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Ohio High School
2024 Boys Tennis Calendar 2/11/24
Feb 10: ACT Test Date
Feb. 24-25: OTCA Coach Clinic (Cleveland)
Mar. 2-3: USTA Level 4: B14, B16, B18
Mar. 4: 1st Day of Coaching
Mar. 9: SAT Test Date
Mar. 15: Coach to Enter Match Schedule on OTZ by..
Mar. 20: Coach to Enter Roster on OTZ by..
Mar. 22: HS Season Begins
Mar. 23-30: Easter Bowl
Mar 31: Easter
Apr 1: Coach to Provide Team Picture to OTZ by..
Apr 2: Pay OTZ for Coach, Team, or Individual Mem. by..
Apr. 8: Non-Interscholastic Date AND SOLAR ECLIPSE
Apr. 13: ACT Test Date
Apr. 21: Waiver Extension Ends
Apr 28: Sectional Tournament Draw
May 4: SAT Test Date
May 6-11: Sectional Tournament
May 13-18: District Tournament
May 23-24 (Th-Fr): State Tournament (Wooster)
May 25 (Sa): State Team Tournament (Wooster)
May 27: Memorial Day Observed
June 1: Season Ends

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
Final 2023 Rankings
December 17, 2023
Division I
1. Mason◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. N. C. Hoover◄TEAM 3 Final 4
3. Upper Arlington◄TEAM 1 Final 4
4. New Albany◄TEAM 1
5. Centerville◄TEAM 2
6. Avon 1
7. St. Ursula Academy 0
8. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM 2
9. Anthony Wayne◄TEAM 2 Final 4
10. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM 1
HM: Perrysburg◄TEAM 0
Division II
1. Indian Hill◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. Hath. Brown◄TEAM 3 Final 4
3. Col. Academy◄TEAM 3 Final 4
4. Hawken◄TEAM 2
5. Bexley◄TEAM 1
6. Mariemont 1
7. Archbishop Hoban 2
8. Tippecanoe 0
9. Archbishop Alter 1
10. Ottawa Hills 3 Final 4
HM: Orange◄TEAM 1
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information.
State Spots 3 - Denotes Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative.

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
Pre-Season 2023 Rankings
August 3, 2023
Division I
1. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM
2. New Albany◄TEAM
3. Mason◄TEAM
4. St. Ursula Academy
5. Centerville◄TEAM
6. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM
7. Avon◄TEAM
8. Magnificat◄TEAM
9. Olentangy◄TEAM
10. Olentangy Berlin◄TEAM
HM: Upper Arlington◄TEAM
HM: Dublin Jerome◄TEAM
Division II
1. Indian Hill◄TEAM
2. Hathaway Brown◄TEAM
3. Columbus Academy◄TEAM
4. Archbishop Alter
5. Hawken◄TEAM
6. Bexley◄TEAM
7. Tippecanoe
8. Seven Hills◄TEAM
9. Orange◄TEAM
10. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Boys Tennis Teams
Final 2023 Rankings
July 28, 2023

Division I
1. Sycamore◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. Mason◄TEAM 2
3. St. Xavier◄TEAM 1
4. Olentangy Orange 1 Final 4
5. New Albany◄TEAM 2
6. Olentangy Liberty◄TEAM 1
7. Springboro◄TEAM 2
8. Solon◄TEAM 2 Final 4
9. Avon◄TEAM 2
10. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM 1
HM: St. Johns Jesuit◄TEAM 1 Final 4
Division II
1. Seven Hills◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. Orange◄TEAM 4 Final 4
3. Indian Hill◄TEAM 3
4. Lexington◄TEAM 3 Final 4
5. Col. Academy◄TEAM 2 Final 4
6. University School◄TEAM 2
7. Bexley◄TEAM 1
8. Oakwood◄TEAM 1
9. Hawken◄TEAM 1
10. Chaminade-Julienne 0
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership, so extensive OTZ information is available
State Spots - Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - State Team Tournament District Representative

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
Final 2022 Rankings
December 7, 2022
Division I
1. Mason◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. N. Canton Hoover◄TEAM 3 Final 4
3. Centerville◄TEAM 1
4. Magnificat◄TEAM 2
5. New Albany◄TEAM 1 Final 4
6. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM 3
7. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM 1
8. Avon◄TEAM 1
9. Anth. Wayne◄TEAM 2 Final 4
10. Sycamore◄TEAM 0
HM: Massillon Jackson◄TEAM 2
HM: Solon◄TEAM 1
HM: Highland◄TEAM 1
Division II
1. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. Hath. Brown◄TEAM 3 Final 4
3. Col. Academy◄TEAM 1 Final 4
4. Indian Hill◄TEAM 3
5. Orange◄TEAM 2
6. Hawken◄TEAM 2
7. Archbishop Alter◄TEAM 0
8. Kenston 0
9. Bexley 1
10. Wellington◄TEAM 1
HM: Mariemont 0
HM: Seven Hills◄TEAM 0
HM: Bryan 0 Final 4
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available
State Spots 3 - Denotes Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative.

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Boys Tennis Teams
Final 2022 Rankings
June 23, 2022

Division I
1. Sycamore◄TEAM
2. Mason◄TEAM
3. Springboro ◄TEAM
4. New Albany◄TEAM
5. Olentangy Orange◄TEAM
6. Solon◄TEAM
7. St. Xavier ◄TEAM
8. Findlay ◄TEAM
9. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM
10. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM
HM: Avon
HM: Walsh Jesuit
HM: University School◄TEAM
Division II
1. Indian Hill◄TEAM
2. Orange◄TEAM
3. Seven Hills◄TEAM
4. Bexley ◄TEAM
5. Lexington ◄TEAM
6. Columbus Academy◄TEAM
7. Hawken◄TEAM
8. Oakwood◄TEAM
9. Wellington◄TEAM
10. Bryan
HM: Ottawa Hills
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available

 

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Final 2021 Rankings
Girls Tennis Teams
October 13, 2021
Division I
1. Mason◄TEAM Final 4
2. Magnificat◄TEAM Final 4
3. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM
4. Centerville
5. Upper Arlington◄TEAM
6. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM
7. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM
8. New Albany ◄TEAM
9. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM
10. Olentangy Orange ◄TEAM
HM: Highland◄TEAM
HM: Notre Dame Acad. ◄TEAM Final 4
HM: Solon◄TEAM
Division II
1. Hathaway Brown◄TEAM Final 4
2. Columbus Academy◄TEAM Final 4
3. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy◄TEAM Final 4
4. Eaton
5. Indian Hill◄TEAM
6. Wellington◄TEAM
7. Archbishop Alter◄TEAM
8. Hawken◄TEAM
9. Seven Hills◄TEAM
10. Laurel◄TEAM
HM: Revere◄TEAM
HM: Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin◄TEAM
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available
State Spots 3 - Denotes Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative.

 

OhioTennisZone Signup

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams

Final 2020 Rankings

November 6, 2020

Division I
1. Mason◄TEAM 2 Final 4
2. Upper Arlington◄TEAM 2 Final 4
3. Magnificat◄TEAM 3 Final 4
4. North Canton Hoover◄TEAM 1
5. St. Joseph Academy◄TEAM 2
6. Notre Dame Academy◄TEAM 2 Final 4
7. Centerville 1
8. Ursuline Academy 1
9. St. Ursula Academy◄TEAM 1
10. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM 2
HM: Olentangy Liberty◄TEAM 1
HM: Sycamore◄TEAM 0
Division II
1. Hathaway Brown◄TEAM 4 Final 4
2. Columbus Academy◄TEAM 1 Final 4
3. Indian Hill 3 Final 4
4. Eaton 1
5. Oakwood◄TEAM 2
6. Archbishop Alter◄TEAM 1
7. Wellington◄TEAM 1
8. Seven Hills◄TEAM 0
9. Hawken◄TEAM 1
10. Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy 1
HM: Ottawa Hills 1 Final 4
HM: Revere◄TEAM 0
◄TEAM - Denotes Team Membership so extensive OTZ information is available
State Spots 3 - Denotes Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative.

 

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Sectional Draws

 

Ohio High School Tennis

 

TUESDAY,

OHSAA Tournament Championship Points

All of the championship points were captured this year, but it was close. . It is difficult when matches end at about the same time. I was setup for D1 Doubles to finish first, but D1 Singles did instead. D1 Singles finished at 2:04 and D1 Dubs at 2:10.

The vantage points were not ideal. Another camera with a different camera lens was used this year during this boys championship. The same setup was used during the girls last fall. It provided a wider perspective versus last year's States. Next year, I hope to equip my camera setup with a missile system to stop others from wandering in front of the camera. (Hopefully I don't get in other people's way when I take images. I try hard not to do so. That's one reason why I normally sit on the actual court.)

Player photos were included at the end of the videos. There was also an extra point added when possible.

For best results, use full screen mode and increase the resolution to HD (for high definition)..

Crank up the volume so that co-workers (or neighbors) stop by your office cube to see what is going on.

Division I Singles:

St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated New Albany's Abhinav Dandu.

Division I Doubles:

Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo beat St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty.

Division II Singles:

Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Pepper Pike Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu.

Division II Doubles:

Lexington's Dylan Catanese - Ethan Remy  beat Pepper Pike Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom.

There are always some scoring snafus found by coaches as they begin to print off their end-of-season reports. If results are incorrect, please provide:

If the commentary is incorrect, please provide *when* the commentary was in error, the erroneous comments, and what it should be. Screen shots are always helpful.

Please keep in mind there are quite a few moving parts. The players could have reported the wrong score, the coach could have recorded it incorrectly, the newspaper may have posted it incorrectly, or maybe, just possibly, OTZ could have made an error.

I now switch to photo-processing mode.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, MAY 26, 2024

State Team Champions: Sycamore D1 | Indian Hill D2

Congratulations to Sycamore and Indian Hill for winning the State Team Tournament for Division I and Division II, respectively. Sycamore beat Olentangy Orange in the finals while Indian Hill defeated Orange. This was the third in a row for Sycamore. Indian Hill last won the championship in 2022. Indian Hill also won the Girls Team Tournament last fall.

In the 3rd / 4th match-ups, Columbus Academy defeated Lexington and Massillon Jackson beat Anthony Wayne. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

After an amazing run, Sycamore's great group of seniors is graduating. The other D1 teams are no doubt happily wishing them a fond farewell.

Sycamore High School
Sycamore D1 Champs - Click to enlarge
Indian Hill High School
Indian Hill D2 Champs - Click to enlarge
Many of the singles matches involving the top players went unfinished. The exceptions were: Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Olentangy Orange's Zach Haar; Indian Hill's Jack Pollock beat Lexington's Ethan Remy and Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Anthony Wayne's Logan Sutto Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger beat Lexington's Karl Etzel and Orange's Gabi Kalir; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu defeated Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Olentangy Orange's Zach Haar and Anthony Wayne's Logan Sutto; and Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue defeated Lexington's Ethan Remy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Surprising everyone, the weather did not force the tournament indoors. Rain had been expected on Saturday throughout the week.

While it was great for the fans, the hot sunny weather certainly took its toll on the players. Many were exhausted after the third day in a row of grueling competition and hot temperatures. (Ok. Again. Next year don't wear black shirts even though they look great.)

The photos will be processed soon but not today. We are once again about to leave for Findlay to work on the farm.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, MAY 25, 2024

Congratulations to the State Champions

Congratulations to all of the players who competed yesterday and especially to the State Champions. Conditions were perfect for playing and watching. Play finished at approximately 3:00pm. (The finish times for previous years were 2:25pm in 2023 and 3:15pm in 2022.)

Click for the final OTZ Enhanced State Tournament Draws.

Carson Dwyer Sycamore's Nicholas Choo-Chase Klugo
St. Xavier's Dwyer - Click to enlarge
Sycamore's Choo-Klugo
Bexley's Henry Lessard Lexington's Catanese-Remy
Bexley's Lessard
Lexington's Catanese-Remy

The State champions and the finalists are:

Division I Singles: St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated New Albany's Abhi Dandu.

Division I Doubles: Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo beat St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty.

Division II Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu.

Division II Doubles: Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese beat Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom.

The State Team Tournament takes place today. Last year's State Team Tournament took place on Sunday. That provided a welcomed rest for the players who competed during the second day of the State Tournament. Hopefully the players hold up ok today. Fingers are crossed with the weather.

Pictures from the State Tournament will be available for viewing soon.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2024

States Day #2

The weather was as perfect yesterday as it was rainy for most of the season. There was some great tennis yesterday.

In the "My District is Better than Your District" Compeition, this was not a Kentucky Derby-like photo finish. The Southwest led the pack of semi-finalists by a horse or two. They were: Southwest: 8 (50%), Central: 4 (40%), Northeast: 3 (14%), and Northwest: 1 (8%). In the paratheses are the the semi-finalists divided by States Spots. For example, Southwest received 16 spots for States and eight of those spots yielded semi-finalists.

Henrique Sa
Hudson's Henrique Sa - Click to enlarge

Of those still in the singles competition, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Shawnee's Gabe Burke and Hudson's Henrique Sa; St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer beat GlenOak's Dylan Wiles and New Albany's Jackson Clements; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Hawken's Axel Neely and Heartland Christian's Cooper Grim; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu beat Bryan's Landon Bassett and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Perkins' Chase Young and Northwestern's Aiden Yeager; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Avon's Luke LeMaster and Springboro's Rishi Dore; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand defeated Revere's Finn Keenan and Sycamore's Dhruv Kota; and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak beat Lexington's Cooper Remy and Marietta's Max Navarro Steffen.

The players in the semi-finals are:

Division I Singles:

New Albany's Abhi Dandu, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, and Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers.

Division I Doubles:

Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo, Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum - Arjun Rajagopala, St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty; and Westlake's Rohit Jain - Xander Jhaveri.

Division II Singles:

Bexley's Henry Lessard, Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak.

Division II Doubles:

Columbus Academy's Rowen Lo - Lucas Xue; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger - Neelan Gandhi; Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese; and Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom.

I am about to leave from Columbus. See you at States.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY,

Ready to Roll for States

On with the show, this is it. As the season starts each spring, getting to States was the goal. For those who made it, congratulations. Now let's see if you can make it to Day 2..

The OTZ draws are ready to roll and they will be updated throughout the day. To make things more convenient, save OhioTennisZone.com/draws on your smart phone now.

State Draws
OTZ Draws - Click to draws

This is the first season for the boys to be at Wooster. Wooster did a very good job with the girls last fall when it was not raining, and the Aspen Racquet Club turned out to be a great, rain day solution. Hopefully rain will not be an issue today. The grass parking lot; however, may be a problem today if it rained too much last night. Sensible shoes may be a better choice today.

Even though the boys have had an opportunity to get acclimated to the heat this spring, include a light colored shirt in your son's tennis bag. There have been too many times when players have had to withdraw due to heat-related issues. In almost all of these cases, the player was wearing a black or dark shirt.

I will be taking action photos today. If you want a photo of your son, please email me or send me a Feedback. It is unclear how much demand there will be so please contact me quickly.

Wooster-area weather

The competitors today are:

State Qualifiers (seed order)

Central Division I

Singles: New Albany's Abhi Dandu, New Albany's Jackson Clements, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand, and Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough.

Doubles: New Albany's Ben Bilenko - Tyler Thomas; Olentangy Liberty's Krish Badri - Arya Badri; Olentangy's Sujan Sriram - Gavin Cheung; and Upper Arlington's Keshav Goyal - Jackson Lloyd

Central Division II

Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo.

Doubles: Columbus Academy's Rowen Lo - Lucas Xue and Bexley's Sam Lessard - Oscar Ramsden.

Northeast Division I

Singles: Hudson's Henrique Sa, Revere's Finn Keenan, Solon's Zach Krantz, Avon's AJ Sidoti, GlenOak's Dylan Wiles, and Avon's Luke LeMaster.

