Men’s Tennis: Buckeyes Advance at Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships – Ohio State Buckeyes
10/18/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
COLUMBUS, Ohio Members of the Ohio State men’s tennis team advanced Saturday in both the singles and doubles main draw of the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championship at The Ohio State University Varsity Tennis Center. Five Buckeyes advanced to the round of 16 in singles, while three Buckeye pairs advanced to the quarterfinals.
Junior Justin Kronauge, who is the top seed in the tournament, defeated Dusan Medan of Marquette in a three-set match (6-7, 7-6, 6-3) that lasted more than two hours. After falling in the first set to Medan, Kronauge battled back in a second-set tiebreaker and won 9-7. The native of Centerville, Ohio, took the third set to advance to the second round in the championships where he faced Alex Forger of Michigan State and won in two sets 6-2, 7-6. Kronauge, No. 8 in the ITA pre-season singles polls, will take on Tobias Wernet of Minnesota Sunday.
Senior Bryan Koniecko, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, defeated Phillip Arndt of Minnesota in two sets 6-2, 6-4. Koniecko, from Long Island, N.Y., advances to the round of 16 where he will face Mark Spicijaric of Illinois, the No. 13 seed in the singles main draw.
Senior Steven Moneke advanced through the first and second rounds in two sets in each match. Moneke was victorious over Jose Perdomo of Ball State in the first round 6-1, 6-1 and defeated Illinois’ Abe Souza in the second-round match 6-4, 6-2. Moneke, a native of Alten-Buseck, Germany, will take on Slavko Bijelica of Purdue in the third round.
Sophomores Matt Allare and Balazs Novak were also victorious in their opening two rounds. Allare defeated Eric Ramos of Purdue 6-3, 6-1 and won in two sets against Marc Dwyer of Northwestern 6-3, 7-6. After his 23-consecutive singles match streak was snapped last week, Novak began singles action with a win over Pjotrs Necajevs of Detroit in the first round 6-1, 6-3 and kept the momentum going in the second round with a victory against Lachlan Ferguson of Indiana 6-0, 6-1. In the third round, Allare will face Austen Childs of Louisville, while Novak takes on Billy Heiser of Illinois.
Senior Kurt Zaske lost to Brett Helgeson of Notre Dame 6-3, 6-1 in the first round.
In doubles, three Buckeye pairs competed in the round of 16. No. 2, Koniecko and Moneke faced Ra’ees Ismail and J.T. Torbeck of Xavier in the third round, winning 8-2. The Buckeye duo will collide in the quarterfinals against Austen and Simon Childs of Louisville.
Buckeyes Novak and O’Connell matched up against Alex Sanborn and Marc Dwyer of Northwestern and defeated the Wildcat pair 8-2. They will take on the Michigan pair of Jason Jung and Mike Sroczynski.
Buckeye duo Allare and Kronauge wrapped up play for Ohio State with an 8-2 victory over Christian Bierich and Gregory Holm of Iowa. Allare and Kronauge will play against Viktor Maksimcuk and Sumit Gupta of Louisville in the quarterfinals Sunday.
Zaske competed in the one-round consolation singles and fell to Maxime Armengaud of Indiana 6-2, 6-2.
Third round and quarterfinals play of the singles main draw begins at 9 a.m. Sunday with quarterfinals and semifinals doubles action to follow. Log on to OhioStateBuckeyes.com for the latest updates and live scoring of the 2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships.
2008 Wilson/ITA Midwest Regional Championships
Hosted by The Ohio State University
Columbus, Ohio
Oct. 16-20, 2008
Singles Main Draw
First Round
No. 11 Matt Allare (Ohio State) def. Eric Ramos (Purdue) 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 Bryan Koniecko (Ohio State) def. Stephen Havens (Notre Dame) 6-4, 6-1
No. 3 Steven Moneke (Ohio State) def. Jose Perdomo (Ball State) 6-1, 6-1
No. 4 Brett Helgeson (Notre Dame) def. Kurt Zaske (Ohio State) 6-3, 6-1
No. 15 Balazs Novak (Ohio State) Pjotrs Necajevs (Detroit) 6-1, 6-3
No. 1 Justin Kronauge (Ohio State) Dusan Medan (Marquette) 6-7, 7-6, 6-3
Second Round
No. 2 Bryan Koniecko (Ohio State) def. Phillip Arndt (Minnesota) 6-2, 6-4
No. 11 Matt Allare (Ohio State) def. Marc Dwyer (Northwestern) 6-3, 7-6
No. 3 Steven Moneke (Ohio State) def. Abe Souza (Illinois) 6-4, 6-2
No. 15 Balazs Novak (Ohio State) def. Lachlan Ferguson (Indiana)
No. 1 Justin Kronauge (Ohio State) def. Tobias Wernet (Minnesota) 6-2, 7-6
Doubles Main Draw
Third Round
No. 2 Moneke/Koniecko (Ohio State) def. Ismail/Torbeck (Xavier) 8-2
Novak/O’Connell (Ohio State) def. Sanborn/Dwyer (Northwestern) 8-2
No. 4 Kronauge/Allare (Ohio State) def. Bierich/Holm (Iowa) 8-2
*Players are noted by seeds in tournament. Not ITA pre-season rankings.
