The Streak: An Inside Look at 200-Straight – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/12/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Tennis
March 12, 2015
By: Joey Dillon, 2014 Ohio State graduate
One of the most impressive streaks in all of sport came to an end on March 6 and Ohio State graduate Joey Dillon takes a look back at Ohio State men’s tennis’ 200-match home win streak and some of the players and coaches that made it possible.
THE START
2003 Tennis Facts:
Roger Federer wins his first Grand Slam
Andy Roddick and Justin Henin both win first Grand Slam, rise to No. 1 and named ITF Champion. It would be the only major Roddick wins
Serena Williams completes “Serena Slam,” holding all 4 Grand Slams at once
Bryan Brothers win first Grand Slam, rise to No. 1 and named ITF champion (1st of 10 times)
Illinois sweeps the men’s NCAA championships, taking team, singles (Amir Delic) and doubles (Rajeev Ram/Brian Wilson)
2003 Fun Facts:
- Top Movies- Finding Nemo, Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
- Top Songs- “In da Club” by 50 Cent, “Ignition” by R. Kelly, “Get Busy” by Sean Paul
- Pro Sports Champs:Tampa Bay Buccaneers (NFL), Florida Marlins (MLB), San Antonio Spurs (NBA), New Jersey Devils (NHL)
At The Time
-
- Ohio State Football wins its seventh national championship over Miami in double OT.
- A gallon of gas in the Great State of Ohio: $1.49
- George W. Bush is the 43rd President of the United States
- Apple creates iTunes Music Store
- Cubs fan Steve Bartman interferes with foul ball five outs away from a World Series berth.
- The United States Department of Homeland Security begins operation
- LeBron James makes his NBA debut with the Cleveland Cavaliers
- Blackberry introduces first of modern “smart phone”
- “Facemash” was invented by Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg at Harvard
THE NUMBERS THROUGHOUT
All-Americans:
Jeremy Wurtzman: 2004 (singles)
Scott Green: 2005, 2006 (doubles)
Ross Wilson: 2005, 2006 (doubles)
Bryan Koniecko: 2007, 2008, 2009 (singles)/2008 (doubles)
Steven Moneke: 2007, 2008, 2009 (singles)/2008 (doubles)
Drew Eberly: 2008 (doubles)
Justin Kronauge: 2008 (singles and doubles)
Dino Marcan: 2010 (doubles)
Chase Buchanan: 2010, 2011, 2012 (singles)/2010, 2012 (doubles)
Blaz Rola: 2011, 2012, 2013 (singles)/2012 (doubles)
Peter Kobelt: 2013, 2014 (singles)/2014 (doubles)
Kevin Metka: 2014 (doubles)
National Champions:
NCAA: Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (2012 doubles), Blaz Rola (2013 singles)
All-Americans: Scott Green/Ross Wilson (2004 doubles), Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (2011 doubles)
National Indoors: Jeremy Wurtzman (2003 singles), Bryan Koniecko (2008 singles), Scott Green/Ross Wilson (2004,2005 doubles), Chase Buchanan/Blaz Rola (2011 doubles
Regional Champions:
Jeremy Wurtzman: 2003 singles
Steven Moneke: 2006 singles
Justin Kronauge: 2007 singles/2007 doubles
Bryan Koniecko: 2008 singles
Blaz Rola: 2010, 2011 singles
Peter Kobelt: 2012, 2013 singles/2010,2011,2013 doubles
Drew Eberly: 2007 doubles
Matt Allare: 2010 doubles
Chase Buchanan: 2011 doubles
Mikael Torpegaard: 2014 singles
NCAA Participants:
2003: Vince Ng (S), Jeremy Wurtzman (S)
2004: Jeremy Wurtzman (S/D), Joey Atas (D)
2005: Devin Mullings (S), Scott Green (D), Ross Wilson (D)
2006: Bryan Koniecko (S), Scott Green (D), Ross Wilson (D)
2007: Bryan Koniecko (S), Steven Moneke (S), Devin Mullings (S/D), Chris Klingemann (D)
2008: Bryan Koniecko (S/D), Justin Kronauge (S, quarterfinalist/D, quarterfinalist), Steven Moneke (S, quarterfinalist/D), Drew Eberly (D, quarterfinalist)
2009: Bryan Koniecko (S), Justin Kronauge (S/D), Steven Moneke (S, runner-up/D)
2010: Justin Kronauge (S), Chase Buchanan (S/D), Dino Marcan (D)
2011: Matt Allare (S/D), Chase Buchanan (S/D), Blaz Rola (S, quarterfinalist/D), Peter Kobelt (D)
2012: Chase Buchanan (S/D, champion), Blaz Rola (S, semifinalist/D, champion)