Doubles: Westlake's Rohit Jain - Xander Jhaveri; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram, - Shiv Nagajothi; Walsh Jesuit's Charlie Kealy- Michael Vallone; Massillon Jackson's Ishan Tripathy - Larson Sutula; North Royalton's Arnav Gopinath; and Archbishop Hoban's Jack Slay - Jeremy Hammel.

Northeast Division II

Singles: Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu, University School's Dean Kirchick, Heartland Christian's Cooper Grim, St. Vincent-St. Mary’s Ben McKnight, and Hawken's Axel Neely.

Doubles: Orange's Gabi Kalir - Ace Bloom; Orange's Gabriel Guiler - Adam Saab; University School's Rohit Talasila - Vishwum Kapadia; University School's Cole Kirchick - Lucas Weidenbecher; and Hawken's Tyler Snyder - Anthony Piazza.

Northwest Division I

Singles: St. Francis DeSales' Nick Miller and Shawnee's Gabe Burke.

Doubles: Sylvania Southview's Isaac and Landon Vens and Findlay's Sam Swisher - Aaron Miller.

Northwest Division II

Singles: Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse, Lexington's Cooper Remy, Perkins' Chase Young, and Bryan's Landon Bassett.

Doubles: Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese; Ontario's Hector Sanchez Vidal - Pablo Sanchez Vidal; Lexington's Karl Etzel - Owan Gongwer; and Ottawa Hills' Savith Vijendra - Chris Thompson.

Southwest Division I

Singles:  St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, Springboro's Rishi Dore, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers, and Sycamore's Dhruv Kota.

Doubles:  Sycamore's Nicholas Choo - Chase Klugo,; Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum, - Arjun Rajagopala,; St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty; Springboro's  Drew Baumgartner - Peyton Nelson.

Southwest Division II

Singles: Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, Indian Hill's Jack Pollock, Seven Hills' Adi Nayak, and Northwestern's Aiden Yeager.

Doubles:  Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger - Neelan Gandhi; Seven Hills' Gavin Isakov - Chinmay Machavaram; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin - Noah Boyce, and Indian Hill's Michael Ryu - Eshaan Gandhi.

Southeast Division II:

Singles: Marietta's Max Navarro Steffen

Doubles: Unioto's Lucas Hanes - Mason Thornsberry.

Weather 5/25 - 5/30
4 Equal State Spots for States Wrestling
There are rumors that the Central District D2 may once again get stuck with just one spot for Girls States. If true, the timing could not be more ridiculous. Central D2 won the championships in both singles and doubles last fall.

Wrestling has had four equal State spots for each District forever. It is time to ask the wrestlers for help in figuring out tennis. The two sports are extremely similar from a seeding perspective and from a competitor versus competitor standpoint. The unequal State spots situation is bad for the kids and bad for tennis. Obviously, having one spot for a major metro area, such as Columbus, makes less than zero sense. Note the 106# weight class for D1 wrestling where each District (HD-Central, HO-Northeast, KF-Southwest, and PB-Northwest) have four seeds. Having five, number one seeds in D2 tennis never made any sense.

The field is set for the State Team Tournament that takes place on Saturday in Wooster. In the first round, Central District teams play the Northeast District, and Southwest plays the Northwest. D2 takes the court first. The teams are:

Central D1 / D2:

Olentangy Orange and Columbus Academy

Northeast D1 / D2:

Massillon Jackson  and Orange

Northwest D1 / D2:

Anthony Wayne and Lexington

Southwest D1 / D2:

Sycamore and Indian Hill

See you at States.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY,

OhioTennisZone Video of Its Top Picks for the State Championships

It is time for another OhioTennisZone video. This video recognizes the players who are OTZ's top picks for States. The video uses a combination of OTZ action photos and videos that were taken over the last two years. Hope you find it to be interesting and informative. This will also help match a name with a face for those who attend States.

Click for OTZ Top Picks for States - Click for video

Time frames are always super tight in creating these videos. This video was hammered out last night and super early this morning. Taping began at about 9:00pm, and it was done in one take. The player photos and videos were added after that. I doubt that I ever will, but I would like to get to a 95% ok video level. This one is probably about 80-90%. It is really hard to become proficient in something that is done just three or four times a year, but I will keep trying...

The goal was to make this a five minute video, and amazingly, it came in at 4:50.

Normally there are a few more photos of Southwest District players, but the AP tests delayed the start times of numerous matches with some starting after 4pm. At one point, OTZ traveled to the Northeast District D2 tournament, but when that outdoor tournament became more of an indoor tournament, I stopped going. Photos taken indoors are pretty bad.

For a better viewing experience, please click on the little gear thingy and select 1080p60 HD. The screen can also be enlarged by clicking on the partially completed "square".

Google will likely include advertisements with this and other OTZ videos. I do not have any control over who advertises, nor does OTZ benefit financially from these advertisers.

Please let me know if there are any inaccuracies - there always are and you always do. I do not purposely try to say names incorrectly. Really. I don't. I should establish some sort of prize for the player with the most mangled name. For consideration, please enter a Feedback. Personally, I would like to submit Massillon Jackson's Shiv Nagajothi. (This is what I meant to say.) The 2023 OTZ Girls Season Video Mangled Name Champion was Ema Papcke.

It is fun to review older videos. Here are a few from both prior girls and boys seasons. Click for Girls 2020, Boys 2021, Girls 2021, Boys 2022, Girls 2022, Boys 2023, and Girls 2023. At one point, I created "hype" videos for States but Google eventually prevented professional music from being used. That eliminated my interest. Perhaps with AI generated music, this will be possible again in the future. Here is one from Girls 2019. Tennis fans will recognize a few of these high school players.

The OTZ-Enhanced State Draws are still missing a few photos. Thanks to those who contributed photos of their players. It is not too late to add your player's photo..

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY,

OhioTennisZone Interview of Sycamore's Nick Meyers | Massillon Jackson Earns Final Final Four Spot

Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers is hoping for a State Championship this year. It may happen in singles, with the Sycamore team, or possibly both. (Neither is also a possibility, but let's not go there.) States is a familiar place for him. Meyers placed third last year in singles. He was a State Doubles Finalist in 2022, and he placed fourth in dubs in 2021.

"My main goal is to win team states and complete the three-peat which we’ve only done one time before. I’ve been very lucky to have the team I have with our depth. It’s very rare to have seven guys that can all play Court 1 at 90% of the other schools in Ohio. My other goal is to win individual States in singles as well. Definitely haven’t proved I’m a clear favorite by any means, but I hope to get my revenge on Carson Dwyer and Rishi Dore at States this week."

Nick Meyers
Meyers at SW Districts - Click to enlarge

Meyers started playing tennis early on. "I started playing tennis when I was about five and a half. I got started because my dad played squash and racquetball so we tried out tennis one time and never stopped since then."

Meyers has been a top junior player and his national rankings for his class have ranged from 117 on TennisRecruiting.net (as a sophomore) to 157 (as a junior). He currently has a national ranking of 142. He sports a 10.85 UTR which is essentially his high point (10.86). His UTR range is here.

In terms of Meyers' strategy and strengths, "My forehand is definitely my favorite shot. I love running kids side to side with it and using it to dictate every point I play. I also enjoy serving a ton, too, because it allows me to win free points and there isn’t a better feeling for me than hitting an ace." Meyers' average serve speed clocks in at 105mph. His high is about 125mph.

Meyers at 2023 States
At 2023 States - Click to enlarge

For college, Meyers is staying in Ohio. "I picked Denison which is about 30 minutes to the right of OSU. I liked the team and especially the coach, David Schilling. He coached at OSU for 20 years as an assistant coach and has been at Denison for four years. He is all in for tennis and he loves helping everyone he knows get better at tennis. He has done a ton for me and my future teammates. I also like the campus and the smaller setting because I don’t enjoy colleges with 10,000+ students. Also, the academics are great and I will be able to make a ton of connections for a job when I get out of college. I was also considering Xavier, Cleveland State, and Case Western but none really felt like the right fit compared to Denison."

Meyers is an OTZ-approved math / science guy. His favorite AP was Stats. He has also taken BC Calc, Physics 1, and Micro and Macro Economics. He hopes to study financial economics at Denison.

His father is Ron and his mother is Lidija. Ron works for Phillips Edison. Meyers' mother plays tennis in a league. His brother, Jake, and sister, Natalie, are twins who are sophomores at Sycamore. They are involved with non-tennis activities (rock climbing for him and playing cello and harp for her).

Meyers in 2021
In 2021 - Click to enlarge

As for the obligatory response about OhioTennisZone, Meyers stated, "I personally like reading the updates every day. It gives an easy way to know what happened with all the big matches around the state and what is upcoming for the rest of the season.".

Why play high school tennis? "Team aspect for sure. I play USTA the rest of the year where it’s only about me and nothing else and sometimes the tournaments can get lonely. However, with high school you can lose your match and still win as a team which I think is awesome. You have something to fight for other than yourself, and you're constantly surrounded by all your friends who are all trying to make each other better every day."

Coach Mike Teets shared this about Meyers. "Nick is an extremely hard worker who puts in hours every day. After our practice, he frequently hits serves or goes to a lesson. His dedication to being the best player possible is impressive! Along with his work ethic, Nick is a great teammate and seems to truly enjoy being a part of the team. He's got a great sense of humor and treats the younger players like friends, just like the guys his own age. We are lucky to have Nick and we wish him well as he continues his career at Denison!"

Meyers starts his trek at States on Thursday. Good luck!

Massillon Jackson defeated Avon to earn the last remaining Final Four spot for the State Team Tournament. The match was decided by a 3-0 score. Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Avon's A.J. Sidoti to clinch the win. Click for the State Team Tournament Draws.

The Central District plays the Northeast in the first round while the Southwest plays the Northwest. If there is a court conflict, Division II will go on court first.

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MONDAY, MAY 20, 2024

State Draws Released

The OTZ-Enhanced State Draws were posted online last night. A link will be included at the top of this page throughout the tournament. Photos are included for 79 of the 96 players, and that number will increase throughout the week. These draws will be updated with results during States.

State Draws
OTZ Draws - Click to draws
Southwest D1
Southwest D1 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
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Southwest D2 State Qualifiers - Click to enlarge

On the surface, it was good news that the OHSAA released the State Draws yesterday. The downside is that the OHSAA normally makes errors with the draws. It is better to have correct draws rather than quick draws so it will be interesting to see what happens this time. During Girls States, the draws were not correct until the first day of States (Thursday).  (I was making changes to the draw in my vehicle in the States parking area, using my iPhone and Mrs. OTZ’s help in Columbus.)  It was also disappointing to see that a version number (or date) was not included on the draws.  This means that fans have to review all of the draws to look for changes. The new OHSAA administrator this season is John Kronour. Kronour has an extensive (actually massively extensive) background in sports and education.

The race is on. Losing a day during States week (since States starts on Thursday rather than Friday) means that there is a plenty of content to share that has to be compressed into fewer days. That also means that there is less time to prepare the content.

Thanks go to Sycamore coach, Mike Teets, for providing the Southwest District group photos.

The Massillon Jackson versus Avon match date for the Northeast D1 Final Four spot has not been reported. Getting the player names on the t-shirts already has tight time frames, and these late matches makes it even more difficult.

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SUNDAY, MAY 19, 2024

District Seeding Finished

The weather was perfect as players finished the District seeding rounds. The results are available via the links above. The OTZ database has been updated to include the Central, Southwest, and Northwest (D2) results.

Central District
Central D1 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers and Springboro's Rishi Dore; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan beat Northwestern's Aiden Yeager and Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough and New Albany's Jackson Clements; Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse defeated Lexington's Cooper Remy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

While a "facing the sun" photo always looks better, this image of the Central D1 qualifiers tested the limits of how long players could look into the sun. Mike Teets provided photos of the Southwest District State Qualifiers so those images will also be going online.

Today is the only day in which we will be going to the Findlay farm this week. After this 14+ hour day, I can switch back into Ohio tennis mode. Unfortunately, that is about 14 hours that would have been spent on Ohio tennis.

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SATURDAY, MAY 18, 2024

Columbus Academy in Final Four | District Seeding Rounds

In another great match yesterday, Columbus Academy beat Bexley, 3-1, to earn its Final Four spot. This leaves just one more spot to be determined - the Northeast D1. Click for an updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.

To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Central D2 Qualifiers
Central D2 Qualifiers - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo beat Bexley's Sam Lessard. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Good luck in today's seeding round. There are also a few more State Qualifier spots to be determined.

The Ohio State Mens Team is competing in the NCAA semi-final against TCU at noon today.

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FRIDAY, MAY 17, 2024

State Qualifiers | Ohio Tennis Versus AP Tests

Even though the weather cooperated yesterday, it was Ohio HS tennis versus Advanced Placement Tests. These tests require three hours and 45 minutes. Test takers must also wait for the full time that is allocated for the test before leaving. This led to awkward start times. Some matches at the Southwest District were delayed until noon while a couple more could not start until after 4pm.

Because of the large amount of data entry required, only the Central and Southwest District results are included in this early version of the update. OTZ Player Profile links are also not included for numerous players. [Updated: 1:30pm] Note that due to the AP Tests, some of the SW District Qualifier spots have not yet been determined.

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Northwestern's Aiden Yeager - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Springboro's Rishi Dore defeated Moeller's Clayton Arnett and Mason's Daniel Tonkal; St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer beat Sycamore's Kyle Friedrich and Centerville's Luke Edwards; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Nikhil Shah; Indian Hill's Jack Pollock beat Chaminade-Julienne's Sam Wendling and Summit Country Day's Tyler Lammers; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Chillicothe's Noah Flores and Olentangy Orange's Zach Haar; New Albany's Abhi Dandu defeated Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula and Olentangy Orange's Nikhil Bhimireddy; New Albany's Jackson Clements beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley and Watkins Memorial's Liam Grennan; Columbus Academy's Nason Lo defeated Bexley's Max Almasanu; and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak beat Miami Valley School's Arjun Jain. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

State Qualifiers (alphabetical by school)

Central Division I

Singles: Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough, New Albany's Jackson Clements, and New Albany's Abhi Dandu, and Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand.

Doubles: Olentangy's Sujan Sriram - Gavin Cheung; Olentangy Liberty's Krish Badri - Arya Badri; New Albany's Ben Bilenko - Tyler Thomas; and Upper Arlington's Keshav Goyal - Jackson Lloyd

Central Division II

Singles: Bexley's Henry Lessard and Columbus Academy's Nason Lo.

Doubles: Bexley's Sam Lessard - Oscar Ramsden and Columbus Academy's Rowen Lo - Lucas Xue.

Northeast Division II

Singles: Bryan's Landon Bassett, Lexington's Cooper Remy, Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse, and Perkins' Chase Young.

Doubles: Lexington's Karl Etzel - Owan Gongwer; Lexington's Ethan Remy - Dylan Catanese; Ontario's Hector Sanchez Vidal - Pablo Sanchez Vidal; and Ottawa Hills' Savith Vijendra - Chris Thompson.

Southwest Division I

Singles:  Springboro's Rishi Dore, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, Sycamore's Dhruv Kota, and Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers.

Doubles:  St. Xavier's Chase Homan - Nihal Narisetty; Springboro's  Drew Baumgartner - Peyton Nelson; TBD; and TBD.

Southwest Division II

Singles: Indian Hill's Jack Pollock, Northwestern's Aiden Yeager, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak.

Doubles:  Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger - Neelan Gandhi; Indian Hill's Michael Ryu - Eshaan Gandhi; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin - Noah Boyce; and Seven Hills' Gavin Isakov - Chinmay Machavaram.

Northwestern's Aiden Yeager has been one of the leaders on the OTZ By-Court Report all season. It was nice to finally see him play yesterday. He is featured in today's photo.

Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Columbus Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2024

Indian Hill & Olentangy Orange in Final Four

Two more of the Final Four spots were claimed yesterday when Indian Hill defeated Oakwood and Olentangy Orange beat Olentangy Liberty. Final Four spots remaining are: NW D1, NE D1 / D2 and Central D2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.

