James Wadley coaches in his final regular season and home dual.
James Wadley will retire after 40 years as head coach.
April 19, 2012
STILLWATER, Okla. - The Oklahoma State men's tennis team fell to the 11th-ranked Oklahoma Sooners, 6-1, in the regular season finale for both teams.
The Bedlam matchup also marked the final regular season and final home dual for legendary coach James Wadley, who will retire at the end of the season after 40 years at the helm of the program.
"You'd like to for it to end on a better note, but OU has a tremendous team," Wadley said. "You have to remember all those times we won over those 22-straight matches we beat them.
"Everything comes to an end, and I've enjoyed every moment of the time I've been here coaching at Oklahoma State. I think we've been very competitive over the 40 years. I really appreciate all the fans, the donors, the administration; the people that have helped me try to have some success over the last 40 years."
With the loss, the Cowboys fall to 7-13 on the year and 0-5 in Big 12 competition. The Cowboys' lone point in the dual came from senior Eric West in his final regular season match at OSU. West took the first set, 6-4, against No. 125 Peerakit Siributwong, and was up 1-0 in the second set when Siributwong retired due to injury.
Senior Vlad Bondarenko struggled in his final match as a Cowboy against No. 13 Costin Paval, falling in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0.
With the victory, the Sooners improved to 16-3 and 5-0 in league play, claiming the Big 12 regular season championship outright.
Despite the loss, Wadley remained positive about the 40 years he has spent at OSU.
"This is just the last one," Wadley said. "I'm sure it will hit me later in the week or later in the month when I wake up and I don't have something to worry about that day. I'm looking forward to retirement, and I look forward to being a good donor and a good fan of the tennis team and every other team here at Oklahoma State."
No. 11 Oklahoma 6, Oklahoma State 1 April 19, 2012 | Stillwater, Okla. | DeBois Tennis Complex
DOUBLES | Order of finish: 3, 1, 2 1. #8 Costin Paval/Dane Webb (OU) def. Rifat Biktyakov/Vlad Bondarenko (OSU), 8-4 2. #58 Tsvetan Mihov/Peerakit Siributwong (OU) def. Chris Haworth/Eric West (OSU), 8-3 3. Lawrence Formentera/David Pultr (OU) def. Trevor Horstmann/Brandon Champagne (OSU), 8-0
