There was some drama in Columbus, Ohio last Friday, as the Ohio State Buckeyes faced the Texas A&M Aggies in a top 10 head-to-head matchup. Parker Thieneman breaks down what happened.

This weekend, college tennis featured a top 10 matchup with #6 Texas A&M traveling to Columbus, Ohio to take on #2 Ohio State. This matchup was simply electric. Emotions ran high on every court with Ohio State out lasting the Aggies 4-3 on Friday night. For those tennis fans out there who don’t pay attention to the college tennis scene, you may want to rethink that.

The match of the night took place at court-2 singles, highlighting a familiar matchup. It was a rematch of the Kalamazoo Boys 18s final from last summer. Patrick Kypson came out victorious then, but JJ Wolf of the Buckeyes would avenge that loss this time around. Kypson came out hot with a 6-3 win in the first set, but Wolf bounced back taking an early break and holding on 6-3 in the second. The tension was palpable, but Wolf was able to close out the deciding set 6-4.

Incredible match? Of course. But what happened after the match was when things really got interesting. Let’s take a look.

If you look closely, you can see Kypson (left side of the screen) spit in his hand just before shaking Wolf’s hand at the net. Very subtle. Before I go on, Kypson and Wolf have been on the Cracked Interviews Podcast and they’re friends of Cracked Racquets. At the end of the day, they’re both great guys so this was shocking to see, but let’s take a look at the circumstances that would have caused Kypson to spit in his hand like they had agreed to some life long pact.

He’s a freshman: I don’t want to make excuses for him, but I’m making excuses for him. An 18-year-old kid had a lapse in judgment. That’s a first. Top 10 matchups breed high intensity situations: As you could see in the video, there was no absence of pressure. The place was bananas and these younger guys haven’t been in that team environment with everyone depending on them. The history between these two guys: Like I said, they share a pretty rich history. Playing in the finals of Kalamazoo is THE pinnacle of junior tennis so I’m sure they both had a lot of pent up feelings from that final.

Shout out to JJ Wolf, who is only 19 years old himself, and gave a clutch performance in a really tough spot. I don’t want to make it sound like what happened was okay, but that I completely understand the situation.

This is why I watch college tennis. There’s a genuine passion and excitement that these young guys bring to the table that is completely different from professional tennis. And sometimes that passion manifests itself by subtly spitting before you shake your opponent’s hand. When its all said and done, he’s a human like the rest of us and he’ll learn from this situation. Now let’s take a look at the buckeyes celebration after the big win.

Buckeyes win it 4-3. Great finish to a great match. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/tQJ3Dn29fQ — Ohio State M Tennis (@OhioState_MTEN) February 10, 2018

For more on the Buckeyes 4-3 win over the Aggies, check out Ohio State’s recap of the match here. Let us know what your thoughts this in the comments below!