 1-1, unfinished
  3. Sydni Ratliff def. No. 52 Katie Codd (DU) 6-4, 6-4
  4. Teah Chavez vs. Ellie Coleman (DU) 5-7, 6-3, 1-0, unfinished
  5. Shelly Bereznyak def. Iuliia Bryzgalova (DU) 6-4, 6-3
  6. Audrey Spencer vs. No. 78 Brianna Shvets (DU) 6-0, 5-7, 2-2, unfinished
Doubles
  1. Luciana Perry and Sydni Ratliff def. Karolina Berankova/Shavit Kimchi (DU) 6-3
  2. Irina Cantos Siemers and Audrey Spencer def. Emma Jackson/Ellie Coleman (DU) 6-4
  3. Madeline Atway and Teah Chavez vs. Luliia Bryzgalova/Brianna Shvets (DU) 5-6, unfinished

UCLA

Singles
  1. No. 15 Irina Cantos Siemers def. Tian Fangran (UCLA) 6-3, 6-3
  2. Sydni Ratliff vs. Kimmi Hance (UCLA) 4-6, 5-5, unfinished
  3. No. 85 Luciana Perry def. Bianca Fernandez (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
  4. Shelly Bereznyak def. Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-4, 6-2
  5. Audrey Spencer vs. A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) 3-6, 6-2, 3-1, unfinished
  6. Madeline Atway vs. #99 Ahmani Guichard (UCLA) 6-3, 6-5, unfinished
Doubles
  1. Luciana Perry and Sydni Ratliff def. Tian Fangran and Elise Wagle (UCLA) 6-3
  2. Audrey Spencer and Irina Cantos Siemers def. Sasha Vagramov and Kimmi Hance (UCLA) 6-3
  3. Ahmani Guichard and A. Lutkemeyer (UCLA) def. Madeline Atway and Shelly Bereznyak 6-1

In the Buckeyes’ win over UCLA, Ohio State head coach Melissa Schaub became the winningest coach in program history with 225 victories. A four-year starter at Tennesee from 2003-06, Schaub was an All-SEC and All-American performer for the Volunteers. Soon after her college career ended, Schaub entered the coaching profession. She became Ohio State’s head coach in 2016 and has led the Buckeyes to four Big Ten championships and nine NCAA Tournament appearances.

With her 6-3, 6-3 win over UCLA’s Tian Fangran, Irina Cantos Siemers also became the winningest singles player in program history with 113 victories. The Brussels, Belgium, native is in her fifth year with the Buckeyes in 2023-24 and has been a three-time All-Big Ten honoree and two-time All-American selection.

Ohio State will compete in the ITA Indoor Championships this weekend at the University of Washington’s campus in Seattle.

Wrestling

After a 28-9 defeat to top-ranked Penn State on Friday, Ohio State wrestling traveled to Piscataway, New Jersey, for a battle with No. 14 Rutgers on Sunday. The Buckeyes responded to their blowout loss with a decisive win over the Scarlet Knights, defeating their Big Ten foe 22-12 on the road.

Here's a breakdown of all 10 matches:

Isaac Wilcox, 157 pounds: Wilcox and Jacob Butler started the dual at the Jersey Mike’s Center. Wilcox dominated the match with six takedowns and defeated Butler 19-6. Ohio State earned bonus points from the start and led 4-0.

No. 20 Bryce Hepner, 165 pounds: Hepner took down Anthony White in the first period and added an escape in the second, but that was all the scoring in the match other than a Hepner RTP at the end of regulation. The veteran Ohio State wrestler defeated White 5-0, and the Buckeyes took a 7-0 lead.

No. 11 Rocco Welsh, 174 pounds: Welsh’s gauntlet of a schedule continued against No. 13 Jackson Turley on Sunday. As has been the case for Welsh all season, the freshman Buckeye wasn’t afraid to compete. Welsh used a takedown and an escape point to collect a 4-3 decision to make it 10-0 Buckeyes.

Ryder Rogotzke, 184 pounds: Rogotzke held an 8-6 lead over No. 21 Brian Soldano in the second period but suffered a fall at 4:24. Soldano collected the win, and Rutgers collected three bonus points to make it 10-6.

No. 22 Geog, 197 pounds: If the Scarlet Knights hoped to build momentum from Soldano’s dominant win, Georg thwarted it immediately. He scored early with a takedown in the first period and upset No. 12 John Poznanski 4-3. 

No. 12 Nick Feldman, HWT: After No. 1 Greg Kerkvliet defeated him 12-0 on Friday, Feldman looked to have more success in another top-10 matchup on Sunday with No. 7 Yaraslau Slavikouski. Trailing 3-1, Feldman secured a takedown about 40 seconds into the third period and held on to beat Slavikouski 4-3. The Buckeyes lead the match 16-6.

No. 24 Brendan McCrone, 125 pounds: McCrone had two takedowns in his match against No. 13 Dean Peterson, one of them coming in the final seconds of the third period, to win 7-1 and extend Ohio State’s lead to 19-6.

No. 12 Nic Bouzakis, 133 pounds: Bouzakis and No. 13 Dylan Shawver were tied 4-4 towards the end of the third period, but Shawver scored an escape late to defeat Bouzakis 5-4 and make it 19-9.

No. 3 Jesse Mendez, 141 pounds: Mendez officially ended Rutgers’ chances, overcoming a brutal loss at Penn State with a 5-0 decision over No. 20 Mitch Moore. Mendez rode him the entire second period and scored a takedown in the third to give Ohio State a 22-9 lead.

No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio, 149 pounds: At the end of regulation, D’Emilio and Michael Cetta were tied 9-9 and headed to sudden victory. Cetta scored a takedown on D’Emilio to end the match on a positive note for Rutgers, but Ohio State won the dual 22-12.

After a stretch of three duals against No. 13 Michigan, No. 1 Penn State and No. 14 Rutgers, Ohio State will wrap up the 2023-24 regular season with two unranked opponents: Indiana (Sunday) and Michigan State (Feb. 16). Then, the Buckeyes will travel to XFINITY Center in University Park, Maryland, for the Big Ten Championships on March 9 and 10.

Other Results

  • The No. 1-ranked Ohio State women's hockey team improved to 24-2 with two wins over Bemidji State on Friday and Saturday. The Buckeyes took down the Beavers 11-1 and 9-1 in the matches, as Jenna Buglioni, Lauren Bernard, Jenn Gardiner, Jocelyn Amos, Hannah Bilka, Kiara Zanon, Joy Dunne, Makenna Webster, Cayla Barnes, Emma Peschel, Riley Brengmen and Kenzie Hauswirth all put pucks in the back of the net.
  • Ohio State synchronized swimming hosted its first meet of the 2024 season on Saturday. The Buckeyes finished ahead of Michigan but behind Stanford to take second place at the meet. Hannah Heffernan led Ohio State with a win in the solo category. The Buckeyes took third place in the duet, trio and team categories.
  • Ohio State men's volleyball recovered from back-to-back losses to Penn State with a 3-1 win over Lindenwood at the Covelli Center on Sunday. With the win, the Buckeyes improved to 7-2 on the season. They are ranked sixth in the AVCA Poll behind Long Beach State, Grand Canyon, Hawaii, Stanford and UCLA.
  • Ohio State swim and dive had the weekend off after winning the Tim Welsh Classic at Notre Dame last weekend. The Buckeyes will host the Ohio State Winter Invitational at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion from Saturday-Monday.
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