Olentangy Orange
Olentangy Orange - Click to team page
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Jack Pollock defeated Oakwood's Arick Baldwin; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Olentangy Orange's Zach Haar; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Oakwood's Noah Boyce; Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel beat defeated Olentangy Liberty’s Eli Englert; and Indian Hill's Ethan Camp defeated Oakwood's Grant Zhou. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Olentangy Orange. They are coached by Matthew Rutherford. They are led by Shailen Patel, Zach Haar, and Nikhil Bhimireddy.

The Central and Southwest Districts start their D1 / D2 tournaments today. The Northeast has their D1 tournament, and the Northwest plays their D2. I am preparing to leave for the Southwest District now. It begins at 9am, but some of the AP test taker matches will begin at 7:30. Good luck. This is a big day.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 15, 2024

Lexington in Final Four | Rain Rained out Rainy Central Districts

Congratulations to Lexington. They are in the Final Four after their victory over Ottawa Hills. There are still six Final Four spots to be decided. Click for the updated OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws

Avon
Avon - Click to team page

The Central D1/D2 tournaments were to be played today, but they got rained out. The Northwest D1 District tournament was also expected to be played. It is unknown what its status is.

OTZ will be going to the Southwest Districts at Mason tomorrow where both the D1 and D2 teams will play. In previous years, this tournament was held at the Lindner Family Tennis Center, but it is undergoing construction. It is unknown if the McNasty Food truck will be in attendance.

Of course, it is too early to be looking at weather forecasts for the State Tournament in Wooster, but if you did, you would not like it.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for the Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest Districts.

Today's featured team is Avon. They are coached by Eric Korey. They are led by A.J. Sidoti, Luke LeMaster, and Jay Kneiss.

Olentangy Liberty (A) is slated to play Olentangy Orange today to determine the D1 District Final Four spot. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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TUESDAY, MAY 14, 2024

Sycamore in Final Four

Many of the teams remaining in the State Team Tournament took advantage of the great weather yesterday to continue their march to the State Team Final Four. Sycamore defeated Springboro to earn the state's first final four spot. University School beat Hawken, and they will meet Orange in the NE final. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Indian Hill
Indian Hill - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Springboro's Jack Siehl; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Lexington's Ethan Remy defeated Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse; University School's Dean Kirchick beat Hawken's Axel Neely; Hawken's Zach Forte defeated University School's Will Stephans; Seven Hills' Adi Nayak beat Summit Country Day's Tyler Lammers; Lexington's Dylan Catanese defeated Ottawa Hills' Akash Parikh; and DeSales' Preston Thai beat Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Indian Hill. They are coached by Wade Ward. They are Team Members. They are led by Jack Pollock, RJ Poffenberger, Ethan Camp, and Senuka Abeysinghe.

Today's matches include: Centerville (H) versus St. Xavier and Hudson (H) versus Western Reserve Academy. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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MONDAY, MAY 13, 2024

Ready for Districts

The District draws have been posted for all Districts except for the Southwest. If I recall, the Southwest is re-seeding for the Districts. (Is that correct? Please submit a Feedback.) If that is the case, that might explain the delay. [Update at 11:10am: The Southwest District is not re-seeding. Their draws are still not posted.]

Columbus Academy
Columbus Academy - Click to team page

This week's OTZ plans are: Central D1 at Upper Arlington on Wednesday, Southwest Districts in Mason on Thursday, and D1 Seeding at UA on Saturday. We are blasting up to Findlay to work on the farm on Friday.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Columbus Academy. They are coached by Preston Eberlyn. They are Team Members. They are led by Nason Lo, Lucas Xue, Jacob Khvalsky, and Rowen Lo. Academy will be hosting Bexley in the Central DII final on Thursday.

Columbus-area weather

After working in Findlay yesterday, today is catch-up day.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (H) versus Springboro and Lexington (H) versus Ottawa Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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SUNDAY, MAY 12, 2024

Sectional Seeding Rounds Completed

The seeding round finished late at some locations. That was due to a late start and long matches. In Central D1, 12 of the 31 (39%) matches were three-setters. Click the above links for all of the results. The Central District results are also on OhioTennisZone.

Upper Arlington
Upper Arlington - Click to team page

Among the top players, New Albany's Abhi Dandu defeated New Albany's Jackson Clements and Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand; Bexley’s Henry Lessard beat Bexley's Max Almasanu; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand defeated Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat New Albany's Jackson Clements; Columbus Academy's Nason Lo defeated Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula and Watterson's Tommy O’Brien; Watkins Memorial's Liam Grennan defeated Big Walnut's Jeevan Kondura; and Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley beat Olentangy Orange's Nikhil Bhimireddy. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Upper Arlington. They are coached by Will Thieman. They are Team Members. They are led by Owen Hawley, William Abouhassan, Keshav Goyal, and Ford Clark.

Mrs. OTZ and I left for Findlay late yesterday in order to see the northern lights. We thought that we would have a better opportunity to see them at the farm rather than in Columbus. The stars were brilliant without Columbus' light pollution, but we had no luck with the northern lights. We tried at 1am and 3am.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, MAY 11, 2024

Indian Hill, Massillon Jackson, Olentangy Orange, and Oakwood Advance | Sectional Seeding Rounds

Yesterday was a busy day for State Team Tournament matches. Indian Hill defeated Seven Hills; Olentangy Orange beat Upper Arlington; Massillon Jackson defeated Solon; and Oakwood beat Cincinnati Country Day. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.

To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

DeSales
DeSales - Click to team page
Among the top players, Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Seven Hills' Adi Nayak; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin beat Cincinnati Country Day's Nikhil Shah; Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel defeated Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Oakwood's Noah Boyce beat Cincinnati Country Day's Daniel SgroPlaut; and Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is DeSales. They are coached by Tom Snyder. They are led by Gabe Arbona, Brandon Heil, Preston Thai, and Brendan Ballard.

Today is the Sectional seeding round. Good luck!

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FRIDAY, MAY 10, 2024

More Rain

There were a few scores reported from the Northwest District Sectional, but yesterday was largely a rain-out. Tomorrow's seeding round looks relative good, weather-wise for the Central and Southwest Districts, but rainy for the Northwest and Northeast. To view the dual match results recorded from earlier in the week, click on Previous Day's Match Results. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws

Tommy O'Brien
Watterson's Tommy O'Brien - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Lexington's Cooper Remy defeated Willard's Mason Dawson and Galion's Ben Rinehart. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today is a Photo Friday. Today's photo is of Bishop Watterson's Tommy O'Brien. Click for the Most Recently Added Photos.

Today's matches include: Big Walnut (A) versus Olentangy Berlin; Oakwood (H) versus Cincinnati Country Day; and Olentangy Orange versus Upper Arlington. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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THURSDAY, MAY 9, 2024

Central District Sectionals Finish under Sunny Skies

In what was expected to be a dismal, rainy week, the Central District finished their Sectionals under sunny skies yesterday. The Sectional Seeding rounds on Saturday might be a completely different story..

Central District Sectional Results - Click to enlarge

The Central District data is in the process of being added online on OTZ now, but the results are posted under the CDAB link above. There are also some Sectional results listed under the Northwest and Southwest Districts.

To view the dual match results recorded from previous days, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

More will be added to this update after OTZ has included the Central District Sectional data to the team and player records. The estimate is around 2pm. [This was completed at 3:30pm.]

Among the top players, Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand defeated Dublin Coffman's Tomoya Akiyama; New Albany's Jackson Clements beat Olentangy's Shreyas Dave; Marysville's Gianni Russo defeated Dublin Jerome's Aarush Gupta; Olentangy Orange's Nikhil Bhimireddy beat Upper Arlington's William Abouhassan; Watterson's Tommy OBrien defeated St. Charles' Will Kennedy; St. Charles' Victor Roscoe beat Dublin Jerome's Cayden Stratford; Westerville North’s Shrey Shyamalan defeated Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister; and Columbus Academy's Sujay Billakanty beat Granville's Sam Pfau. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's matches include: Big Walnut (A) versus Olentangy Berlin and Oakwood (H) versus Cincinnati Country Day.

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WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 2024

Central / Southwest District Sectionals Begin

Rainy weather and teams competing in Sectionals means that there were no new scores reported yesterday. The Central and Southwest District Sectionals begin today. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. To view all of the results recorded from Monday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Watterson
Watterson - Click to team page

The Northeast District is reporting scores from their Sectionals. Click the above link to view. As is normally the case, many of the early round matches are one-sided for the top-ranked players.

The State Team Tournament draws have been updated. Click to view.

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Watterson. They are coached by Tyler Johnston. They are Team Members. They are led by Tommy O'Brien, Franco Kader, and Will Carrier.

The only match scheduled for today is Lakeside (A) versus Harvey. Click List of Upcoming Matches.

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TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2024

Sycamore Beats St. Xavier

In the biggest match of the evening, Sycamore defeated St. Xavier to advance in the State Team Tournament. Tippecanoe also beat Milton-Union. There were just six matches recorded from state-wide play as Sectional preparation and rain slowed down dual match play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 1, Southwest - 2, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 1. Another close, 3-2 match was Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Revere. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

St. Charles
St. Charles - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated St. Xavier's David Ivanov; Lexington's Dylan Catanese beat St. Marys Memorial's Jake Ackroyd; Tippecanoe’s Alex Darner defeated Milton-Union’s Tommy Ryerson; North Royalton’s Enrique Isaev beat Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; Lexington's Owan Gongwer defeated St. Marys Memorial's Chisholm; Sycamore's Chase Klugo defeated St. Xavier's Alek Stanisic. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is St. Charles. They are coached by Costas Alevizopoulos. They are led by Victor Roscoe, Will Kennedy, Andrew Kane, and Brogan Rogers. They are Team Members.

OTZ is computing from afar (again) - this time in a Findlay Starbucks. Typos will be corrected after returning to headquarters. But for now, it is time to weed-whack attack, mow, and power spray. And, of course, I'm getting weed-whack elbow, right before tennis season..

Today's matches include: Ottawa Hills (H) versus Findlay; Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Upper Arlington; and Lakeside (H) versus Geneva. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, MAY 6, 2024

Sectional Week

This is a huge week for Ohio high school tennis, and at this point, all of the players are still in the State tournament. Since the field is so large, it is critical to finish the first day outdoors since no indoor facility can handle that many players. Sectional play begins today at the Northeast District Solon site, and their weather looks good.

OSU's Sydni Ratliff OSU's Siemers
Sydni Ratliff - Click to enlarge
Maddie Atway - Click to enlarge
Dani Schoenly Megan Basil
Dani Schoenly - Click to enlarge
Megan Basil - Click to enlarge

Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Ohio State Women's team finished their season yesterday when they lost to Vanderbilt. Photos to the right are of the Ohio high school players who now play for Ohio State. Photos of Columbus Academy's Sydni Ratliff and Olentangy Liberty's Maddie Atway are during competition. The Megan Basil (Upper Arlington) and Dani Schoenly (Olentangy Liberty) photos were taken during warm-ups.

The Ohio State Men's Team will host #15 Mississippi State in the NCAA Super-Regional on May 11 (Saturday) at noon.

Columbus-area weather

Today's matches include: Badin (H) versus LaSalle; Big Walnut (H) versus Worthington Christian; and Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Marysville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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SUNDAY, MAY 5, 2024

Rain Hampers Play

Tomorrow is the beginning of Sectional week. Hopefully things will go more smoothly than what it did yesterday. There was just one score submitted as rain hampered play. Chaminade-Julliene defeated the Beavercreek-B team. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Hudson
Hudson - Click to team page
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Hudson. They are coached by Tim Morgan. They are Team Members. They are led by Henrique Sa, Zelin Shen, and Frederick Li.

Once again, OTZ is out of town so today's update is (very) brief.

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SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2024

Mason Beats Tippecanoe

The weather provided dodgy rain yesterday, which was better than expected. At least 10 matches were recorded. The breakdown by District was: Central - 7, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Northmont defeated Sidney; Big Walnut beat Delaware Hayes; and Columbus Academy defeated Upper Arlington. In the State Team Tournament, Mason defeated Tippecanoe. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

End-of-Season
End-of-Year Report - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Mason's Daniel Tonkal defeated Tippecanoe's Nick Von Krosigk; Columbus Academy's Nason Lo defeated Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Mason's Shreyas Mantha defeated Tippecanoe's Cameron Davis; Avon's Jay Kneiss defeated Lake Ridge Academy's DeBoer; Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Delaware Hayes Grant LaMar; and Olentangy Berlin's Zach Heister defeated Worthington Christian's Dylan Decker. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There are several tournaments today. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

As the end of the season nears, coaches find the Season-to-Date Report (or End-of-Year Report) to be very beneficial in summarizing player stats. It lists all of the matches of all of the varsity players. This report is available in the OTZ Personalized Report page under OTZ Tools. Please sign-in to view.

The Ohio State Women’s team plays against the University of Toledo today in the first round of the NCAA’s. In addition to Ohio State’s four Ohio high school players (Columbus Academy's Sydney Ratliff), Olentangy Liberty's Madeline Atway and Dani Schoenly, and Upper Arlington's Megan Basil), Pickerington North’s Cassie Alcala will be competing for the University of Toledo. The match is at 1:00pm. Hopefully it will be outdoors.  Admission and parking are free.

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FRIDAY, MAY 3, 2024

University School Beats Massillon Jackson | Columbus Academy Defeats Coffman

Normally there are not mid-80 temps and sunny skies until the first day of States, and cramping is a common occurrence at States. Yesterday’s temperatures should help acclimate players. There were also several great match-ups. They included  University School defeated Massillon Jackson and Columbus Academy beat Dublin Coffman.

There were 28 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 9, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Pickerington Central defeated Big Walnut; Ottawa Hills beat Avon; Northwestern defeated Bellefontaine; Newark beat Bloom-Carroll; Hilliard Darby defeated Jonathan Alder; Olentangy Berlin beat Worthington Kilbourne; Watkins Memorial defeated Westerville North; Moeller beat Loveland; and Delaware Hayes defeated Thomas Worthington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Lex's Ethan Remy
Lexington's Ethan Remy - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated University School's Dean Kirchick; Bexley's Sam Lessard beat New Albany's Abhi Dandu; Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue defeated Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough; Centerville's Elliot Galbraith beat Beavercreek's Michael Page; Avon's A.J. Sidoti defeated Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse; Watkins Memorial’s Liam Grennan beat Westerville North’s Shrey Shyamalan; and Watterson's Tommy O'Brien defeated DeSales' Gabe Arbona. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Sectionals

With Sectionals coming up next week, here are a few reminders to the coaches who are OTZ members who wish to have their Sectional results on OhioTennisZone. Please use this format exactly. Exactly means absolutely exactly. Please no shortcuts. No additional spaces or letters. No first names. If there are players with the same last name, look to see how the data is currently included on OhioTennisZone. For example, Ethan Smith should be E.Smith and Cooper Smith should be C.Remy with no spaces after the initial. Spell out the team names as they are included on OhioTennisZone. For example, no "Jeff" should be used for Jeffersonville. No extra lines are necessary to indicate "First Round", "First Doubles", etc. The format is:

Federer (Bloomingburg) def. Nadal (Jeffersonville) 6-0, 6-2
S.Williams-V.Williams (New Holland) def. Parker-Barrow (Greenfield) 3-6, 6-2, 6-2

All that said. OTZ will enter the Sectional data for Central District players. I have a complex process that I have honed over the last decade to do this relatively quickly. Of course, "doing it quickly" means that I just finished spending hours of time setting up the process for this season.

Most coaches do not provide the Sectional data because it is such a time consuming process.

Will OTZ accept data from non-OTZ members? No.

