|
Steven Kuri anchored The College of Wooster’s lineup at No. 1 singles and doubles on some of the deepest teams in program history. In fact, Kuri was a part of two of the College’s four North Coast Athletic Conference championships, and Wooster is just one of three men’s programs with an NCAC tennis title to its credit in the 32-year history of the conference.
Kuri, who starred from 1987-90, really heated up as a junior and helped the program orchestrate a 180-degree turnaround at the conference level.
After missing most of his sophomore year, Kuri returned to the court, and rattled off 20 wins at singles, and 17 more in doubles with partner Adam Brewer, who both qualified as individuals at the NCAA Div. III Championships.
At the national tournament, Kuri won his opening-round match over an Averett University competitor. Kuri rallied back after dropping the first set 1-6, to win the next two by 6-4, 6-3 scores, and later bowed out in the second round in a three-set thriller.
Kuri, who ended the year ranked 18th in the Volvo Tennis/Collegiate Div. III Singles Rankings, earned the first of two All-American certificates. The following year, Kuri earned his second All-American certificate, and again qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In fact, Kuri was ranked as high as ninth nationally in 1990.
“Steve had very strong support in the national coaches association, and was a force to be reckoned with,” said retired head coach Hayden Schilling. “He had so much natural ability, it was frightening.”
Yet, it was perhaps at the NCAC Tournament where Kuri’s presence was the most profound, as the junior doubled up on first-team all-conference citations, topping Kenyon College’s Bob Zabel 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and later teaming with Brewer for a 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 win over Kenyon at No. 1 doubles. Those two first-place finishes proved crucial in the team standings, as Wooster tied with Denison University and Kenyon for the conference championship a year removed from a last-place team finish.
The following year, the conference tournament format shifted from an individual tournament, where teams entered one player and one doubles tandem in each flight and earned points based on how far each individual advanced, to the dual match format it still is today. At the 1990 NCAC Tournament, Kuri posted a 3-0 mark in singles, and teamed with Brewer to clinch the semifinal match against Kenyon, and was one of the keys in the College’s second-straight conference title.
For his career, Kuri compiled 128 combined wins, a total sixth in program history. Of note, the careers of five of the six individuals above Kuri on the combined wins list spent at least one season as his teammate.
Kuri again upped his single-season output as a senior with his 24 wins at No. 1 singles still standing as the single-season program record for wins out of the top flight. Kuri, who won 54 matches for his career at No. 1 singles, only trails Bob Savitt’s 79 for the most No. 1 wins in program history.
Kuri remains involved on the northeastern Ohio tennis scene to this day, both as a player and as a teaching professional. Kuri’s post-collegiate highlights include a 35-and-over national tournament championship in both singles and doubles, and a team national title in 2005.
Outside of tennis, Kuri is a realtor for W.W. Reed & Son Real Estate based in Kent, Ohio.
Kuri, who graduated from the College with a bachelor’s degree in political science, resides in Cleveland with his wife Michelle.