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Thursday, March 12
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OSU Wins Thriller in Big 12 Opener at Utah
March 13, 2026 | Cowboy Tennis
Salt Lake City, Utah — The Oklahoma State men's tennis team opened the Big 12 season with a victory over Utah, 4-3, on Thursday night at the Eccles Tennis Center.
The win improves the Cowboys record to 14-4 and 1-0 in Big 12 play, while the Utes drop to 4-10 and 0-1 in conference. The win marks the Pokes first road Big 12 win since March 23rd, 2024, where the Cowboys took down Texas Tech, 4-1, in Lubbock. The Cowboys are now 6-0 all-time against Utah, with tonight's win marking the first Big 12 match and win over the Utes.
OSU now has 88 total team points through 18 matches, the most team points through 18 matches since 1991.
A hot start gave the Pokes momentum, taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three.
Court three saw OSU's Alessio Basile and Haydar Gokpinar take down Utah's AJ Deem and Charles Frey, 6-4. The senior and freshman pairing now hold a 7-1 record on court three. Just to their left, Derek Pham and Charlie Valentine picked up a gritty win on court two, defeating Emmett Potter and Simeon Terziev, 7-5.
With the doubles point in hand, Nicolas Kobelt and Aaron Williams took an unfinished result in the middle of a 6-6 tiebreaker on center court.
Things tightened up in singles play with three of six matches going to a third set. Utah quickly took the lead with wins on court four and five. The Pokes then got the lead right back with the help of Basile and Gokpinar. Basile battled, winning a key tiebreaker in the first set to give him momentum in his match against Dante Teramo. He would go on to take the win, 7-6(5), 7-5.
Gokpinar continued his dominant start to his freshman campaign, taking home his team-high 14th singles win. The Turkish native now sits at 14-1 and has only dropped four sets this season.
Following a Utah win on court two, the match came down to an absolute thriller on court three.
Pham and Terziev went the distance to send the dual between the Utes and Cowboys over three hours. Pham dropped his first set before taking the second to set up a decisive third set. In the final moments of the match, Pham won his whopping 14-point tiebreaker to clinch the win for OSU, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).
The Cowboys return in less than 48 hours for a match in Provo, Utah, against the 57th-ranked BYU Cougars at 4:30 p.m. CT.
For season-long coverage of Oklahoma State men's tennis, visit okstate.com and follow @CowboyTennis on Instagram and X.
Oklahoma State 4, Utah 3
Singles Competition
1. Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Dante Teramo (UTAH), 7-6(5), 7-5
2. Emmett Potter (UTAH) def. Nicolas Kobelt (OSU), 3-6, 5-7, 6-4
3. Derek Pham (OSU) def. Simeon Terziev (UTAH), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6)
4. Lorenzo Esquici (UTAH) def. Ian Bracks (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Balthazar Huss (UTAH) def. Aaron Williams (OSU), 6-1, 7-6(3)
6. Haydar Gokpinar (OSU) def. AJ Deem (UTAH), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Nicolas Kobelt/Aaron Williams (OSU) vs. Balthazar Huss/Dante Teramo (UTAH), 6-6(4-4)
2. Derek Pham/Charlie Valentine (OSU) def. Emmett Potter/Simeon Terziev (UTAH), 7-5
3. Alessio Basile/Haydar Gokpinar (OSU) def. AJ Deem/Charles Frey (UTAH), 6-4
Order of finish:
Doubles: (3,2) Singles: (4,5,6,1,2,3)
The win improves the Cowboys record to 14-4 and 1-0 in Big 12 play, while the Utes drop to 4-10 and 0-1 in conference. The win marks the Pokes first road Big 12 win since March 23rd, 2024, where the Cowboys took down Texas Tech, 4-1, in Lubbock. The Cowboys are now 6-0 all-time against Utah, with tonight's win marking the first Big 12 match and win over the Utes.
OSU now has 88 total team points through 18 matches, the most team points through 18 matches since 1991.
A hot start gave the Pokes momentum, taking the doubles point with wins on courts two and three.
Court three saw OSU's Alessio Basile and Haydar Gokpinar take down Utah's AJ Deem and Charles Frey, 6-4. The senior and freshman pairing now hold a 7-1 record on court three. Just to their left, Derek Pham and Charlie Valentine picked up a gritty win on court two, defeating Emmett Potter and Simeon Terziev, 7-5.
With the doubles point in hand, Nicolas Kobelt and Aaron Williams took an unfinished result in the middle of a 6-6 tiebreaker on center court.
Things tightened up in singles play with three of six matches going to a third set. Utah quickly took the lead with wins on court four and five. The Pokes then got the lead right back with the help of Basile and Gokpinar. Basile battled, winning a key tiebreaker in the first set to give him momentum in his match against Dante Teramo. He would go on to take the win, 7-6(5), 7-5.
Gokpinar continued his dominant start to his freshman campaign, taking home his team-high 14th singles win. The Turkish native now sits at 14-1 and has only dropped four sets this season.
Following a Utah win on court two, the match came down to an absolute thriller on court three.
Pham and Terziev went the distance to send the dual between the Utes and Cowboys over three hours. Pham dropped his first set before taking the second to set up a decisive third set. In the final moments of the match, Pham won his whopping 14-point tiebreaker to clinch the win for OSU, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6).
The Cowboys return in less than 48 hours for a match in Provo, Utah, against the 57th-ranked BYU Cougars at 4:30 p.m. CT.
For season-long coverage of Oklahoma State men's tennis, visit okstate.com and follow @CowboyTennis on Instagram and X.
Oklahoma State 4, Utah 3
Singles Competition
1. Alessio Basile (OSU) def. Dante Teramo (UTAH), 7-6(5), 7-5
2. Emmett Potter (UTAH) def. Nicolas Kobelt (OSU), 3-6, 5-7, 6-4
3. Derek Pham (OSU) def. Simeon Terziev (UTAH), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(6)
4. Lorenzo Esquici (UTAH) def. Ian Bracks (OSU), 6-2, 6-3
5. Balthazar Huss (UTAH) def. Aaron Williams (OSU), 6-1, 7-6(3)
6. Haydar Gokpinar (OSU) def. AJ Deem (UTAH), 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
Doubles Competition
1. Nicolas Kobelt/Aaron Williams (OSU) vs. Balthazar Huss/Dante Teramo (UTAH), 6-6(4-4)
2. Derek Pham/Charlie Valentine (OSU) def. Emmett Potter/Simeon Terziev (UTAH), 7-5
3. Alessio Basile/Haydar Gokpinar (OSU) def. AJ Deem/Charles Frey (UTAH), 6-4
Order of finish:
Doubles: (3,2) Singles: (4,5,6,1,2,3)
Players Mentioned
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
/ Cowboy Tennis
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