Today's photo is of Lexington's Ethan Remy. The plan was to post quite a few additional photos, but there just was not enough time.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Upper Arlington; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Westlake; and Seven Hills (H) versus Turpin. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, MAY 2, 2024

Mason Beats Springboro | Olentangy Orange Defeats Columbus Academy

Taking advantage of the great weather yesterday, Mason defeated Springboro and Olentangy Orange beat Columbus Academy. Weather conditions should be good again today, but they will get dicey after that. There were 24 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 16, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 3, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Big Walnut defeated Hilliard Bradley; Chillicothe beat Teays Valley; Bellefontaine defeated Bluffton; St. Johns Jesuit beat Ottawa Hills; Westerville South defeated Thomas Worthington; and Worthington Kilbourne beat Dublin Scioto. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Big Walnut
Big Walnut - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Daniel Tonkal defeated Springboro's Jack Siehl; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue defeated Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Westerville North's Shrey Shyamalan; Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse defeated St. Johns Jesuit's Jack Oswald; and Worthington Kilbourne's Luka Young beat Dublin Scioto's Sreenath Kunapuli. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Big Walnut. They are coached by Ryan Balaz. They are led by Jeevan Konduru, Garrett Hartsook, and Gavin Ewing.

Tomorrow will be an OTZ Photo Friday.

Today's matches include: Massillon Jackson (A) versus University School; Centerville (H) versus Lakota West; and DeSales (H) versus Watterson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, MAY 1, 2024

Indian Hill, Olentangy Liberty, and Seven Hills Were Winners

Teams took advantage of the great weather yesterday to squeeze in more matches before Sectionals begin next week. Several teams in the Top Ten matched up. They included: Indian Hill defeated Mason; Olentangy Liberty beat New Albany; and Seven Hills defeated Cincinnati Country Day. As normal, it is necessary to review the line-ups to see who was playing.

There were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 19, Southwest - 6, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Bexley defeated Olentangy; Ready beat Westland; and Delaware Hayes defeated Hilliard Darby. High school tennis has continued to trim the match backlog and we are now down just 14% versus last year.

To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Worthington Kilbourne
Worthington Kilbourne - Click to team page
Among the top players, New Albany's Abhi Dandu defeated Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Hudson's Henrique Sa; Mason's Daniel Tonkal defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Seven Hills' Adi Nayak beat Cincinnati Country Day's Nikhil Shah; Bexley's Sam Lessard defeated Olentangy's Sujan Sriram; and Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley beat Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Worthington Kilbourne. They are coached by Stephen Metzmaier. They are Team Members. They are led by Luka Young, Joey English, and Zach Beck.

Today's matches include: Springboro (A) versus Mason; Columbus Academy (A) versus Olentangy Orange; and Lexington (H) versus New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, APRIL 30, 2024

Oakwood, Orange, and New Albany Get Big Wins

In yesterday's play, Oakwood defeated Centerville; Orange beat Solon; and New Albany defeated Dublin Coffman. The NA vs Coffman match was to advance in the State Team Tournament. There were 21 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 6, and Northeast - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Chillicothe defeated Circleville; Big Walnut beat Westerville Central; Ready defeated Central Crossing; and Northwestern beat Jonathan Alder; St. Charles defeated Worthington Kilbourne; and Grandview beat Whetstone. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws

Mason
Mason - Click to team page
Among the top players, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Milford's Jaden Warden; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin beat Centerville's Luke Edwards; New Albany's Jackson Clements defeated Dublin Coffman's Tomoya Akiyama; Orange's Ishan Bhatt beat Solon's Bo Bui; Watkins Memorial’s Liam Grennan defeated Upper Arlington’s Max Ehler; and Lakota East's Ethan Vass beat Loveland's Beckett Zappin; Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Westerville Central’s Isaac Choo; and St. Charles' Victor Roscoe beat Worthington Kilbourne's Joey English. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Mason. They are coached by Mike Reid. They are Team Members. They are led by Greg Bernadsky, Daniel Tonkal, Shreyas Mantha, Connor Buckingham, and Aron Dornhecker.

Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Olentangy; Dublin Jerome (A) versus Upper Arlington; and Massillon Jackson (A) versus Hudson. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, APRIL 29, 2024

Sectional Draws | OTZ Photos

The Central and Southwest District have most of their Sectional draws available. Hopefully Northeast and Northwest will be available by tomorrow.

The OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws have been updated. There are no major surprises thus far.

To view all of the results recorded from Saturday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

OTZ Photos
OTZ Photos for Purchasing - Click to SmugMug

OhioTennisZone digital photos that are available for purchase are now available to view on SmugMug. Photos are emailed to the purchasers and they can be printed, added to Tennis-Recruiting.net and UTR, shared on social media, put in a digital picture frames, etc. They also make great Mother's Day (and Grandmother's Day) presents.

Some of the images will also be shown on OTZ under the player's profile.

The great majority of these images have *not* been "enhanced" by OTZ. The final purchased photos will be color-corrected, cropped, and straightened. All will be in 5x7 dimensions unless asked to do otherwise.

The SmugMug service has been very helpful to display the photos that are available for purchase. It is; however, not inexpensive for OTZ to use. Hopefully parents and players will purchase numerous photos.

Buy a Photo
File Name - Marcus Bode - Click to enlarge

To get started, simply provide the name of the image file(s) in a Feedback message to OhioTenniisZone. For example, the file name on the Marcus Bode image is in the bottom left portion of the image in "red". Click on the image to the right to enlarge.

There are substantial quantity discounts. Click for pricing at Buy an OTZ Tennis Photo. The pricing is in the right-side navigation bar.

The entire weekend was devoted to getting caught up with OhioTennisZone. I still have a few more days of work before that happens. It is still not possible to purchase a new OTZ Membership.

Columbus-area weather

The weather looks somewhat positive this week. Fingers are already crossed that the first day of Sectionals has good weather.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (A) versus New Albany and Oakwood (A) versus Bellbrook. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches, but note that most of these schedules were added before the season. The near constant rain-outs may have changed this.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2024 - 6:30PM

Sectional Draws

As normal, the Central District was the first to release their Sectional draws. Click on the image below or the link above to view them. Note that the class years are provided for all of the players.

Central Sectional Draws
Central Sectional Draws - Click to view

The links above will take fans to the other district draws when they eventually become available.

It is not that the Central District is just better than the other districts, it's faster and better..

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, APRIL 28, 2024

Sycamore Wins Coaches' Classic | Lex and NA Tie for Lex Invite Championship

Today is the all-important Sectional Draw day.  Who is after a singles title? Who is teaming up in dubs? Answers to these questions and more will be released today. The Central District normally leads the way in quickly making its information available. Central also does a great job in providing the player class years which is extremely helpful to college coaches as they look to recruit players.

OTZ Top Players
OTZ Top Players - Click to view

Teams used tournaments yesterday to help finalize their Sectional line-ups, especially in doubles. Sycamore won the Coaches Classic Flight A group. Lexington and New Albany tied for the Lex Invite crown. Some of the tournament results are online on OTZ.

In dual match play, St. John's Jesuit defeated Columbus Academy and Columbus Academy beat Ottawa Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan, and Mason's Greg Bernadsky; Indian Hill's Jack Pollock beat Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan and Mason's Greg Bernadsky; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Mason's Daniel Tonkal, Seven Hills' Adi Nayak, and Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Walsh Jesuit's Casey Miller and Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough; Mason's Daniel Tonkal defeated Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger beat Seven Hills' Adi Nayak; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough defeated Bexley's Max Almasanu; and Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue beat St. John’s Jesuit's Jack Oswald and Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There was a major update to the OTZ Top Players and Watch Lists. These lists will continue to be tweaked today. Note that high school player results are needed to make this list work. While non-HS results are known, these lists are for HS tennis.

This will hopefully be a productive day after my pesky (but cute and fluffy) dog gets her walk.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 2024

Lexington Beat Centerville

In the biggest match yesterday, Lexington defeated Centerville. Both of their players will have an opportunity to compete against each other today at the Lexington Invitational.

There were 20 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 8, Southwest - 7, Northeast - 2, and Northwest - 3. The close, 3-2 matches included: Carlisle defeated Miamisburg; Thomas Worthington beat Worthington Christian; Delaware Hayes defeated Westerville North; Bellefontaine beat Sidney; Chillicothe defeated Hillsboro; and DeSales beat St. Charles. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Orange
Orange - Click to team page
Among the top players, Solon's Zach Krantz defeated Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; Lexington's Ethan Remy beat Centerville's Elliot Galbraith; Hawken's Zach Forte defeated Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy's Lincoln Gates; Lexington's Dylan Catanese beat Centerville's Vibhu Rola;Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Luka Young; St. Charles' Victor Roscoe beat DeSales' Preston Thai; and Westerville North’s Shrey Shyamalan defeated Delaware Hayes Grant LaMar. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Orange. They are coached by Rich Bole. They are OTZ Team Members so all of their player information can be viewed. They are led by Chika Nwaozuzu, Gabi Kalir, and Ace Bloom.

For those awaiting replies to email, feedbacks, etc., things are still really far behind. The hope is to make a dent in those tasks today.

The Lexington Invite takes place today. OTZ will be there briefly during the morning before zooming back to Columbus. The Cincinnati Coaches' Classic is also today. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024

Sycamore, Springboro, and Olentangy Orange Get Big Wins

In the big matches last night, Sycamore defeated Mason; Springboro beat Centerville; and Olentangy Orange defeated Bexley. Always review the line-ups to better understand the results.

Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu
Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu - Click to enlarge

More favorable weather allowed teams to make a dent in their match backlogs. Two weeks ago Ohio tennis had played 43% fewer matches than the previous year. Now it is down just 23%. There were 39 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 18, Southwest - 15, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Westerville North defeated Westerville Central; Westlake beat University School; Archbishop Alter beat Bellbrook; Chillicothe defeated Jackson; Cincinnati Country Day beat Lakota East; Lakeside defeated Brush; Newark beat Franklin Heights; Pickerington Central defeated Dublin Scioto; Miami Valley School beat Valley View; Western Reserve Academy defeated Lake-Uniontown; Delaware Hayes beat Westerville South; and Ready defeated Groveport. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; Springboro's Rishi Dore beat Centerville's Elliot Galbraith; Bexley's Sam Lessard defeated Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Avon Lake's Grozav; Marysville's Gianni Russo defeated Olentangy's Sujan Sriram; Westlake’s Xander Jhaveri beat University School's Dean Kirchick; Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula defeated Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Westerville North’s Shrey Shyamalan beat Westerville Central’s Isaac Choo; Watterson's Tommy O'Brien defeated St. Charles' Victor Roscoe; and Pickerington Central's Quinn Jones beat Dublin Scioto's Sreenath Kunapuli. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

For those who have been waiting for me to get back to them on various issues, steps were taken yesterday to free up more time. The OhioTennisZone sign-up program was turned off so no one else can join OTZ.  New members, especially Coach Members, take quite a bit of time to on board.  Plus, they normally enter numerous matches that were played earlier in the season which all have to be processed.  I have more things going on this spring than ever, and I will be trying to find other ways to reduce the amount of time spent on OTZ.  However..  If a coach signed up for a Team Membership earlier in the season, those parents / players can still sign-up.  Questions?  Please submit a Feedback. It is unclear if the sign-up process will be re-opened this season.

Today is an OTZ Photo Friday.  The sun was slightly better for this group of photos. The high winds at the Columbus Academy / Indian Hill led to awkward player / ball spacing though.  While there will likely be plenty of changes in the Top 10 Boys Photos for 2024, click the link for the photos..

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (A) versus Findlay; Lexington (H) versus Centerville; and Massillon Jackson (H) versus Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, APRIL 25, 2024

Olentangy Liberty Beats Olentangy Orange | Oakwood Defeats Tippecanoe

Chilly but dry weather yielded 30 matches yesterday with many being highly competitive contests. The most noteworthy 3-2 matches were Olentangy Liberty defeated Olentangy Orange and Oakwood beat Tippecanoe. Other 3-2 matches included: Loveland defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy; North Royalton beat Solon; Perrysburg defeated Sylvania Southview; Westerville South beat Dublin Scioto; Bellbrook defeated Ross; Dayton Christian beat Chaminade-Julienne; Bexley defeated Upper Arlington; Delaware Hayes beat Jonathan Alder; Columbus Academy defeated Olentangy; Marysville defeated Hilliard Davidson; and Dublin Coffman beat Dublin Jerome.

The breakdown by District was: Central - 13, Southwest - 11, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

New Albany
New Albany - Click to team page

Among the top players, Springboro's Rishi Dore defeated Beavercreek's Rishi Mankala; Solon's Zach Krantz beat North Royalton's Arnav Gopinath; New Albany's Abhi Dandu defeated Wellington's Sanjan Shanker; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Tippecanoe’s Nick Von Krosigk defeated Oakwood's Arick Baldwin; Centerville's Elliot Galbraith beat Miami Valley School's Jain; Oakwood's Noah Boyce defeated Tippecanoe's Cameron Davis; Sylvania Southview’s Isaac Vens beat Perrysburg's Jevin Mullins; Glenoak’s Dylan Wiles defeated Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Dublin Coffman's Tomoya Akiyama defeated Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; Lakota East's Ethan Vass beat Oak Hills' Daniel Miller; Loveland's Beckett Zappin defeated Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy's Julian Guitron; and Bexley's Max Almasanu beat Upper Arlington's Ford Clark. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

The Findlay projects, as well as other projects, are taking a toll. I am max'd out now. If you are awaiting an email, text, or a dog walk, please give me a few more days.

Today's featured team is New Albany. They are coached by Marc Thomas. They are Team Members. They are led by Abhinav Dandu, Jackson Clements, Tyler Thomas, and Ben Bilenko.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (A) versus Mason; Bexley (A) versus Olentangy Orange; Solon (H) versus Hawken; and Watterson (A) versus St. Charles. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24, 2024

Chaminade-Julienne Defeats Archbishop Alter

Rain hampered play again, especially in northwest Ohio where the entire OTZ staff was at on Tuesday. There were 26 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central – 12, Southwest – 12, Northeast -1, and Northwest – 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Chillicothe defeated Washington CH; Jonathan Alder beat London and Northwestern; and Waynesville defeated Valley View-B. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

University School
University School - Click to team page
Among the top players, New Albany's Jackson Clements defeated Westerville Central's Isaac Choo; Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley beat Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Loveland's Beckett Zappin defeated Turpin's Charlie Co; and Archbishop Alter’s Moses Mabarak beat Chaminade-Julienne’s Christopher Frank. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is University School. They are coached by Adam Atwell. They are Team Members. They are led by Dean Kirchick, Cole Kirchick, and Vishwum Kapadia.

Today’s on-the-road update took just three times longer than doing it at headquarters, which is considered a plus. Today’s update was also gnarly with a few too many results entered from earlier in the season. Plus, there were some results without opponents which always get pushed aside. There are two snafus (double scores) that will need to be corrected back in Columbus. Gotta run before the Findlay Starbuck bouncers kick me out.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Dublin Jerome; Oakwood (H) versus Tippecanoe; and Ottawa Hills (H) versus Sylvania Northview. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, APRIL 23, 2024

Mason, St. Xavier, and Olentangy Liberty Get Big Wins

In three of the bigger matches of the evening, Mason defeated Centerville in the State Team Tournament. Plus, St. Xavier defeated Springboro and Olentangy Liberty beat Bexley.

Despite playing 26 matches, Ohio HS tennis still lost ground to last year. The rain expected today may set matches back further. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 6, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Worthington Christian defeated Watterson; Lakeside beat Madison; and Grove City defeated Franklin Heights. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Centerville
Centerville - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Centerville's Elliot Galbraith; Bexley's Henry Lessard beat Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand; St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated Springboro's Rishi Dore; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Olentangy's Sujan Sriram defeated St. Charles' Victor Roscoe; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Dublin Scioto's Abhishek Kanakia; Watkins Memorial's Liam Grennan defeated Pickerington Central's Quinn Jones; and Oak Hills’ Daniel Miller beat Loveland's Beckett Zappin. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Centerville. They are coached by Scott Long. They are Team Members. They are led by Elliot Galbraith, Vibhu Rola, and Luke Edwards.

