Oct. 28, 2011
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The Penn State men's tennis team will kick off play in the annual Big Ten Indoor Friday afternoon. The tournament brings the best players in the Big Ten together for a four-day tournament, featuring a 64-player singles draw and two 16-team doubles tournaments. Four Nittany Lions will take the court in search of bringing a championship back to Penn State.
The tournament will begin Friday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex with doubles play. Both the "A" and "B" draws will complete play Friday, naming a champion in a 4 p.m. match. The singles tournament will begin Saturday morning with opening draws starting between 8 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. After two rounds of singles Saturday, there will be another two rounds of singles play Sunday and Monday mornings. The championship match will commence Monday, Oct. 31 at noon.
In singles play, junior Bryan Welnetz (Laredo, Texas) leads the Nittany Lions, earning the No. 11 seed. He will face Michigan's Eli Brown Saturday at 8 a.m. for the right to play either Denis Bogatov of Michigan State or Iowa's Connor Gilmore. Freshman Tomas Hanzlik (Prague, Czech Republic) begins the tournament as the No. 18 seed. He will take on Iowa's Marc Bruche Saturday at 9:30 a.m.
Sophomores Russell Bader (Austin, Texas) and Chris Young (Melbourne, Australia) will also begin singles competition Saturday. Bader, the No. 47 seed, begins Saturday at 11 a.m. against Indiana's Jeremy Langer. No. 57, Young, will take on Minnesota's Juan Pablo Ramirez Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
Two Penn State doubles teams will take the court this weekend, as well. In the "A" doubles Bader and Welnetz will take on Illinois' Bruno Abdelnour and Ross Guignon. Young and Hanzlik will take on Chase Tomlins and Joey White of Iowa in "B" doubles action.
The Big Ten Indoor Championships marks the conclusion of fall play for Penn State. The Nittany Lions will return to action when the travel to Raleigh, N.C., Sunday, Jan. 22 to take on the N.C. State Wolfpack at noon.