By: DAVE WEIDIG (ZanesvilleTimesRecorder.com) –
A team from a cold-weather state making the NCAA championship match in Division I tennis?

It shouldn’t be a surprise that it happened under Coach Ty Tucker’s watch. Since the Zanesville High School state champion and Ohio State All-American took over the Buckeyes’ program 10 years ago, it has been on the fast track to the top.

That’s despite the fact, as Tucker says, “80 percent of the best players in the United States come from Florida, Texas and California, the warm-weather places. And they usually stay at home and play in their home state.”

It didn’t prevent OSU from nearly winning the national championship at Texas A&M last month, where it beat Boise State, Baylor and UCLA before falling 4-1 to USC in the title match. “We beat Baylor at Texas A&M, where they play twice a year and are used to the heat,” Tucker said. “That was after we hosted the NCAA Regional in 54-degree weather and went into 90-degree weather four days later. The NCAA Final 16 is never indoors, and that’s what’s hurt us in the past.”

Not this time. Ohio State became just the second team north of the Mason-Dixon Line to make the NCAA finals and was third-seeded overall in the NCAA Tournament.

How has Tucker done it? A combination of “getting guys to fit our system,” and recruiting not only top players from Ohio and around the country, but internationally.

“We had to get out on the trail to be able to compete,” he said. “This year, we had three international players out of seven, and usually have two or three in our top seven.”

This year, OSU had two senior, three-year All-Americans in Bryan Koniecko from Long Island, N.Y., and Steven Moneke from Germany. Koniecko also won the ITA National Intercollegiate Indoor championship in Charlottesville, Va., while Moneke reached the NCAA title match this spring in singles play. The Buckeyes also had players from Japan and Hungary along with Chase Buchanan of New Albany, the Freshman of the Year and top-ranked junior player in the country.

OSU has won an amazing 53 straight Big 10 matches, and four straight Big 10 conference and tournament titles. They’ve also played in two indoor national title matches.

It’s all about finding the right type of dedicated players, Tucker says. “Guys who stay and have the focus to be great tennis players. Guys who go through three-hour practices, who show up 21¼2 hours early for a 9 a.m. junior match so they can properly get ready.

“I credit the coaching staff for finding these guys. They may not be in the top five or 10 (in the country), but maybe 20 through 30. I’ve been lucky and blessed.”

While the Buckeyes lost four seniors from this year’s powerhouse, the cupboard is hardly bare. Tucker just returned from what he hopes is a fruitful European recruiting trip. And he signed the best two players in Ohio, who have played against each other for the past two state titles.

“You take a little bit of a hit (from graduation), but a year from now, we should be right back in the mix,” he said. “If we play good, solid tennis, we should still be in the 5-10 range (in the country).”

Tucker is to the point where his players are going on to bigger and better things. Four of his players are in Boca Raton, Fla. training on the developmental team for the best 12 players in America, with Patrick McEnroe and Jay Berger. “They’re getting put through the ringer right now, but it should pay off for them.

“The next couple of years, we have a couple of guys who can go out and make some dents in the pro game,” Tucker added. “It would be nice to send guys to a Grand Slam with OSU T-shirts on. How good would that be for recruiting?”

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