Huskers Gear Up for Big Ten Individual Championships

Ann Arbor, Mich. – The Nebraska men’s tennis team heads north for the Big Ten Individual Championships held in Michigan, taking place Nov. 4 – Nov. 6. The Wolverines will host the three-day tournament that consists of both singles and doubles play for individual athletes within the Big Ten Conference. 

Five Huskers will make the trip to the tournament, fresh off the ITA Regional Championships that saw NU take home 15 total wins over the four-day competition.

Roni Hietaranta has had a strong start to his 2022 campaign, gathering four singles wins across the first two tournaments. Just a year after his 22-win season, the Lappeenranta, Finland native advanced to the Round of 8 at the ITA Regionals before falling to the eventual champion, Oklahoma’s Nathan Han. Dating back to last season he has now won eight of his last 10 singles matches. He also has a doubles win with partner Rudi Christiansen. 

Christiansen saw his first action of the season at the ITA Regionals, finishing 1-1 with a win over Creighton’s Alejandro Gandini. Before Nebraska, the Alabama transfer notched 16 singles wins and had doubles wins at the MSU Bulldog and UCF Invitationals over his two-year career with the Crimson Tide.

Shunya Maruyama currently holds three singles victories on the fall campaign, notching a pair of wins at the ITA All-American Championships to open the season. The Nagano, Japan native now has 72 career total victories over his tenure with the Huskers, with 40 of them coming in singles play. 

Lars Johann also returns to action after making his Husker debut at the ITA Regionals with two straight wins. Before Nebraska, Johann was ranked No. 102 in the men’s German standings and had a career best ranking at No. 2 in the German U16. He also reached as high as No. 4 in the U18 German ranking. Johann was the state champion in Saarland and reached the semifinals at the U18 German championships two times.

William Gleason enters his second tournament of the 2022 fall season and begins his fifth and final year with Nebraska. Gleason posted a 10-16 singles record last season competing primarily out of the No. 5 and No. 6 spots. The Lincoln native tallied a team-high four conference victories in singles play last season and now has 62 career wins over his four-year tenure as a Husker. Gleason has dropped his first two matches to begin the fall season.

Stay up to date with the action by following the Nebraska men’s tennis Twitter and Instagram accounts, @huskermtennis.