2013: Peter Kobelt (S/D), Blaz Rola (S, champion), Connor Smith (D)
2014: Peter Kobelt (S/D, runner-up), Kevin Metka (D, runner-up)
All-B1G
Vince Ng ………………………………………………………2003
Jeremy Wurtzman ………………………………………2002-04
Joey Atas ……………………………………………….. 2004-05
Devin Mullings …………………………………………. 2005-07
Bryan Koniecko………………………………………… 2006-09
Chris Klingemann …………………………………….. 2006-07
Steven Moneke …………………………………………2007-09
Justin Kronauge ………………………………………..2008-10
Dino Marcan………………………………………………….2010
Chase Buchanan………………………………………. 2010-12
Blaz Rola…………………………………………………2011-13
Matt Allare …………………………………………………..2011
Balazs Novak ……………………………………………….2011
Ille Van Engelen ……………………………………….2011-12
Peter Kobelt …………………………………………….2012-14
Devin McCarthy…………………………………………2012-13
Connor Smith………………………………………………..2013
Chris Diaz…………………………………………………….2013
Herkko Pollanen…………………………………………….2014
Hunter Callahan…………………………………………….2014
Kevin Metka…………………………………………………2014
Ralf Steinbach………………………………………………2014
B1G Coach of the Year
Ty Tucker………………………………………2001, 2006-14
B1G Player of the Year
Vince Ng ……………………………………………………2003
Bryan Koniecko……………………………………….2008, 09
Chase Buchanan……………………………………..2010, 11
B1G Freshman of the Year
Joey Atas …………………………………………………..2004
Bryan Koniecko……………………………………………2006
Justin Kronauge …………………………………………..2007
Blaz Rola…………………………………………………….2011
ITA Scholar-Athletes
Vincent Ng…………………………………………………..2003
Joey Atas ………………………………………………2004, 05
Steven Moneke ……………………………………………2009
Mike O’Connell…………………………………………2008, 09
Nelson Vick ……………………………………………2011, 12
Blaz Rola…………………………………………………….2011
Kevin Metka………………………………………….2012,2014
Chris Diaz……………………………………………………2014
Academic B1G Team
Phil Metz ………………………………………………. 2001-03
Vince Ng ………………………………………………. 2001-03
Conor Casey …………………………………………. 2002-03
Ben Kirksey…………………………………………… 2002-04
Scott Green ………………………………………….. 2004-06
Dennis Mertens………………………………………. 2004-06
Todd Wojtkowski ………………………………………….2006
Joey Atas …………………………………………………..2005
Chris Klingemann …………………………………………2005
Devin Mullings ……………………………………………..2005
Christian Christensen …………………………………….2008
Steven Moneke ……………………………………… 2007-09
Mike O’Connell……………………………………….. 2007-10
Justin Kronauge …………………………………….. 2008-10
Matt Allare ……………………………………………. 2009-11
Balazs Novak ………………………………………… 2009-11
Shuhei Uzawa ……………………………………….. 2009-11
Chase Buchanan…………………………………….. 2010-12
Devin McCarthy………………………………………. 2010-13
Nelson Vick …………………………………………………2011
Hunter Callahan ……………………………………….2012-13
Chris Diaz ………………………………………………2013-14
Peter Kobelt ………………………………………………..2013
Kevin Metka…………………………………………….2013-14
Evan Bechtel………………………………………………..2014
Ralf Steinbach………………………………………………2014
PERSPECTIVE
4,352 days (or in other math; 11 years, 11 months to be exact). That’s how long it took the Ohio State men’s tennis team to create the longest home-winning streak, across all NCAA sports. In a titanic battle on March 6 against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners, the Buckeyes fell 4-3 with Oklahoma winning 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(5) on court No. 6. In a sense of déjà vu, the last home loss Ohio State had was on April 6, 2003 against No. 1 Illinois.
The Buckeyes have won 94 consecutive regular-season B1G matches, on top of the 200-consecutive home wins. The winning streak wasn’t just a record, but also one factor in Ohio State’s rise to the elites. In the 11 years, the Buckeyes won 17 B1G regular season and tournament championships, sweeping both from 2006-2011 and 2013-2014. Ohio State also competed well in the NCAA team championships, amassing a 37-12 record since 2003 (1 runner-up, 2 Final Fours and 7 Elite Eights). However, 2014 gave Ohio State another first with the Buckeyes capturing the ITA National Team Indoor Championships, the first national team title for the program. The Buckeyes built a 366-42 record since the winning streak started and have been in the ITA Top 10 poll since March 7, 2006.