Today's matches include: Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Olentangy Orange; Solon (A) versus Westlake; and Sylvania Northview (A) versus Anthony Wayne. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, APRIL 22, 2024

Off to a Good Start

Except for Tuesday, this week's weather looks promising. Hopefully teams will be able to reduce their match backlog. To view all of the results recorded from Saturday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Whetstone
Whetstone - Click to team page
There have not been as many matches among the top players this year so it has been difficult to update the Top Player lists. They will be reviewed again today. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Whetstone. They are coached by Bucky Walters. They are led by Alessio Bergamini, Max Johnson, and Avi White.

In addition to our time-consuming work at the Findlay farm, our family is getting geared up for the fourth year of our PickleballZone.com summer travel league. Click the above link if you are a pickleball playing adult and live in Central Ohio. Our league went from 24 teams to 40 last year. We expect solid growth again this year with the addition of 50+ Men's and 50+ Women's leagues.

Columbus-area weather

Today's matches include: Springboro (H) versus St. Xavier; Bexley (A) versus Olentangy Liberty; and London (A) versus Jonathan Alder. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, APRIL 21, 2024

Indian Hill Beats Columbus Academy and Bexley

The high winds led to some very interesting points yesterday. A fan at the Columbus Academy versus Indian Hill match was preparing to catch an "out" ball while sitting in the stands only to see the ball get redirected by the wind to land "in". The good news is that playing in the high winds yesterday will acclimate players just in case there are high winds at Wooster.

There were 10 matches recorded and most of those matches took place in the Central District as strong teams from throughout the state traveled to central Ohio. In two of the biggest matches, Indian Hill defeated Columbus Academy and Bexley, but essentially all of the matches were noteworthy. Note that Orange made the trip to Columbus without two of their key players. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Massillon Jackson
Massillon Jackson - Click to team page
Among the top players, Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Indian Hill's Jack Pollock beat Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu defeated Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand and Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger beat Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue; Columbus Academy's Nason Lo defeated Lexington's Ethan Remy; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram; Bexley's Sam Lessard defeated Indian Hill's Neelan Gandhi; Lexington's Dylan Catanese beat Columbus Academy's Jacob Khvalsky; and Bexley's Oscar Ramsden defeated Lexington's Karl Etzel. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Massillon Jackson. They are coached by Brett Marlowe and Louie Thomas. They are valued OTZ Team Members. They are led by Rohan Sriram, Shiv Nagajothi, and Roshan Patel.

OTZ is now in massive catch-up mode, and out-of-town work today is only going to make this worse.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024

Indian Hill Beats Mason | Bexley Defeats Massillon Jackson & Orange

There were more big matches played between the state's top teams. Indian Hill defeated Mason, and Bexley defeated Massillon Jackson and Orange. Sycamore also beat Olentangy Orange.

There were 31 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 12, Southwest - 12, Northeast - 6, and Northwest - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Chaminade-Julienne defeat ed Bellbrook; Valley View-B beat Stivers; Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Green; Jonathan Alder beat London; and St. Charles defeated Thomas Worthington. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Bloom-Carroll
Bloom-Carroll - Click to team page
Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers beat Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu and Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram; Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan beat Badin's Steven Chen; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Mason's Daniel Tonkal; Bexley's Sam Lessard beat Orange's Ace Bloom; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough defeated Pickerington North's Oliver Eskander; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; and Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse defeated Vermilion's Severin Kretchmar. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Bloom-Carroll. They are coached by Joe Sarsfield. They are led by Ryan Bender, Joe Brown-Borden, and Rennick Foreman.

Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Lexington and Indian Hill; Columbus Academy (H) versus Lexington and Indian Hill; and Massillon Jackson (A) versus Dublin Coffman. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 2024

Bexley Defeats Columbus Academy | Solon Beats Aurora

It was another huge match night with plenty of close matches with the biggest being Bexley's win over Columbus Academy. The other 3-2 matches included Kettering Fairmont defeated Archbishop Alter; Perrysburg beat Sylvania Northview; Hilliard Darby defeated Thomas Worthington; Milton-Union beat Chaminade-Julienne; Watkins Memorial defeated DeSales; Westerville South beat Franklin Heights; Chillicothe defeated Hillsboro; Olentangy beat Dublin Jerome; Ottawa Hills defeated St. Francis DeSales; Dublin Coffman beat Upper Arlington; and Wooster defeated Lake-Uniontown.

In a State Team Tournament match, Solon beat Aurora. Click for the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.

Dublin Scioto's Sreenath Kunapuli
Dublin Scioto's Sreenath Kunapuli - Click to enlarge

Ohio tennis continues to try and catch up from all of the rain-outs. There were 18 matches recorded from the Central District and Southwest had 13, Northeast - 6, and Northeast - 2. Compared with last year, there have been 34% fewer matches and some of those will not be rescheduled. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Among the top players, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Moeller's Clayton Arnett; Bexley's Henry Lessard beat Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; Solon's Zach Krantz defeated Aurora's Vincent Cannata; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Olentangy's Sujan Sriram defeated Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; University School's Dean Kirchick beat Shaker Heights' Jaylon Jamal; Watkins Memorial’s Liam Grennan defeated DeSales' Preston Thai; Olentangy Orange’s Nikhil Bhimireddy beat Hilliard Bradley’s Craig Dixon; Lake-Uniontown's Carson Craig defeated Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; St. Francis DeSales’ Nick Miller beat Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse; Milton-Union’s Levi Brumbaugh defeated Chaminade-Julienne’s Christopher Frank; Loveland's Beckett Zappin beat Kings' Harmon; and Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Dublin Scioto’s Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There have been 15 photos added to the Most Recently Added Photos page. More photos will be added latter today. There might even be enough photos to begin the OTZ Top Ten(ish) for 2024.

If you have requested something from OTZ (i.e. post a team photo, gain access to OTZ) more than two days ago, please send an email or submit a Feedback. In addition to processing action photos, many OTZ Player Profile photos will be added today as well.

Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Massillon Jackson and Orange; Perrysburg (A) versus Anthony Wayne; and Sycamore (H) versus Olentangy Orange. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, APRIL 18, 2024

Seven Hills Defeats Walnut Hills

Storms in central and northwest Ohio limited the number of matches played. Other parts of the state fared better. In the biggest match of the evening, Seven Hills defeated Walnut Hills. The close, 3-2 matches included: Bellefontaine defeated Greenville; St. Xavier-B beat Centerville-B; Valley View defeated Archbishop Alter; Westerville Central beat Westerville South; and Massillon Jackson defeated Massillon Perry.

The breakdown by District was: Central - 2, Southwest - 8, and Northeast - 3. There were 13 matches recorded from state-wide play. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Oakwood
Oakwood - Click to team page
Among the top players, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Walnut Hills' Anish Kandi; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin beat Dayton Christian's Asher Monson; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated Massillon Perry's Harbert; University School's Dean Kirchick beat Walsh Jesuit's Michael Vallone; and St. John School’s Jack Varckette defeated Lakeside's Matthew Surbella. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Oakwood. They are coached by Christy Heppner. They are Team Members. They are led by Arick Baldwin, Noah Boyce, and Grant Zhou. Baldwin and Boyce were last year's D2 State Doubles Finalists.

Tomorrow will be the first legitimate photo Friday of the season.

Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Columbus Academy; Sylvania Northview (H) versus Perrysburg; and Lake (Uniontown) (A) versus Wooster. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 17, 2024

Perrysburg Beats Findlay | Olentangy Orange Defeats Upper Arlington

In the two marquis matches of the evening, Perrysburg defeated Findlay and Olentangy Orange beat Upper Arlington. The Perrysburg match was a 3-2 match with Perrysburg winning 58% of the games. The other close, 3-2 matches included: Chillicothe defeated Athens; Big Walnut beat Westerville North; Valley View defeated Carlisle; Gahanna beat Westerville Central; and Jonathan Alder defeated Bellefontaine.

Westerville South
Westerville South - Click to team page

After two great days of weather, teams are starting to make a dent in the back-log of matches. There were 39 matches played yesterday, and we are now 35% behind where we were last year. The breakdown by District was: Central - 17, Southwest - 15, Northeast - 5, and Northwest - 2. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

There were numerous updates in the OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws

Among the top players, Mason's Greg Bernadsky defeated Lakota West's Quinn Cooper; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo beat Lakota East's Ethan Vass; Lexington's Ethan Remy defeated Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Revere's Finn Keenan; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough defeated Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel beat Upper Arlington's Keshav Goyal; and Findlay's Sam Swisher defeated Perrysburg's Caleb Stein. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Westerville South. They are coached by David Schultz. They are led by Sammy Gurgiolo, Andrew Fyock, and David Simms.

Today's matches include: Springboro (H) versus Mason; Columbus Academy (H) versus New Albany; Seven Hills (H) versus Walnut Hills; and Sycamore (H) versus Oakwood. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, APRIL 16, 2024

Columbus Academy Beats Wellington

Can we have more than one great weather high school match day in a row? There were 30 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 8, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 3. In matches involving the top teams, Columbus Academy defeated Wellington and Olentangy Orange beat Olentangy. The close, 3-2 matches included: Zanesville defeated Newark; Worthington Christian beat Worthington Kilbourne; Valley View-B defeated McNicholas; and Green beat Lake-Uniontown. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Ready
Ready - Click to team page
Among the top players, Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel defeated Olentangy's Sujan Sriram; Wellington's Sanjan Shanker beat Columbus Academy's Lucas Xue; Marysville's Gianni Russo defeated Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse beat Toledo Central Catholic's MacDonald; Waverly’s Carson Nibert defeated Chillicothe's Noah Flores; Lake-Uniontown's Carson Craig beat Green's Sziraky; and Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin defeated Westerville Central's Isaac Choo. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Ready. They are coached by Dan Skuce. They are led by Kenny Kight, Nathan Bennett, and Sam Carney.

Today's matches include: Oakwood (A) versus Springboro; Lexington (A) versus Wooster; and Perrysburg (H) versus Findlay. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, APRIL 15, 2024

Starting the Week Off Right

Boys HS tennis is 46% behind where it was last year in terms of the number of matches played. The good news is that the week will start with a nice weather day.

OSU's Robert Cash OSU's Kindsley
OSU's Cash - Click to enlarge
OSU's Kingsley - Click to enlarge
OSU's Tracy OSU's Boulais
OSU's Tracy - Click to enlarge
OSU's Boulais - Click to enlarge

The OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws have been updated. There have been no major surprises yet.

Due to the lack of matches played, it has been difficult to make widespread changes to the OTZ Top Player Lists. A few changes have been made, but these are still very much influx. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

More good news is that every team photo that has been received by OTZ is posted online. If that is not the case for your team's photo, please send an email.

Ohio State (#1) beat TTUN (#35) decisively yesterday on a beautiful, but windy day. The wind created opportunities to see innovative shots and weird misses. There were numerous high school players and coaches in attendance. The sun cooperated for photos. Click to enlarge the images.

Columbus-area weather

Today's matches include: Tippecanoe (H) versus Chaminade-Julienne; Columbus Academy (H) versus Wellington; and Solon (A) versus Brecksville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, APRIL 14, 2024

Sycamore Beats New Albany | Olentangy Orange > Mass. Jackson > Olentangy Liberty

The weather was perfect for tennis yesterday. (That is one of the rarest sentences that Ohio tennis has seen this spring.) In the bigger matches yesterday, Sycamore defeated New Albany and St. Xavier-Louisville. Massillon Jackson beat Olentangy Liberty, but lost to Olentangy Orange. In a close, 3-2 match, Upper Arlington defeated Indian Hill, but IH did not have its full line-up. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Loveland
Loveland - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated New Albany's Abhi Dandu; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu beat Lexington's Ethan Remy; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin beat St. Francis DeSales' Nick Miller; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand and Olentangy Orange's Shailen Patel; and Sycamore's Andrew Wittenbaum beat New Albany's Jackson Clements. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Loveland. They are coached by Jennifer Kapszukiewicz. They are Team Members, and they are led by Beckett Zappin, Liam Amy, and Carter Watt. Coach Kapszukiewicz still has the highest-valued Scrabble name in sports.

The Ohio State Men’s tennis team is playing the TTUN at noon today.  It should be a great day for outdoor tennis.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, APRIL 13, 2024

Indian Hill Beats Springboro

There were a handful of matches played yesterday as more rain fell throughout Ohio. Indian Hill defeated Springboro and Centerville beat St. Francis DeSales. There was one 3-2 match - Anderson defeated Loveland. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

London
London - Click to team page
Among the top players, Indian Hill's Jack Pollock defeated Springboro's Rishi Dore; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Springboro's Jack Siehl; Centerville's Elliot Galbraith defeated St. Francis DeSales' Nick Miller; and Loveland's Beckett Zappin defeated Anderson's Scott Coopman. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

cThey are led by Zack Wall and Isaac Cappell.

Matches today include: Massillon Jackson (A) versus Olentangy Orange and Olentangy Liberty and Sycamore (H) versus New Albany and St. Xavier-Louisville. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2024

Chillicothe Beats Miami Trace

As the rain continued, there were just five matches recorded. There will be absolutely no recognition for Chillicothe’s win over Miami Trace (because Trace is the OTZ alma mater). In other matches, Seven Hills defeated Wyoming; Wooster beat Ashland; Walnut Hills defeated Loveland; and Mason beat Oak Hills. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Oakwood's Arick Baldwin
Oakwood's Arick Baldwin - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Wyoming's Avery Kraus; Mason's Aron Dornhecker beat Oak Hills' Daniel Miller; Walnut Hills’ Dugan Fowler defeated Loveland's Beckett Zappin; Wooster's Henry Pozefsky beat Ashland's Ben Sinchok; and Chillicothe's Noah Flores defeated Miami Trace's Goddard. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today’s photo is of Oakwood’s Arick Baldwin. This is from the Oakwood versus Upper Arlington match played last Saturday. This was the only day that there was decent sunlight for action photos (except for the solar eclipse day).

OTZ is on the road doing projects in Findlay. This is the first full update done on an iPad. It probably took four times longer than normal than on the beefy OTZ desktop, but it is nice to see that it is doable. Much of the time was spent dealing with the differences between iPad and Windows file management capabilities. It helped that the update was brief today.

There are numerous matches slated to take place today. They include: Lexington (A) versus Orange; Massillon Jackson (A) versus Bexley; and Oakwood (H) versus Olentangy Liberty. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2024

Sycamore Beats Seven Hills | Walnut Hills Defeats Mason

More rain or threats of more rain dampened play yesterday. There were just 10 matches recorded. In the biggest matches of the evening, Sycamore defeated Seven Hills and Walnut Hills beat Mason in a tight, 3-2 match. In the Walnut Hills/Mason match, both teams won 48 games. In the other 3-2 matches, Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy defeated Walsh Jesuit and Andrews Osborne beat Lakeside. The breakdown by District was Central -  3,  Northeast -  4, and Southwest - 3. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Franklin Heights
Franklin Heights - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan; Mason's Greg Bernadsky beat Walnut Hills' Anish Kandi; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Seven Hills' Adi Nayak; Mason's Daniel Tonkal beat Walnut Hills' Fowler; Solon's Zach Krantz defeated Twinsburg's Jesse Grum; and Lake-Uniontown's Carson Craig beat North Canton Hoover's Hunter Holloway. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Franklin Heights. They are coached by James Wassmuth. Congratulations to Coach Wassmuth for winning the 2024 OTCA Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity (SEI) Award. They are led by Vaughn Chum, Eric Martinez, and Noah Mitchell.

