Coach Ty Tucker and Ohio State men's tennis beats Michigan, wins Big Ten tournament title

For a men’s tennis team as dominant as Ohio State has been under coach Ty Tucker, a 4-year gap between Big Ten tournament titles must have felt like a drought.

That made Sunday’s victory over Michigan that much sweeter for the Buckeyes. No. 3 Ohio State (29-2) defeated the No. 7 Wolverines 4-0 in Bloomington, Ind., for its first tournament championship since 2019.

Ohio State has won or shared the regular-season conference title every year since 2006 (excluding the canceled 2020 COVID season). But the Buckeyes lost to Illinois in 2021 and to Michigan last year.

“This means so much to all of us,” senior Justin Boulais said. “From the beginning of the year, we’ve emphasized this tournament so much.”

Boulais’ victory at No. 2 singles clinched the match. He broke Andrew Fenty’s serve in the final game for a 7-6, 6-4 victory. Fenty had beaten Boulais in both previous meetings this year, both OSU victories.

“I didn't even realize that I clinched at first until I saw everybody start rushing the court,” he said. “You can't really see the scoreboards, and I was trying to keep eyes on my own court. (Being mobbed by teammates,) that was incredible.”

Redshirt senior James Trotter was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player. He won at No. 5 singles 6-4, 6-2 over Gavin Young, but his play in doubles was just as crucial.

Ohio State and Michigan split the first two doubles sets, and Trotter and Andrew Lutschaunig faced two match points in their tie-breaker. Trotter staved off both with forehand winners and hit another forehand winner to set up the clinching point for a 9-7 win.

“Trotter came up huge,” Tucker said. “That's why he's the tournament MVP. He came up big, hitting winners. Andrew did a darn good job, and Trotter took over.”

Senior Robert Cash won 6-1, 6-4 at No. 6 singles to give Ohio State a 3-0 lead.

The other singles matches were close. Cannon Kingsley at No. 1 lost the second-set tie-breaker to go to a third set. JJ Tracy at No. 3 won his first set but lost the second and was also headed to a third set. At No. 4, Alexander Bernard was down a set and was in a second-set tie-breaker.

But Boulais ended the uncertainty by clinching his match. It was the Buckeyes’ third victory over Michigan this season.

None of the Buckeyes who played Sunday played in the 2019 Big Ten tournament.

“‘Kro’ told us before the match that we haven’t gotten many chances to do something for the first time in a few years as Buckeyes,” Lutschaunig said, referring to assistant coach Justin Kronauge. “So this one's huge. We haven't won since my redshirt year so I wasn't even a part of it. It's just unbelievable. You can't really describe it, especially to do it against a team like that that’s really good from top to bottom.”

The Buckeyes now head to the NCAA tournament, which begins next weekend. But first they’ll savor the championship over Michigan.

“Anytime you can beat Michigan in anything – Tiddlywinks, Euchre, whatever – it’s always going to be good,” Tucker said.

“There's no doubt they bring it. They've made us better. It didn't sit well last year going 2-2 with them. It was nice being able to be able to beat them, not once, not twice, but three times this season. I'm not looking forward to playing them again in the (NCAA) tournament, but we're looking forward to the tournament starting.”

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OSU men's tennis beats Michigan, ends 4-year Big Ten tourney drought