Not only did the Buckeye program do well in team competitions over the period of the win streak, but they also excelled as individuals. Twelve Ohio State players received a total of 29 All-American accolades. Chase Buchanan heads the list with five (2 singles, 3 doubles). Twenty-two Buckeyes claimed All-B1G honors since 2003, with three players taking a total of five Player of the Year honors and four taking home Freshman of the Year awards. Nine different players from the Ohio State program claimed ITA Midwest Regional Championships (9 singles, 4 doubles), while five ITA Indoor titles, two NCAA championships and one All-American title have been brought home to Columbus since April 2003. Blaz Rola and Buchanan became the first team to win the “Triple Crown” of college tennis when they claimed the All-American, ITA Indoor and NCAA doubles titles in one year (2011-2012). Scott Green and Ross Wilson came close, but fell in the NCAA Championships. Rola won the tennis program’s first NCAA Singles Championship in 2013, denying Jamere Jenkins a sweep of the team and two individual titles. Overall, 18 different athletes were chosen to represent Ohio State in individual NCAA competition.
Coach Tucker has been named B1G Coach of the Year every season since 2006, earned five ITA Midwest Coach of the Year awards, as well as claiming the 2009 Wilson/ITA National Coach of the Year award. Coach Tucker has made sure the Buckeyes have been stellar on the tennis court, but his athletes have success in the classroom as well. Thirty-three student-athletes were named Ohio State Scholar-Athletes, while 26 landed on the Academic All-B1G Team (and numerous being named B1G Distinguished Scholars) and seven claiming ITA Scholar-Athlete awards.
A majority of the Buckeyes played professional tennis tournaments (amateur before and during their OSU careers and some as full professionals post-OSU) and have fared some great success. 25 Buckeyes have held an ATP singles ranking at some point in their tennis careers, while 22 names have crossed the doubles rankings. Winning on the college court has helped those on the professional level, as 33 singles titles and 92 doubles titles have been won amongst the streak participants. Some of the doubles titles have been won with Buckeye duos teaming up, and Dino Marcan (2009-2010) leads the charge with 30 professional titles to his name. Blaz Rola (2010-2013) has ten singles titles, including an ATP Challenger title, to his trophy case and leads Ohio State in professional singles titles, as well as being the only member of the streak to break the top 100 on the ATP Tour. Rola is also the only Buckeye from the streak to win a round at a Grand Slam, when he qualified and won his first round at the Australian Open this year. At this past U.S. Open, three Buckeyes participated in main draw action (Rola in main draw singles, Buchanan in qualifying singles/men’s doubles and Peter Kobelt (2010-2014) in men’s doubles).
Nearly $1 million in prize money has been won between the streak participants, but the one statistic that stands out is Davis Cup participation. Rola, Herkko Pollanen (2014-present), new freshman Mikael Torpegaard and Devin Mullings (2003-2007) have all represented their country. Mullings stands out as the only Buckeye of the streak to participate in the Olympic Games (Beijing, 2008).
MEMORABLE MATCHES
Numerous matches helped create the exciting journey, but below are just a handful of matches that were prominent over the winning streak:
No. 1: April 6, 2003: No. 25 Ohio State 5, Purdue 2
The one that started it all. 200 matches and nearly 12 years have come by since the Buckeyes claimed the first win against the Boilermakers. In fact, Ohio State didn’t have an indoor facility for the varsity team when the streak began. Matches were held at the Jesse Owens West Tennis Center until the beginning of the 2008 dual season, when the Varsity Tennis Center opened its doors. The Stickney Tennis Center outside also went through a transformation over the streak, redoing their 10 courts, but adding high-rise seating for the first six courts for dual match play, opening in 2012.
No. 9: February 13, 2004: No. 16 Ohio State 4, No. 8 Vanderbilt 3
One word can describe the streak the Buckeyes have built; dominant. Only nine of the 200 matches ended with a 4-3 score. The second 4-3 match would be a memorable one as Ohio State scored its first win over a top-10 opponent of the streak. It also marked the first top-10 win for Head Coach Ty Tucker.