Today's matches include: Columbus Academy (H) versus Bexley; Dublin Coffman (A) versus Olentangy Orange; and Hudson (A) versus Westlake. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 10, 2024

Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day | Olentangy Liberty defeated Dublin Coffman

Despite the spotty rain, there were a large number of matches played yesterday. There were 36 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 15, Southwest - 15, Northeast - 4, and Northwest - 2. The marquis matches included Seven Hills beat Cincinnati Country Day and Olentangy Liberty defeated Dublin Coffman. The close, 3-2 matches included: Mason-B defeated Centerville-B; Bellefontaine beat London; Lakota West defeated Lakota East; Valley View-B beat Lehman Catholic; and Perrysburg defeated Bowling Green. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Dublin Coffman
Dublin Coffman - Click to team page
Among the top players, Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan defeated Cincinnati Country Day's Nikhil Shah; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough; Olentangy Orange Shailen Patel defeated Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin; Lakota East's Ethan Vass beat Lakota West's Quinn Cooper; Baden’s Steven Chen defeated Chaminade-Julienne’s Christopher Frank; Bowling Green’s Aaron Hershberger beat Perrysburg's Jevin Mullins; and Delaware Hayes Grant LaMar defeated Worthington Kilbourne's Luka Young. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Dublin Coffman. They are coached by Brett Hundertpfund. They are valued Team Members. They are led by Nik Shough, Tomoya Akiyama, and Samrat Juvvigunta.

Columbus-area weather

Playing conditions do not look promising over the next few days, but Upper Arlington is hosting a doubles tournament today with Lexington, Columbus Academy, and Olentangy. Plus there is Sycamore (H) versus Seven HillsSylvania Northview (A) versus Sylvania Southview; and Springboro (H) versus Indian Hill. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, APRIL 9, 2024

Ohio Celebrates Solar Eclipse

Last Wednesday was a state-wide rain-out of high school tennis matches. That's fairly rare. Yesterday's state-wide solar-eclipse-out offered a whole different perspective of rarity. As per the Akron Beacon Journal, the last total eclipse viewed in Ohio was in 1806. The next one will be in 2099. Hopefully there will still be a few Ohio HS players around who get to witness that one, too. They would be in their 90's.

Solar Eclipse
OTZ Solar Eclipse - Click to enlarge
Today's eclipse image was taken outside Findlay, Ohio, at my grandparent's farm. I was looking through the viewfinder and pushed the shutter immediately after the sun peeked out from the moon's shadow. Numerous solar flares are evident. This just might be my best photo ever. Time will tell if the camera suffered sensor damage.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Perrysburg (H) versus Bowling Green; and Thomas Worthington (H) versus Dublin Jerome. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, APRIL 8, 2024

Today is the Day for Darkness (hopefully just briefly)

Today's update will be as brief as the solar eclipse.

Marysville
Marysville - Click to team page
Sunspot
Sunspot 3628 - Click to team page

Today's featured team is Marysville because they will be in the totality zone. They are coached by Brian Ash. They are Team Members. They are led by Gianni Russo, Noah Burhanna, and Will Nuspl.

Things are ready to roll at OTZ for the eclipse photos.. With the recent cloudy, rainy, dismal weather, it has been difficult to test my current camera / lens / sun filter combination. The skies finally cleared on Saturday afternoon and I was able to get a clear(ish) image of the Sun. I was hopeful that there would a sunspot that I could use to insure that everything was in focus. That turned out to be the case. The big sunspot on my photo is of 3628. Even though the orientation is different, use SpaceWeatherLive to view the current sunspots.

Obviously, be careful and wear protective eye gear. Do not try taking a photo unless you are sure that you are following all of the guidelines. It will absolutely fry your camera sensor if you do it incorrectly.

Hopefully the skies will be clear today.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, APRIL 7, 2024

Bexley and New Albany Get Two Big Wins

Teams took advantage of the great weather to compete in great matches. Kudos to the teams that traveled out of their districts for strong competition. There were 13 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 9, Southwest - 3, and Northeast - 1. The close, 3-2 matches included: Upper Arlington defeated Tippecanoe; St. Xavier beat Lexington; New Albany defeated Indian Hill; Columbus Academy beat Massillon Jackson; New Albany defeated Orange; and Elder beat Loveland. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Tippecanoe
Tippecanoe - Click to team page
Among the top players, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated Lexington's Ethan Remy; New Albany's Abhi Dandu beat Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu and Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger; Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Oakwood's Arick Baldwin; Oakwood's Arick Baldwin beat Upper Arlington's Owen Hawley; Orange's Gabi Kalir defeated New Albany's Jackson Clements; Bexley's Sam Lessard beat Tippecanoe's Nick Von Krosigk and Oakwood's Noah Boyce; New Albany's Jackson Clements defeated Indian Hill's Neelan Gandi; Tippecanoe’s Nick Von Krosigk beat Upper Arlington's Keshav Goyal; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; and Elder’s Jacob Eddengfield beat Loveland’s Beckett Zappin. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Tippecanoe. They are coached by Kaci Matthews. They are led Nick Von Krosigk, Cameron Davis, and Alex Darner.

Coaches, When you don’t report scores, it hurts your players and it hurts your tennis program. You know that, right?  Can you possibly imagine what would happen if your football and basketball teams didn’t report scores?  You can’t, because that would never happen.

Parents, you are the customers.  After first expressing your concerns to the coach, make sure you drop a note to your athletic director if this continues.  Your tennis player deserves the same level of recognition as the football and basketball players do. If you are concerned that this could negatively affect your player, don't be. If you want OTZ to act as an intermediary with your coach and/or athletic director, I would be more than happy to do so. Drop me a Feedback message.

Me, Yes, I know that you are super ticked off because you wanted to get an early start on today's update last night, because you have a zillion things to do today. Unfortunately, since you were waiting for scores, that didn't happen. It's ok though. Chill. It's not like the Sun is going to disappear tomorrow..

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, APRIL 6, 2024

Sycamore > Indian Hill | University School > Solon | Columbus Academy > Olentangy Liberty

It was chilly but that did not prevent some good match-ups yesterday. Sycamore defeated Indian Hill and University School beat Solon. In the 3-2 matches, Franklin Heights defeated Westerville North; Gahanna beat Marysville; Avon defeated North Royalton; and Columbus Academy beat Olentangy Liberty. There were 19 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 11, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 3, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Westerville Central
Westerville Central - Click to team page
Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Solon's Zach Krantz beat University School's Dean Kirchick; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger; Olentangy Liberty's Shane Hand beat Columbus Academy's Nason Lo; Lexington's Ethan Remy defeated Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat Wooster's Henry Pozefsky; Avon's A.J. Sidoti defeated North Royalton's Arnav Gopinath; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Gahanna's Isaac Banks; Olentangy Orange’s Shailen Patel defeated DeSales' Preston Thai; and Northwestern’s Aiden Yeager beat Beavercreek’s Michael Page. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Westerville Central. They are coached by Bradley Baker. They are led by Isaac Choo, Carsten Weidner, and Timmy Shieh.

Oakwood and Tippecanoe are in Columbus to play Bexley and Upper Arlington. Other matches include: Lexington (A) versus St. Xavier; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Columbus Academy; and Olentangy Liberty (H) versus Indian Hill. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, APRIL 5, 2024

Indian Hill Beats Bexley | New Albany Defeats Jerome | Orange Beats Hudson

Even though much of the state was impacted by the rain, there were still numerous high-level matches played. They included: Indian Hill defeated Bexley; New Albany beat Dublin Jerome; and Orange defeated Hudson. The Indian Hill match was tightly contested on the singles courts and on second dubs. IH won 57% of the games.

In comparison to last year's results, Ohio tennis has played 52% fewer matches. There were nine matches recorded from state-wide play yesterday. The breakdown by District was: Central - 3, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 4. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani
Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Bexley's Henry Lessard defeated Indian Hill's Jack Pollock; Orange's Chika Nwaozuzu beat Hudson's Henrique Sa; Indian Hill's RJ Poffenberger defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Orange's Gabi Kalir beat Hudson's Zelin Shen; New Albany's Abhi Dandu defeated Dublin Jerome's Rudy Anumula; New Albany's Jackson Clements beat Dublin Jerome's Cayden Stratford; Massillon Jackson’s Shiv Nagajothi defeated Uniontown-Lake’s Carson Craig; and Wooster’s Henry Pozefsky beat Shaker Heights’ Jaylon Jamal. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

OTZ plans are to get to more matches today and tomorrow to take photos, and hopefully the weather will cooperate. Today's photo of Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani was taken during his match against Westerville Central's Isaac Choo on Monday.

Today's matches include: Centerville (A) versus Tippecanoe; Columbus Academy (H) versus Olentangy Liberty; Solon (A) versus University School; and Lexington (A) versus Ottawa Hills. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, APRIL 4, 2024

New Albany Beats Bexley

Despite the adverse weather, there were still numerous matches played. In the marquis matches of the evening, New Albany defeated Bexley and Massillon Jackson beat North Canton Hoover. In the only 3-2 match, Chillicothe defeated Circleville. Overall, there were 11 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 4, Southwest - 2, and Northeast - 5. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

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By-Court Performance Report - Click to view
Among the top players, Hudson's Henrique Sa defeated Twinsburg's Grum; Bexley's Henry Lessard beat New Albany's Abhi Dandu;
New Albany's Jackson Clements defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram beat North Canton Hoover's Hunter Holloway; Solon's Zach Krantz defeated Stow-Munroe Falls' Alimov; Orange's Gabriel Guiler beat Chagrin Falls' Walker; Loveland’s Beckett Zappin defeated Kettering Fairmont’s Zachary Lehman; Westerville Central’s Isaac Choo beat Thomas Worthington’s Juhno Baker; and Harvey’s Owen Updike defeated Lakeside’s Matthew Surbella. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Now that a few matches have been recorded, the OTZ "By Court" Player Performance report is now operational. This report looks across all teams and identifies the top players on Court 1 Singles, Court 2 Singles, Court 3 Singles, etc. The best teams will have dominant Court 3 players and strong Court 2 Doubles players. As in all OTZ reports, it is easy to "drill down" to get more team and player information (especially for those players who have OTZ Player Profiles). The location of this report is under the Tennis Statistics / Info drop-down menu.

Today's matches include: Bexley (A) versus Indian Hill; Hudson (A) versus Orange; Seven Hills (A) versus Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy; and Dublin Jerome (A) versus New Albany. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 3, 2024

Rain Defeats Ohio HS Tennis

It does not happen very often, but yesterday was a state-wide rain-out. There was some hope that a few matches were played indoors, but that did not appear to be the case.

Newark
Newark - Click to team page

There have been a few matches played in the State Team Tournament. Click for OTZ Enhanced State Team Draws.

Today's featured team is Newark. They are coached by Rob Hays. Newark is east of Columbus, and they will be heavily impacted by the new Intel plant. Newark is led by Will Woughter and Evan Devries.

Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus New Albany; Centerville (A) versus Oakwood; and Seven Hills (H) versus Summit Country Day. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2024

Westerville Central Beat Dublin Scioto

The weather was dicey yesterday, but there were still a reasonable number of matches completed. There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. In comparison to last year, Ohio HS tennis has played 46% fewer matches than last year, but there is also a spring break factor to consider. The close, 3-2 matches included: Watkins Memorial defeated Bexley-B and Westerville Central beat Dublin Scioto. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Bexley
Bexley - Click to team page
Among the top players, Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough defeated Thomas Worthington's Juhno Baker; Springboro’s Jack Siehl beat Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy’s Emmett Looman; Massillon Jackson's Shiv Nagajothi defeated Green's O'Farrell; Tippecanoe’s Nick Von Krosigk beat Elder’s Jacob Eddengfield; Big Walnut’s Jeevan Konduru defeated Gahanna's Isaac Banks; and Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani defeated Westerville Central's Isaac Choo. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Today's featured team is Bexley. They are coached by Will Gingery. They are Team Members. They are led by Sam Lessard, Henry Lessard, and Oscar Ramsden.

The weather is expected to be more of a problem today, but matches include: Perrysburg (A) versus Anthony Wayne; Hudson (A) versus Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy; Solon (H) versus Orange; and Marysville (H) versus Dublin Coffman. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2024

No OTZ Payment - No Sun

While I would rather not do this, it is clear that action must be taken..

XXXXXXX
Before the Sun Goes Away - Click to enlarge
OTZ will turn off the Sun next Monday, April 8, if everyone has not paid their OhioTennisZone invoice. OTZ has found a way to hack the Sun by utilizing advanced Microsoft Excel macros and superior PHP coding techniques. Don’t make me do this. Please make your payment to OTZ now. Or else.

Eagle-eye viewers will note that the photo of the Sun includes three bonus sunspots.

Of course, even if the Sun did go away for a few days, no one would notice. The weather looks damp for this week.

Today's pre-postponed matches include: Dublin Scioto (H) versus Westerville Central; Lakeside (H) versus Madison; and Lexington (H) versus Glenoak. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

Columbus-area weather

Happy Holiday.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2024

Sycamore & Seven Hills Beat Bexley | Jackson Defeats SJJ

Happy Easter.

Bexley went on the road yesterday to play Sycamore and Seven Hills, the D1 and D2 defending state team champions, respectively. Bexley got beat in both matches, but facing this level of competition will help them as the season progresses. Massillon Jackson traveled to and then defeated St. John's Jesuit. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Ohio pros
Ohio Pros - Click to College

Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Bexley's Henry Lessard who then beat Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated St. John's Jesuit's Jack Oswald; and Seven Hills' Adi Nayak defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

There are numerous professional players with Ohio ties. Several even played Ohio HS tennis (as noted by the "HS" designation). This list of professional players is updated occasionally and it is listed on the same page as the College Report. Click the player links to go to the various pro ranking sites. The player with the strongest recent performance is Northeast Ohio's Dalayna Hewitt. She reached a new "best ranking" in February.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2024

Ottawa Hills Defeats Maumee

It was a quiet tennis day due to Good Friday. Just one match was recorded. Ottawa Hills defeated Maumee. Click to view the To view the graphical results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Bexley's Sam Lessard
Bexley's Sam Lessard - Click to enlarge
Among the top players, Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse defeated Maumee's Hayden Yu and Ottawa Hills' Savith Vijendra beat Maumee's Mason Jones.
Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Bexley is going on the road to play Sycamore and Seven Hills. Massillon Jackson travels to St. Johns Jesuit. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, MARCH 29, 2024

Bexley Beats Dublin Coffman

More teams hit the courts yesterday as weather conditions slowly improved. In the biggest match of the evening, Bexley defeated Dublin Coffman in a 3-2 match. Other 3-2 matches included: Bexley-B beat Marysville; Unioto defeated Chillicothe; and Dayton Christian beat Valley View.

There were 14 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 5, Southwest - 5, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 3. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Tomoya Akiyama
Coffman's Tomoya Akiyama - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers defeated Turpin's Charlie Co; Lexington's Ethan Remy beat North Royalton's Arnav Gopinath; Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough defeated Bexley's Sam Lessard; Marysville's Gianni Russo beat Bexley-B's Max Almasanu; Ottawa Hills' Jack Kayse defeated Clyde's Justin Clark; Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin beat Marion Harding's Alexander Lisiecki; and Perrysburg's Jevin Mullins defeated Whitmer's Sam Jost. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

Last night's match between Bexley and Coffman was the first match of the season that I finally got to attend. We have been painting my grandparents' old farm house, and that work has been eating up most of my schedule. Mrs. OTZ and I have been zooming back and forth between Columbus and Findlay to do the work. I won't be happy if I end up with paint roller elbow..

Just one match is included on the schedule today - Ottawa Hills (H) versus Maumee. To view matches scheduled over the next few days, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY, MARCH 28, 2024

Sycamore Beats St. Xavier | Bexley Defeats Dublin Jerome

Brisk weather conditions did not prevent some great matches from being played. In the biggest matches of the evening, Sycamore defeated St. Xavier; Bexley beat Dublin Jerome; and Massillon Jackson defeated Walsh Jesuit. The close, 3-2 matches included: Centennial defeated Beechcroft; Hilliard Davidson beat St. Charles; Newark defeated Logan; and Worthington Kilbourne beat Grove City. There were 16 matches recorded from state-wide play. The breakdown by District was: Central - 10, Southwest - 4, Northeast - 1, and Northwest - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

OTZ Personalized Report
OTZ Personalized Report - Click to enlarge

Among the top players, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer defeated Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers; Sycamore's Nicholas Choo beat St. Xavier's Nihal Narisetty; Massillon Jackson's Rohan Sriram defeated Walsh Jesuit's Michael Vallone; Bexley’s Henry Lessard beat Dublin Jerome’s Rudy Anumula; Northwestern’s Aiden Yeager defeated Springboro’s Jack Siehl; and Dublin Coffman's Nik Shough beat Dublin Scioto's Kunaal Karnani. Click to view the Top Ohio Players for Central, Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest.

