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Men’s National Team Indoor Championship Preview – Ohio State vs. Wake Forest

by | Feb 18, 2019 | Blog

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For the third year in a row Ohio State and Wake Forest will meet in a meaningful match. Ohio State leads the all-time series 5-3 and has won five of the last six; of course the most important of those six came last year when Wake won 4-2 in the finals of the NCAA Championships. The other recent meeting of importance came two years ago in the semifinals of the National Team Indoors when Ohio State’s Mikael Torpegaard came back from 0-3 down in the third to edge Petros Chrysochos 7-6, 5-7, 7-6(4). 

Ohio State has yet to give up a point during the tournament and in singles they’ve only dropped five sets. JJ Wolf and Hunter Tubert are the only Buckeyes that have recorded wins in each of their three matches while Kyle Seelig is the only one that has yet to finish a match. Petros Chrysochos and Bar Botzer are both 3-0 this week for the Deacs with their other four projected starters each 1-1. 

Ohio State has put out the same singles lineup in each match thus far while Wake has mixed it up at the bottom of the lineup with Julian Zlobinsky and Siddhant Banthia each starting once. Wake’s Rrezart Cungu played in the first two matches but sat against UNC so it’ll be interesting to see if he is in at No. 5 to play Alex Kobelt. It’s also possible that Ty Tucker could make a change to his lineup and sit Kobelt while sliding in James Trotter at No. 5 but that seems unlikely because all of Kobelt’s matches have been very competitive. 

In doubles Ohio State has played the same teams at No. 1 and No. 3 while making a change at No. 2 after the Virginia match. In the opening two matches Alex Kobelt teamed with James Trotter (1 loss and 1 unfinished) at No. 2 but for the Texas match he teamed with Kyle Seelig and they won 6-2. 

Wake Forest played the same doubles lineup in its first two matches but against North Carolina they changed things up some with Borna Gojo coming into the fold.  Against UNC, Gojo played at No. 1 with Alan Gadjiev which slid Petros Chrysochos and Bar Botzer down to No. 2, and Julian Zlobinsky (Gadjiev’s partner from the first two matches) teamed up Siddhant Banthia at No. 3. Further down below I have the singles and doubles results for each player from this weekend’s matches. 

Ohio State’s Path to the Finals
def. Texas 4-0
def. Virginia 4-0
def. Tulane 4-0
 
Wake Forest’s Path to the Finals
def. North Carolina 4-2
def. UCLA 4-3
def. Columbia 4-2
 
National Team Indoor Finals Appearances:
Ohio State (6) – 2007 (0-4 vs. UGA), 2008 (1-4 vs. UVA), 2012 (3-4 vs. USC), 2014 (4-1 vs. USC), 2017 (1-4 vs. UVA), 2019 (vs. Wake Forest)
Wake Forest (2) – 2018 (4-2 vs. UCLA), 2019 (vs. Ohio State)
 
National Team Indoor Finals Won:
Ohio State (1) – 2014 def. USC 4-1
Wake Forest (1) – 2018 def. UCLA 4-2
 
Recent Meetings
 
#1 Wake Forest 4, #3 Ohio State 2
May 22, 2018 at Winston-Salem, N.C. (Wake Forest Tennis Complex)
Singles competition
1. #6 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) led #7 Borna Gojo (WF) 6-4, 6-6 (3-3) unf.
2. #4 Petros Chrysochos (WF) def. #41 JJ Wolf (OSU) 6-1, 6-3
3. #38 Skander Mansouri (WF) def. #92 John McNally (OSU) 6-2, 6-2
4. Bar Botzer (WF) def. Tim Seibert (OSU) 6-4, 7-5
5. #96 Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Alan Gadjiev (WF) 6-2, 6-2
6. #112 Martin Joyce (OSU) def. Christian Seraphim (WF) 6-1, 6-3
Doubles competition
1. #21 Borna Gojo/Skander Mansouri (WF) def. Martin Joyce/JJ Wolf (OSU) 7-5
2. #38 Petros Chrysochos/Bar Botzer (WF) def. #61 John McNally/Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) 7-5
3. Christian Seraphim/Ian Dempster (WF) vs. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU) *5-6, unf
Match Notes
Wake Forest 31-2; National ranking #1
Ohio State 34-3; National ranking #3
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1); Singles (5,2,6,3,4)
T-2:40
NCAA Championship Final
 