No. 26: April 13, 2005: No. 30 Ohio State 4, No. 29 Notre Dame 3
While a 4-3 score in Columbus has been seldom, matches coming down to 3-3 have been even more rare. The Buckeyes claimed the doubles point and went up 3-0 before the Fighting Irish lived up to their name. No. 52 Devin Mullings downed No. 113 Barry King 7-5, 7-5 at No. 2 singles to claim the team victory and giving Ohio State their 26th consecutive victory in Columbus
No. 69: April 6, 2008: No. 2 Ohio State 6, No. 35 Wisconsin 1
While the match score was one-sided, three singles matches went to three sets (2 using a 10-point tiebreaker) and the Buckeyes celebrated 5 years without a home loss. Ohio State won its 32nd consecutive conference regular-season match with the win and went on to claim the regular-season and tournament Big Ten titles before falling in the Elite Eight at NCAAs.
No. 120: February 24, 2011: No. 3 Ohio State 7, Cleveland State 0
Ohio State has never lost to an in-state opponent under the direction of Coach Tucker. Coming off a semifinal run at the ITA National Indoors, the Buckeyes continued momentum by shutting out the Vikings. The win marked the program’s 1,000th victory, bringing their record to 1,000-693-10 (a .587 winning record).
No. 174: January 26, 2014: No. 5 Ohio State 4, No. 48 Denver 1
Win No. 174 was a 4-1 victory over No. 48 Louisville that sealed their bid to Houston, Texas for the ITA Men’s National Team Indoor Championship, where the final 16 teams would battle for a national title. Ohio State would then defeat No. 12 Florida 4-1, No. 13 Texas 4-2, No. 1 Virginia in a 4-3 battle saving match points and then No. 3 USC 4-1 to claim the program’s first national team title of any kind. The Buckeyes would then rise to No. 1 in the nation with the title. The win over the Cardinals was also Coach Tucker’s 400th victory as Ohio State head coach.
No. 180: February 9, 2014: No. 5 Ohio State, No. 8 Texas A&M 3
The final home match before the Buckeyes traveled to Houston for their championship run at the ITA Indoors was a top-10 battle that went down to the wire. Dropping the doubles point for the first season (including No. 7 Peter Kobelt/Kevin Metka’s first loss of the dual season), Ohio State also lost two first sets and some saw an upset coming. Down 2-3, Ralf Steinbach won a titanic first set tiebreaker 13-11 and the second set 6-4 to put all eyes on court No. 6. Hunter Callahan won his match in straight sets moments later to keep the home streak intact and a lot of momentum heading into the ITAs.
No. 184: March 28, 2014: No. 2 Ohio State 4, No. 28 Northwestern 3
Most 4-3 matches are long, grinding, dramatic matches, but the top-30 matchup between the Buckeyes and the Wildcats lasted just over three hours and all singles matches were straight sets. The doubles point, followed by wins from Metka, Steinbach and a clinch from Kobelt gave Ohio State a tie of the NCAA home winning streak record over all varsity sports and divisions with Stanford’s women’s tennis team.
No. 185: March 30, 2014: No. 2 Ohio State 5, No. 10 Illinois 2
The Ohio State-Illinois rivalry has been one of the fresher in men’s collegiate tennis. Both teams have been constant favorites for the B1G crown for over a decade. The Buckeyes would down the Illini in a top 10 match up to take sole leadership of the NCAA home winning streak record. The match was highlighted by Herkko Pollanen’s top 10 victory over No. 9 Jared Hiltzik with a crowd of near-400 cheering.
No. 200: February 21, 2015: No. 9 Ohio State 6, No. 17 Notre Dame 1
The final match of the winning streak would be Ohio State’s 200th. In a match just shy of three hours, the Buckeyes scraped by in the doubles point with a tiebreaker win before taking five of the six singles matches. Metka would clinch the match for Ohio State, giving them their 11th win of the 2015 season. The match included Mikael Torpegaard gathering a ranked win and ended with Ralf Steinbach winning a third set tiebreaker.
March 6, 2015: No.1 Oklahoma 4, No. 8 Ohio State 3
Ohio State’s winning streak would end in a classic 4-3 epic against the No. 1 Oklahoma Sooners. The Buckeyes took the doubles point, but Oklahoma took four first sets in singles. Both teams would fight in a see-saw battle with the match coming down to Metka on court No. 6. Metka would save match points in the second set before battling cramps the entire third set and holding match points of his own. Florin Bragusi waited until the final set tiebreak to make his move and downed Metka 7-6(5), 6-7(2), 7-6(5). The 4-hour match had a Varsity Tennis Center-record 757 in attendance and included three three-set matches.