All OTZ members have the ability to keep a list of their favorite teams in their OTZ Personalized Report. This report is automatically presented each time a member logs onto OTZ. It quickly provides users with the win / loss records of the teams that they follow and each team's average performance on each court. To include a team in your OTZ Personalized Report, simply go to that team's Team Report and click on the link in the upper-right hand corner. As with just about everything on OTZ, I needed this report to help me follow HS tennis so I created it for myself, but I am making it available for everyone.

Today's matches include: Dublin Coffman (H) versus Bexley; Wooster (A) versus Copley; and Lexington (H) versus North Royalton. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

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WEDNESDAY, MARCH 27, 2024

Chaminade-Julienne Beats Carlisle

Rain affected play in much of the state. There were just four matches recorded. All were from the Southwest District. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Perrysburg
Perrysburg - Click to team page
Among the better players in the state, Carlisle's Jake Rust defeated Chaminade-Julienne's Christopher Frank and Milton-Union's Levi Brumbaugh beat Centerville-B's Wildermuth.

Today's featured team is Perrysburg. They are coached by Patrick Giammarco. They are Team Members. Likely contributors this year include: Jevin Mullins, Aiden Bielefeld, and Caleb Stein.

Today's matches include: Sycamore (A) versus St. Xavier; Bexley (H) versus Dublin Jerome; and Massillon Jackson (H) versus Walsh Jesuit.. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

Coaches, please email your high-resolution team photos into OTZ so that they can be used online.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, MARCH 26, 2024

Great Weather Day

Thanks to some great spring weather, thirteen matches were recorded from yesterday's play. Matches included Marysville defeated Hilliard Bradley; Wooster beat Glenoak; and St. Charles defeated Bexley-B. So much for homework - the St. Charles / Bexley-B match included four 3-setters. The breakdown by District was: Central - 6, Southwest - 6, and Northeast - 1. To view all of the results recorded from yesterday, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Thomas Worthington
Thomas Worthington - Click to team page
Among the state's better players, Marysville's Gianni Russo defeated Hilliard Bradley's Craig Dixon and Hilliard Davidson's Dylan Murlin beat Hilliard Darby's Walter Duckro.

Today's featured team is Thomas Worthington. They are coached by Les Somogyi. They are led by Eli Nisthauz and Cam Stengel.

Today's matches include: Bexley (H) versus Dublin Jerome; Massillon Jackson (H) versus Walsh Jesuit;. Hilliard Davidson (H) versus Lancaster. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

Columbus-area weather

Today's weather will be challenging, but hopefully things will clear up during the rest of the week.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY, MARCH 25, 2024

OTZ Enhanced Boys State Team Draws

The OhioTennisZone.com Enhanced State Team Tournament Draws are now available. Click link above to view.

State Tournament
State Team Tournament Draws - Click to go to draws

The draws are available at the top of this page and they will remain there throughout the season. As with everything else on OTZ, the goal is to enable high school tennis fans to quickly obtain the information they need rather than to maximize OTZ clicks and page views. As indicated in the four features that are circled: 1) the most recent update date is included; 2) the navigation links allow users to quickly jump throughout the draw; 3) the Team designation means that a Team Membership was purchased and that all of the individual player information is available via their OTZ Player Profiles; and 4) the team links are "click-able" to enable fans to do more research. For the best experience, sign-in to OTZ first. The goal is to keep the draws promptly updated throughout the season. Please click on Feedback if you are aware of a result that is not yet posted.

State Team Tournament
State Team Tournament Participation- Click to enlarge

The number of boys teams that enter the tournament varies from year to year. The trend is downward but there was one more team added this year versus last. This year, there are 113 teams participating. The number of boys teams participating by year is: 2015 - 148; 2016 - 128; 2017 - 126; 2018 - 125; 2019 - 119; 2020 - 128, 2021 - 110, 2022 - 122, 2023 - 112, and 2024 - 113. As shown in the graph, Southwest and Northeast have the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 378 OHSAA boys tennis teams, 29.6% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.

As shown in the graph, Southwest and Northeast have the most participants and Central has the least. Out of the 378 OHSAA boys tennis teams, 29.9% of the teams are competing in this tournament. Please click on the graph to enlarge it for easier viewing.

This year, the Central District teams will play the Northeast teams in the first round of the State Team Tournament, while the Northwest will play the Southwest. If there are insufficient courts available for all teams to play (likely), Division II will go on court first.

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SUNDAY, MARCH 24, 2024

Cold, But There Was Tennis

With colder than normal temperatures, there were a couple of matches recorded from yesterday's play. Chillicothe and Valley View both recorded wins. To view the results in graphical form, click on Previous Day's Match Results.

Mount Vernon
Mount Vernon - Click to team page
On court 1, Chillicothe's Noah Flores and Valley View's Landon Jenson recorded wins.

Today's featured team is Mount Vernon. They are coached by Steve Tier. Based on their records last year, key contributors for this year are likely to be Quinn Hoffman, Andrew Conway, and Pete Lawhon.

There is still major prep work necessary to get OTZ up-to-speed for 2024. This will happen today.

 

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY, MARCH 23, 2024

Rain for the First Day of Match Play

It surprised no one that the Ohio high school boys tennis season started out with a rainy day. Thankfully for tennis enthusiasts, there was still tennis played indoors at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center. The Ohio State Men's team played Northwestern to start the Big Ten season.

Chad Miller
NW's (and Sycamore's) Chad Miller - Click to enlarge
Saiprakash Goli
NW's (and Mason's) Saiprakash Goli - Click to enlarge
OSU's Sydni Ratliff OSU's Siemers
Miller in 2022
Goli in 2017 - Click to enlarge

While OTZ normally gets plenty of photos of OSU players who played Ohio HS tennis, there was an opportunity to take photos of two Northwestern players who once played for their HS teams. Sycamore's Chad Miller partnered with Mason's Saiprakash Goli. After that, Miller played against OSU's Preston Stearns, which did not finish, and Goli was defeated by JJ Tracy, 6-2, 6-0. In dubs, Miller and Goli got beat 6-3 by Tracy and Cannon Kingsley. Ohio State won the overall match, 4-0.

The photos to the right are from last night's match and from their high school years when Miller and Goli competed. All photos can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Today's matches include: Chillicothe (H) versus Logan and Watterson (H) versus Fisher Catholic. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY,

Match Play Begins Today (Hopefully)

After a month of good weather (at least for the boys season), match play begins today. Unlike the girls season where all teams hit the ground running, many of the boys teams are juggling spring break interruptions before things get underway. Many schools will have no scores at all for a week or two.

This is the "ugly duckling" part of the season for OhioTennisZone as the 2023 results roll off of the system to make way for the 2024 data. This will occur through out the day today.

Jonathan Alder
Jonathan Alder - Click to team page

Today's featured team is Jonathan Alder. They were the first team to provide OTZ with a team photo. They are coached by Ryan Swinehart. Players likely to make an impact this season include: Isaac Banks, Gideon Sullivan, and Josh Weakley. Jonathan Alder is located northwest of Columbus.

As she always does, Diane Spagnuolo, the photographer, did a great job with Jonathan Alder's photo.

Today's matches include: Lexington (H) versus Massillon Jackson; Badin (H) versus Madeira; Jonathan Alder (A) versus Hilliard Bradley; and Thomas Worthington (H) versus DeSales. To view all of the matches scheduled, click List of Upcoming Matches.

Weather 3/22-28/2024
Upcoming Columbus-area Weather

OTZ plans are to be at the Thomas Worthington / DeSales and the Ohio State versus Northwestern Men's matches today. Northwestern's roster includes Mason's Saiprakash Goli and Sycamore's Chad Miller. Also on NW's team is Presley Thieneman who is Cracked Racquet's Dalton Thieneman's brother.

Coaches, please enter your schedules on OhioTennisZone as soon as you can.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

MONDAY,

The Boys Season is Underway

This is the 104th year for the Boys tennis season, and there could not be a better day to start the season. Today's weather is like the girls' tennis season.

OTZ Signup
Kicking off the season
Let's have more days like today

Recall that the boys tennis calendar will reside in the right-side navigation bar for the remainder of the season. The biggest change this year is that the OHSAA Boys Tournament will be held at Wooster this spring, rather than at Ohio State or the Lindner Family Tennis Center. As was done last spring, the tournament will take place on Thursday and Friday.

There are always documentation and rules changes. Click for the OHSAA Boys Tennis Manual for 2024, OHSAA Tennis Regulations for 2023-24, and OHSAA Tournament Regulations for 2023. For a listing of all of the OHSAA tennis documents, click OHSAA Tennis.

Even though the weather was great today, the rest of the week will likely resemble the rest of a typical boys season.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY

OTZ Pre-Season Top Ten Teams for Division I / II (beta release)

There are familiar names at the top of the OhioTennisZone Pre-Season State Top Ten rankings. Sycamore looks solid to repeat in Division I. And yes, it helps that they are getting all of their starters back from last year. Division II will be harder to predict.

OhioTennisZone.com
Pre-Season State Top Ten
Boys Tennis Teams
Updated: February 21, 2024

1. Sycamore◄TEAM Indian Hill◄TEAM
2. Mason◄TEAM Orange◄TEAM
3. New Albany◄TEAM Seven Hills◄TEAM
4. Springboro◄TEAM Columbus Academy◄TEAM
5. St. Xavier◄TEAM Bexley◄TEAM
6. Olentangy Orange Hawken◄TEAM
7. Massillon Jackson◄TEAM Lexington◄TEAM
8. Olentangy Liberty◄TEAM University School◄TEAM
9. Avon◄TEAM Oakwood◄TEAM
10. Centerville ◄TEAM Wellington◄TEAM
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information.

As for the favorites, Sycamore and Mason are a step or two above the other teams in D1. Division II has four major contenders -- Indian Hill, Orange, Columbus Academy, and Seven Hills. All of these teams have highly skilled players at the top of their line-ups, and they have the depth to win in doubles.

In addition to the OTZ data, TennisRecruiting.net and Universal Tennis Ratings were used as a resource to create the rankings. As part of this effort, the top five players based on UTR are: Mason's Greg Bernadsky, Springboro's Rishi Dore, St. Xavier's Carson Dwyer, Sycamore's Nicholas Meyers, and Seven Hills' Avi Mahajan (in UTR order). They will also be highly ranked in the OTZ Top Players List as the season progresses.

The lists are subject to tweaking if players decide not to play (or to play) Ohio high school tennis this spring. "Thank you" to the fans who provided feedback on these rankings.

The teams likely to get to Team States are the ones who fill their schedules with great matches.

Division I

Sycamore
Sycamore 2023 Championship Team - Click to enlarge

#1 State Champion Sycamore starts where it left off in 2023 (and 2022). They return Nicholas Meyers (a Denison recruit), Nicholas Choo, Arjun Rajagopala, Andrew Wittenbaum, and Andrew Mao. They also pick up TennisRecruiting 4-star Chase Klugo and 2-star Abinav Dinesh.

#2 Mason got hammered by graduations last year but they have reloaded. Returning are Greg Bernadsky, Daniel Tonkal, Aron Dornhecker, and Connor Buckingham. Lost to graduation are Eric Xu and Kyle Brackenridge. Mason picks up Shreyas Mantha, a 3-star.

#3 New Albany will likely represent the Central District in the Final Four this year. They return Jackson Clements, Abhi Dandu, Ben Bilenko, Tyler Thomas, and Jackson Goodman. They lost Dhruv Chavan to graduation.

#4 Springboro's lost no players to graduation. Players returning include: Rishi Dore, Jack Siehl, and Drew Baumgartner. They also pick up freshmen, Brady Mullins (3-star) and Peyton Nelson (2-star).

#5 St. Xavier returns Carson Dwyer (2023 D1 Doubles Champ), Beckett Enscoe, Chase Homan, Conor Lynch, and Henry Brandt. They lost Drew Evans (now playing for Western Michigan) and Joe AbouKhalil to graduation. [Update 3/15: St. X also picks up Nihal Narisetty, a four-star.]

#6 Olentangy Orange returns Nikhil Bhimireddy, Zach Haar, Shailen Pate, Devan Patel, and Eric Tang. They lost Kallan Arledge to graduation. They pick up 2-star, Luke Rutherford.

#7 Massillon Jackson lost the final Altman (Alvin) to graduation (now playing for Western Michigan). Returning for Jackson are: Rohan Sriram (Kenyon recruit), Shiv Nagajothi, Lucas Vassas, and Larson Sutula.

#8 Olentangy Liberty is a team of brothers, Returning are Liam Hand and Shane Hand and Krish Badri and Arya Badri. Also returning is Marcus Bode. They graduated the State Doubles team of Jay Ramakkagari and Hummza Ali.

#9 Avon returns a strong team that includes: A.J. Sidoti, Luke LeMaster, Jay Kneiss, and Franco Gallo. They lost Logan DeHaven to graduation..

#10 Centerville returns a strong squad for the final spot in the Top Ten. Returning are Elliot Galbraith, Luke Edwards, Vibhu Rola, and Vivek Akella. They lost Sanjay Shankar and Kevin Xiao to graduation.

Many of the previous top teams lost key graduates, but some Honorable Mentions should surface early in the season.

Division II

D2 is always tough to determine because many of the teams do not travel outside of their district. Columbus remains the perfect place to meet to hold dual matches among Northeast, Northwest, and Southwest District teams so hopefully more teams will take advantage of this. Many of the top players are accustomed to going out-of-state for matches once or twice a month so traveling is not an issue for them.

Indian Hill's 2022 Team
Indian Hill Team - Click to enlarge

#1 Indian Hill starts the season at the #1 spot. They have retained most of their players from last year's #3 ranked team including: RJ Poffenberger (2022 D2 Dubs Champion), Jack Pollock (Bowdoin recruit), Ethan Camp, Senuka Abeysinghe, and Michael Ryu. They lost Max Berghausen to graduation. They also pick up 4-star Neelan Gandhi.

#2 Orange lost their 2X D2 Singles Champion, Ben Pomeranets, to graduation. He is now playing for Virginia Tech. They still; however, return most of their team from last year. They include: Chika Nwaozuzu (2X State Doubles Champion and Denison recruit),Gabi Kalir (2023 State Doubles Champion), Gabriel Guiler, Ace Bloom, and Ishan Bhatt.. They also lost Krish Mehra to graduation.

#3 Seven Hills, last year's D2 Team Champion, returns a strong team with depth. Returning are: Avi Mahajan (Wash U. recruit), Ethan Blatt, John Corbett, Adi Nayak, Gavin Isakov, and Chinmay Machavaram. They lost Cole Cozens to graduation. Cozens is playing for the University of Toledo.

#4 Columbus Academy returns Lucas Xue, Nason Lo, Jacob Khvalsky, and Rowen Lo, and Saagar Arya. The Lo brothers finished third in D2 State Dubs last year. They lost Saagar Arya and Cory Wu to graduation.

#5 Bexley lost several key players to graduation including Stefan Schiff, Austin Flamm, and Blake Simons. Bexley will be in the battle to be the Central District Final Four rep. They return Sam Lessard, Emmett Pliskin, and Oscar Ramsden. They gain the state's only 5-star freshman, Henry Lessard.

#6 Hawken returns their top players from last year including Axel Neely, Zach Forte, and Berend Diderich. They also return Anthony Piazza and Tyler Snyder. They lost Ashwin Balakrishnan and Rohan Desai to graduation. They pick up Billy Beseth, a 3-star.

#7 Lexington returns most of their Final Four team from last year. Returning are: Ethan Remy, Karl Etzel, Dylan Catanese, Owan Gongwer, and Cooper Remy. They lost Jake Chilcote to graduation.