#3 Ohio State 4, #2 Wake Forest 3
Feb 19, 2017 at Charlottesville, VA (The Boar’s Head Sports Club)
Singles competition
1. #2 Mikael Torpegaard (OSU) def. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF) 7-6 (9-7), 5-7, 7-6 (7-4)
2. #8 Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. #10 Skander Mansouri (WF) 6-4, 6-3
3. JJ Wolf (OSU) def. Borna Gojo (WF) 6-3, 6-3
4. #26 Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #47 Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3
5. Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. #77 Martin Joyce (OSU) 7-6 (7-1), 6-4
6. Kyle Seelig (OSU) def. Alan Gadjiev (WF) 6-4, 6-4
Doubles competition
1. #1 Skander Mansouri/Christian Seraphim (WF) def. #38 Mikael Torpegaard/Herkko Pollanen (OSU) 6-3
2. #25 Martin Joyce/Hugo Di Feo (OSU) def. Borna Gojo/Alan Gadjiev (WF) 6-2
3. Petros Chrysochos/Dennis Uspensky (WF) def. Matt Mendez/Hunter Tubert (OSU) 7-6 (7-5)
Match Notes:
Ohio State 12-0; National ranking #3
Wake Forest 8-1; National ranking #2
Order of finish: Doubles (2,1,3); Singles (3,2,6,5,4,1)
ITA National Team Indoors Semifinals
T-3:52 

 

Projected Singles Lineups
1. #2 JJ Wolf (OSU 14.91) vs. Borna Gojo (WF 14.44)
2. #62 John McNally (OSU 13.73) vs. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF 14.48)
3. #12 Kyle Seelig (OSU 13.88) vs. #21 Bar Botzer (WF 13.74)
4. Martin Joyce (OSU 13.80) vs. #49 Melios Efstathiou (WF 13.50)
5. #86 Alex Kobelt (OSU 13.42) vs. #88 Rrezart Cungu (WF 13.20)
6. Hunter Tubert (OSU 13.45) vs. Yuval Solomon (WF 12.71)
  
Singles Results This Week
 

1. #2 JJ Wolf (OSU 3-0)

  • def. #6 Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-4, 6-1
  • def. #119 Carl Soderlund (UVA) 6-3, 6-4
  • def. #42 Luis Erlenbusch (TUL) 6-2, 6-1

1. Borna Gojo (WF 1-1)

  • def. #52 William Blumberg (UNC) 6-3, 4-6, 7-5
  • lost to Maxime Cressy (UCLA) 6-4, 7-5
  • Did Not Play vs. Columbia
 

2. #62 John McNally (OSU 1-0)

  • def. #14 Yuya Ito (UT) 7-5, 6-3
  • vs. Henrik Wiersholm (UVA) 7-6 (7-3), 1-4 unf.
  • vs. #63 Ewan Moore (TUL) 6-2, 5-6, unf.
2. #1 Petros Chrysochos (WF 3-0)
  • def. Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) 7-6(4), 3-6, 6-3
  • def. Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-1, 6-4
  • def. #11 Jack Lin (CU) 6-1, 6-3 

 

3. #12 Kyle Seelig (OSU 0-0)

  • vs. #91 Leonardo Telles (UT) 7-5, 5-2* (40/15), unfinished
  • vs. Brandon Nakashima (UVA) 4-6, 3-4, unf
  • vs. Hamish Stewart (TUL) 5-7, 2-4, unf

3. #21 Bar Botzer (WF 3-0)

  • def. #36 Josh Peck (UNC) 3-6, 7-5, 6-1
  • def. Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-4, 7-6 (5)
  • def. #32 Adam Ambrozy (CU) 7-5, 6-2

 

4. Martin Joyce (OSU 1-0)

  • vs. Harrison Scott (UT) 6-4, 3-6, 3-0, unf
  • def. #68 Gianni Ross (UVA) 6-4, 6-3
  • vs. Dane Esses (TUL) 6-2, 5-4, unf

4. #49 Melios Efstathiou (WF 1-1) 

  • lost to #77 Brian Cernoch (UNC)) 6-2, 6-4
  • def. Mathew Tsolakyan (UCLA) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
  • vs. #44 Jackie Tang (CU) 3-6, 7-6(1), 4-2, unf

 

5. #86 Alex Kobelt (OSU 1-0)

  • vs. Colin Markes (UT) 6-7(6), 4-5* (40/15), unf
  • vs. #72 Ryan Goetz (UVA) 6-7 (4-7), 3-4, unf
  • def. #76 Tyler Schick (TUL) 7-5, 6-4

