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Big Ten Men's Tennis All-Conference Teams and Individual Awards Announced
April 26, 2012
The Big Ten men’s tennis All-Conference teams and individual awards were announced on Thursday night at the Big Ten Tournament banquet. Michigan junior Evan King was named Big Ten Athlete of the Year, while Minnesota’s Leandro Toledo earned Freshman of the Year honors and Ohio State’s Ty Tucker picked up Coach of the Year laurels. King receives top billing among Big Ten players after compiling a perfect 11-0 conference record in singles play. The Wolverine junior is currently the seventh-ranked singles player in the country, helping Michigan to a No. 2 seed in the conference tournament. King’s award makes him the seventh in Michigan history to be named Athlete of the Year and the first since Peter Pusztai in 1996. Toledo finished his first collegiate season with a 7-4 conference singles record and a 9-2 doubles mark. The newcomer is currently ranked in the top 100 in the country, and becomes the fourth Gopher to win the award and the first since Harsh Mankad in 2000. Tucker collects his seventh consecutive Coach of the Year award and eighth overall after guiding the Buckeyes to a 29-2 overall record and their seventh straight Big Ten title. Tucker led Ohio State to a perfect 11-0 conference record, marking the seventh season in a row that his team went undefeated in Big Ten play. The Buckeyes have won 87 consecutive Big Ten matches dating back to 2005. King is a unanimous All-Big Ten selection and is joined by Illinois’ Roy Kalmanovich and Dennis Nevolo, Indiana’s Isade Juneau and Josh MacTaggart, Michigan State’s Aaron Pfister, Minnesota’s Rok Bonin and Toledo, Nebraska’s Christopher Aumueller and Ohio State’s Chase Buchanan, Peter Kobelt and Blaz Rola on the first team. Earning consideration on the second team are Michigan’s Alex Petrone, Nebraska’s Benedikt Lindheim, Northwestern’s Josh Graves, Ohio State’s Devin McCarthy and Ille Van Engelen and Purdue’s Mark Kovacs.
The Big Ten also recognized 12 Sportsmanship Award honorees. The student-athletes chosen are individuals who have distinguished themselves through sportsmanship and ethical behavior. These student-athletes must also be in good academic standing and have demonstrated good citizenship outside of the sports-competition setting. The complete list of honorees can be found below. MEN’S TENNIS ALL-BIG TEN TEAMS First Team All-Big Ten Roy Kalmanovich, Illinois DENNIS NEVOLO, Illinois Isade Juneau, Indiana Josh MacTaggart, Indiana EVAN KING, Michigan Aaron Pfister, Michigan State ROK BONIN, Minnesota Leandro Toledo, Minnesota Christopher Aumueller, Nebraska CHASE BUCHANAN, Ohio State Peter Kobelt, Ohio State BLAZ ROLA, Ohio State
Second Team All-Big Ten Alex Petrone, Michigan Benedikt Lindheim, Nebraska Josh Graves, Northwestern Devin McCarthy, Ohio State Ille Van Engelen, Ohio State Mark Kovacs, Purdue Unanimous selections in CAPS.
INDIVIDUAL AWARDS Athlete of the Year: Evan King, Michigan Freshman of the Year: Leandro Toledo, Minnesota Coach of the Year: Ty Tucker, Ohio State
SPORTSMANSHIP AWARD HONOREES Bruno Abdelnoor, Illinois Stephen Vogl, Indiana Garret Dunn, Iowa Shaun Bernstein, Michigan Denis Bogatov, Michigan State Phillip Arndt, Minnesota Christopher Aumueller, Nebraska Sidarth Balaji, Northwestern Steven Williams, Ohio State Christopher Hasyn, Penn State Mark Kovacs, Purdue Petr Satral, Wisconsin |
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