#8 University School returns their top three singles players. They are: Dean Kirchick, Cole Kirchick, and Vishwum Kapadia. Also returning are their Court 1 dubs team of Connor Barragate and Rohit Talasila. They lost Raaghav Lele and Rohan Sethi to graduation.

#9 Oakwood returns a solid group of players from last year including their State Doubles Finalist team of Arick Baldwin and Noah Boyce. Also returning are Rohan Haack, Jack Smallwood, and Eli Rhodes. They lost Max McCloskey and Michael Ritschel to graduation. Freshman, Grant Zhou, a 2-star, will join the fray.

#10 Wellington completes the Top 10 for D2. They return Sanjan ShankerLuca Mlicki, and Eric Carter. They lost Hundson McConnell to graduation.

Note that there are additional details for players with high-lighted links. Teams with the green "team" designation will include information (or they soon will have) about all of their players.

Those with additional insights on why a team should be ranked differently or included on one of these lists are welcome to submit a Feedback. Please include specific reasons and player names.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2024

OHSAA / OTZ Boys Season Calendar

The unseasonably warm weather is already revving up OTZ usage. The season is less than one month from now so it is worthwhile to include a few key dates on your calendar now. The OTZ calendar includes a few additional dates that are important to tennis players, such as the dates of several major USTA tournaments and the ACT / SAT test dates. While these dates are believed to be correct, always check with other sources before planning the rest of your life. The tennis dates should mimic the OHSAA Tennis Sports Calendar.

OhioTennisZone.com
Ohio High School
2024 Boys Tennis Calendar 2/11/24

Feb 10: ACT Test Date
Feb. 24-25: OTCA Coach Clinic (Cleveland)
Mar. 2-3: USTA Level 4: B14, B16, B18
Mar. 4: 1st Day of Coaching
Mar. 9: SAT Test Date
Mar. 15: Coach to Enter Match Schedule on OTZ by..
Mar. 20: Coach to Enter Roster on OTZ by..
Mar. 22: HS Season Begins
Mar. 23 - Mar. 30: Easter Bowl
Mar 31: Easter
Apr 1: Coach to Provide Team Picture to OTZ by..
Apr 2: Pay OTZ for Coach, Team, or Individual Mem. by..
Apr. 8: Non-Interscholastic Date AND SOLAR ECLIPSE
Apr. 13: ACT Test Date
Apr. 21: Waiver Extension Ends
Apr 28: Sectional Tournament Draw
May 4: SAT Test Date
May 6-11: Sectional Tournament
May 13-18: District Tournament
May 23-24 (Th-Fr): State Tournament (Wooster)
May 25 (Sa): State Team Tournament (Wooster)
May 27: Memorial Day Observed
June 1: Season Ends

The boys season calendar is normally chaotic because of the weather and the timing of spring breaks. That will likely be the case again this year. The boys get far more time to prepare for the season than the girls, but the inclement weather always reduces the number of days that can be spent outdoors.

For those of you who are calendar geeks, normally dates shift one day, year-to-year. Since this year is a leap year, the key dates shift by two days. For example, Memorial Day was celebrated on Monday, May 29, last year.

There will be no shortage of high school tune-up opportunities for players competing in USTA tournaments. Click for the Midwest Junior Tournament Schedule. Click to view the USTA National Tournament schedule. As normal, there are no high level tournaments in Central Ohio.

The boys can use waivers to play non-HS tennis during the season. The waivers should enable most boys to start the season on time (rather than waiting to play in a key tournament). Click for the OHSAA Waiver Request. Always (always, always) work with your coach, athletic director, and the OHSAA to insure that this waiver is completed well in advance and is done absolutely positively correctly.

Coaches, please do not remove players who have graduated from your roster. Fans like to see those who are no longer on the team as they compare this year's team versus last year's. This will be done by OTZ near the beginning of the season.

This calendar will remain in the right sidebar throughout the season.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2024

Top OTZ Photos for 2023

With this week's warming temperatures, there is more focus on the upcoming boys season. Before looking too far ahead, OTZ is closing out the 2023 calendar year with its favorite photos. This video slideshow series was paused after 2020 for a number of reasons, and it is time to hopefully restart it. As in the past, there are photos from professional, college, and high school tennis players included, but there are also a few photos from the PickleballZone Adult Summer league and from the Central Ohio Platform Tennis Association league. Click for the video.

Click for OTZ Top Photos Video - Click for video

These slideshows make a nice time capsule of each year. Click for the Top OTZ Photos of 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020. I needed to refresh my memory on a few names so I watched each video twice, and I frequently hit the pause button to better read the player names.

Sorry about the rather drab music for the last few years. The most popular musical artists gradually stopped YouTube from allowing their music to be used in these types of videos. TikTok had been given a reprieve from the artists, but Grammy watchers from Sunday night may recall that this reprieve may soon be coming to an end. OTZ does not earn any advertising dollars from YouTube from these videos.

The high school photos of your player are available for purchase. Click Buy an OTZ Photo for more information.

Please contact OhioTennisZone via Feedback with any questions.

Hope you enjoy the photos.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2024

College Tennis Matches Now Underway

The college indoor season is well underway. For the complete list of Ohio high school players who are competing at a collegiate level, click on OTZ's College Tennis Report. This page includes the profile photos of OhioTennisZone.com members when they played high school tennis. It also includes links to each college tennis homepage. Please scroll down the page to see the college players who were not OTZ members. Just to be forward thinking, high school players who are recruits are also listed.

OTZ College Report
OTZ's College Report - Click to enlarge

Those who came late to Ohio State matches over the weekend found that the Ty Tucker Indoor facility had reached its capacity. I went to the OSU Men's match against Virginia, and I got there after doubles play had completed. I had to stand outside until enough people left before I was permitted to enter.

While the #1 ranked Ohio State Men's and #12 ranked women's team are fun to watch in their great new facility, there are plenty of opportunities to watch college tennis throughout the state. There are also a zillion Division 3 matches. Currently, the Case Western Men's team is #1 in the nation, Denison's men's team is #9, and Kenyon's men's team is #23. These matches make great team bonding trips, plus they provide high school players with insight on what skills they need to acquire to play at a collegiate level. Ohio State does not charge for admission and it is doubtful that there are admission fees for other schools. As always, if your team goes to a college tennis match and I am there, please let me know and I will take your team's photo. (OTZ's Kyle Gerber played for Case.)

OSU's Sydni Ratliff OSU's Siemers
OSU's Ratliff - Click to enlarge
OSU's Siemers - Click to enlarge
OSU's Stearns OSU's Yakubov
OSU's Stearns - Click to enlarge
OSU's Yakubov - Click to enlarge

The OhioTennisZone camera shutter has been clicking away at OSU matches and several of the better photos are listed to the right.

For more information about college teams, Cracked Racquets does a nice job and so does the Intercollegiate Tennis Associate's WeAreCollegeTennis.com. Two great college tennis sites that were OTZ favorites, CollegeTennis-Today.com and Division3tennis.com, are no longer active.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

THURSDAY,

Top Freshman Boys - Class of 2027

Listed below is the list of top freshman players who are expected to play high school tennis this spring. The core of this list is from TennisRecruiting.net, and the District and school information were largely gathered from previous knowledge and tennis fans. This information will soon be incorporated into OTZ's Pre-Season Top Ten Team lists after their high schools have been determined.

OhioTennisZone.com
Top Incoming Freshman Boys
(alpha sort)
Updated: February 11, 2024

Player - TRN Stars City (District) School
Rudratej Anumula - 3Dublin (c) Dublin Jerome
Billy Beseth - 3Pepper Pike (ne) Hawken
Levi Brumbaugh - 2West Milton (sw) Milton
Abinav Dinesh - 2Blue Ash (sw) Sycamore
Neelan Gandhi - 4Cincinnati (sw) Indian Hill
Cooper Grim - 4East Palestine (ne) Not playing HS
Owen Hawley - 2Columbus (c) Upper Arlington
Jaylon Jamal - 2Shaker Heights (ne) Shaker Heights
Finnegan Keenan - 4Akron (ne) Revere
Aditya Khanna - 3Cincinnati (sw) In CA (?)
Chase Klugo - 4Montgomery (sw) Sycamore
Henry Lessard - 5Bexley (c) Bexley
Shreyas Mantha - 3Mason (sw) Mason
Brady Mullins - 3Wilmington (sw) Springboro
Peyton Nelson - 3Springboro (sw)Springboro
Liam O'Farrell - 2Uniontown (ne) Green (?)
Luke Rutherford - 2Lewis Center (c) Olentangy Orange
Zelin Shen - 2Hudson (ne) Hudson
Jack Slay - 3Canton (ne) Archbishop Hoban
Landon Vens - 4Sylvania (nw) Sylvania Southview
Pugal Vijayakumar - 2Dublin (c)
Beckett Zappin - 2Loveland (sw) Loveland
Grant Zhou - 2Oakwood (sw) Oakwood

Some, but not all, of these players will be able to contribute to their teams immediately. As we all know though, high school tennis can be a challenge for incoming freshmen as they face seniors, windy spring days, and coaches (who are actually coaches rather than their tennis pros). These players are also still growing and while growth spurts are welcome, they can also add clumsiness to strokes and foot work.

As is often the case, the strongest Ohio teams also get a nice influx of high quality players. That will be the case with Henry Lessard (Bexley), Chase Klugo (Sycamore), Neelan Gandhi (Indian Hill), and Shreyas Mantha (Mason).

It is also important to note that Sycamore returns all of their top seven players from last year's championship team.

This alphabetized list should be solid, but please let OTZ know if it is missing players who are currently listed as eighth graders or who are coming in from other states. This list may also include a player or two who are currently sophomores.

Know of any changes? Please submit a Feedback.

The Tennis Recruiting.net star ratings are included beside each of the players. The player links go to Tennis Recruiting.net.

Of the 23 players on the list, the Central District has five (seven in 2023), Northeast - seven (six in 2023), Northwest - one (zero in 2023), and Southwest - ten (same as 2023).

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

SATURDAY,

College Tennis Commitments

Many of Ohio's high school players have already committed to college programs to continue with their tennis careers. The number of players who have committed is lower than in previous years but this year's group of 19 recruits (Updated 3/16/2024: Now 26 recruits) will likely continue to grow as more committments are announced.

OhioTennisZone.com
College Tennis Commitments (alphabetical order)
Updated: Mar. 16, 2024

Player - Girls High School / College
Brooke AringtonIndian Hill / Butler University
Yasemin BilginColumbus Academy / Case Western
Amara BrahmbhattWestlake / Michigan State University
Tess BucherNorth Canton Hoover / University of Kentucky
Arya ChabriaColumbus Academy / Stonehill College
Sarah ClarkTurpin / Coastal Carolina University
Lilly DwyerIndian Hill / Davidson College
Claire Emanuel Olentangy Berlin / Bryn Mawr College
Lydia FosterDublin Jerome / Youngstown State
Hayley GarberHawken / Longwood University
Denver Johnson Avon / Western Illinois University
Morgan LintOak Hills / University of Missouri-St. Louis
Clara OwenCenterville / Xavier University
Catherine RhegnessOttawa Hills / University of Toledo
Meredith RileySouth Point / Marshall University
Natalie SmitekAvon / Xavier University
Player - Boys High School / College
Arick BaldwinOakwood / Allegheny
Vincent CannataAurora / Baldwin Wallace
Jacob EddingfieldElder / Thomas More
Avi MahajanSeven Hills / Washington University St. Louis
Nicholas MeyersSycamore / Denison University
Chika NwaozuzuOrange / Denison University
Jack PollockIndian Hill / Bowdoin College
Rohan SriramMassillon Jackson / Kenyon
Cayden StratfordDublin Jerome / Findlay
Tyler WoodSt. Johns Jesuit / Ohio Northern University

High school tennis players with and without OTZ Player Profiles are included in the table on the right. Click on the player names to view their OTZ Player Profiles.

To see the complete list of Ohio high school players who are currently competing in college (or have committed to playing at a college next fall), click on College Players from Ohio or by using the drop-down above (off of Tennis Statistics / Info). There are 20 freshmen, 28 sophomores, 29 juniors, 27 seniors, and three grad students / red shirts competing this season.

The OTZ College Report requires a ton of time to produce. If your player was never a paying OTZ member (or team member) while in high school, it is not appropriate to ping OTZ now and ask that your player be included in this report. The time necessary to run OTZ needs to decrease.

Please send a Feedback or email if you are aware of changes to this list.

This information was sourced by TennisRecruiting.net and OhioTennisZone.

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SUNDAY,

Final OTZ Team Rankings

The season wrap-up continues. Listed below are the OTZ final team rankings for the season.

OhioTennisZone.com
State Top Ten
Girls Tennis Teams
Final Rankings - December 17, 2023

Division IDivision II
1. Mason◄TEAM 3 Final 4 Indian Hill◄TEAM 3 Final 4
2. N. C. Hoover◄TEAM 3 Final 4 Hath. Brown◄TEAM 1 Final 4
3. Upper Arlington◄TEAM 1 Final 4 Col. Academy◄TEAM 3 Final 4
4. New Albany◄TEAM 1Hawken◄TEAM 2
5. Centerville◄TEAM 2Bexley◄TEAM 1
6. Avon 1Mariemont 1
7. St. Ursula Academy 0Archbishop Hoban 2
8. Dublin Coffman◄TEAM 2Tippecanoe 0
9. Anthony Wayne◄TEAM 2 Final 4 Archbishop Alter 1
10. Dublin Jerome◄TEAM 1 Ottawa Hills 1 Final 4
HM: Perrysburg◄TEAM 0Orange◄TEAM 1
◄TEAM - Denotes OTZ Team Membership. Click on School Name for Extensive Information.
State Spots 3 - Denotes Number of Spots at States.
Final 4 - Denotes State Tournament District Representative.

The Division I rankings are pretty solid because match information is available for almost all of the teams. Mason earned the top spot and North Canton Hoover came in second. Mason had a young team, but they came on strong at the end of the season. Mason returns their entire starting line-up next year.

In Division II, Indian Hill was the dominate team all season - even beating Mason twice. Hathaway Brown got the nod over Columbus Academy. The other Division II teams are harder to pin down because there is insufficient match information for some of the teams.

To compare all of the Top Ten teams and their game winning percentages, click on the Top Ten Girls Team report.

The number of State Spots that each team had is included in gray.

As always, there were situations when Team A was better than Team B which was better than Team C which was better than Team A.

There were also situations when teams were experimenting with their line-ups or they did not have key players at a match.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

FRIDAY,

Top OTZ Girls Photos for 2023

It was a busy fall for taking tennis photos. The Most Recently Added Photos area is now updated to include almost 150 photos from the girls season. (Please Sign-in to view.) Of course, if the team and player profile photos were counted in that total, there were a zillion more photos processed than the 150.

Sarah Clark
Sarah Clark - Click to enlarge

The top photos for the season are also now available by clicking on Top OTZ Girls Photos. These are my favorites and many of them have been featured on the Home page during the season. Most of them include: great eye-on-ball, action, an interesting or clean background, good coiling, etc.

I think they compare favorably with the top photos from previous years. Click to view 2022, 2021, and 2020 images. Note that photos from previous years going all of the way back to 2014 are included in the drop down menu in the header.

If you are looking for a thoughtful, memorable holiday gift that can be purchased from OhioTennisZone, click SmugMug to view.

Photos are emailed to buyers and they can be printed, added to TennisRecruiting.net and UTR, shared on social media, put in digital picture frames, etc.

Tess Bucher Amiya Bowles
Tess Bucher - Click to enlarge
Amiya Bowles

Some of the images that are purchased will also be shown on OTZ under the player's profile. Click to view the profile for Turpin's Sarah Clark.

The great majority of the SmugMug images have *not* been "enhanced" by OTZ. The final purchased photos will be color-corrected, cropped, and straightened. All will be in 5x7 dimensions unless asked to do otherwise.

There are substantial quantity discounts. Click for pricing at Buy an OTZ Tennis Photo.

See the ball. Be the ball. Support OTZ.

 

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