5. #88 Rrezart Cungu (WF 1-1)

  • Did Not Play vs. UNC
  • lost to Ben Goldberg (UCLA) 6-2, 6-3
  • def. Timothy Wang (CU) 1-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

 

6. Hunter Tubert (OSU 3-0)

  • def. Chih Chi Huang (UT) 6-2, 7-6 (3)
  • def. Aswin Lizen (UVA) 6-2, 6-3
  • def. Tim Ruetzel (TUL) 6-3, 6-1

6. Yuval Solomon (WF 1-1)

  • vs. Simon Soendergaard (UNC) 6-2, 3-6, *3-5 (40/30)
  • def. Eric Hahn (UCLA) 6-2, 6-2
  • lost to Austen Huang (CU) 6-4, 7-6(3)

 

Other Possible Singles Options 
Sid Banthia (WF) – lost to Blaine Boyden (UNC) 7-6(4), 6-2
Julain Zlobinsky (WF) – lost to Rian Pandole (CU) 6-4, 5-7, 6-4
James Trotter (OSU) – listed at No. 5 in the original lineups but has not played singles this tournament 

 

Projected Doubles Lineups
1. JJ Wolf/Martin Joyce (OSU) vs. Alan Gadjiev/Borna Gojo (WF) 
2. Alex Kobelt/Kyle Seelig (OSU) vs. Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos (WF)
3. Hunter Tubert/John McNally (OSU) vs. Siddhant Banthia/Julian Zlobinsky (WF)
 
 

Doubles Results This Week

1. JJ Wolf/Martin Joyce (OSU 2-1) 

  • lost to #13 Harrison Scott/Christian Sigsgaard (UT) 6-3
  • def. Carl Soderlund/William Woodall (UVA) 6-4
  • def. Ewan Moore/Akos Kotorman (TUL) 6-4

1. Alan Gadjiev/Borna Gojo (WF 1-0)

  • def. Brian Cernoch/Benjamin Sigouin (UNC) 7-6(2)

 

2. Alex Kobelt/Kyle Seelig (OSU 1-0)

  • def. Colin Markes/Leonardo Telles (UT) 6-2

2. Bar Botzer/Petros Chrysochos (WF 1-1)

  • def. William Blumberg/Blaine Boyden (UNC) 6-3
  • lost to Maxime Cressy/Connor Rapp (UCLA) 6-4
  • vs. Jack Lin/Jackie Tang (CU) 4-2, unf

 

3. Hunter Tubert/John McNally (OSU 3-0)

  • def. Yuya Ito/Chih Chi Huang (UT) 7-6(1)
  • def. Gianni Ross/Ryan Goetz (UVA) 6-2
  • def. Hamish Stewart/Tim Ruetzel (TUL) 6-3

3. Siddhant Banthia/Julian Zlobinsky (WF 0-1)

  • lost to Mac Kiger/Simon Soendergaard (UNC) 7-6(6)

 

Other Doubles Options

2. Alex Kobelt/James Trotter (OSU 0-1) – lost to Henrik Wiersholm/Brandon Nakashima (UVA) 6-1 & vs. Tyler Schick/Luis Erlenbusch (TUL) 6-5, unf

2. #54 Alan Gadjiev/Julian Zlobinsky (WF 2-0) def. Ben Goldberg/Govind Nanda (UCLA) 6-4; def. Adam Ambrozy/William Matheson (CU) 6-3

3. Siddhant Banthia/Melios Efstathiou (WF 1-1) – lost to Bryce Pereira/Patrick Zahraj (UCLA) 6-3; def. Victor Pham/Rian Pandole (CU) 6-3

 

So who is going to win?

I think the doubles point is an absolute must for Wake because I  don’t see them picking up four singles wins against Ohio State indoors. In singles, Ohio State is going to be banking on singles wins from JJ Wolf and Hunter Tubert at No. 1 and No. 6 and I bet Ty Tucker expects to see a win from his senior leader Martin Joyce at No. 4 against Wake freshman Melios Efstathiou. Wake will be counting on wins from Petros Chrysochos and Bar Botzer at No. 2 and No. 3 and then hoping they can win the match at No. 5 against the big serving Kobelt or pull off a surprise at No. 1, No. 4, or No. 6. I’ll take Ohio State 4-2.