The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
Coach wants match in big venue
Ryan not happy with Penn State setup
Standing-room only tickets will cost a fan $80.
To be close to the action will cost about $500.
It’s all for a college wrestling dual match, but not just an ordinary match.
It’s not far-fetched to call it the Super Bowl of college wrestling, which would make it fitting if it were played on Feb. 4, the date of this year’s Super Bowl.
It’s not. Before battling it out for a NCAA title in what’s expected to be a close team race in March at Quicken Loans Arena, the nation’s top two ranked teams — Ohio State and Penn State — grapple for regular-season supremacy Feb. 3 at PSU’s Rec Hall. The facility seats 6,502.
The venue for the mega match has Ohio State coach Tom Ryan scratching his head, wondering why an event of this magnitude isn’t being held in a bigger venue.
He cites his team’s last regular-season home dual against Iowa at the Schottenstein Center as proof the masses would come out Feb. 3. That dual in Columbus — which featured OSU’s touted heavyweight Kyle Snyder’s last home match — attracted 15,117.
OSU’s dual matches are usually at St. John Arena, but the Iowa dual was switched to The Schott because of interest in the match.
Northeast Ohio college wrestling fans won’t have to worry about being shut out of the OSU-PSU dual, as long as their cable provider comes through. The match will be televised by the Big Ten Network Feb. 3 at 8 p.m.
Ryan has theories why more than half the amount of fans that saw Iowa-OSU in a dual will be shut out of OSU-PSU, but first a look at why this match is so enticing.
Ryan said it could be the “greatest college wrestling dual in the history of the sport.” He might be right. College lineups feature 10 weight classes. Of the 20 wrestlers expected to be in action Feb. 3, eight are national champions. The staggering array of talent set to be on display that night includes:
• Ohio State senior Nathan Tomasello, a national champ at 125 in 2015
• Penn State senior Zain Retherford, the two-time defending national champ at 149
• Penn State junior Jason Nolf, last season’s 157-pound national champ
• Penn State sophomore Vincenzo Joseph, last season’s 165-pound national champ
• Penn State sophomore Mark Hall, last season’s 174-pound national champ
• Penn State junior Bo Nickal, last season’s 184-pound national champ
• Ohio State 184-pounder Myles Martin, who won the 2016 NCAA title at 174, defeating Nickal
• Snyder, the two-time defending NCAA champ at heavyweight
It’s shaping as a can’tmiss night in State College, Pa., but Ryan said it could have been so much more.
“We’re excited about the match, but we’re disappointed where Penn State chose to have it,” Ryan told The News-Herald in a phone interview. “We’re disappointed they are not having it in a bigger venue. I know our administration would have had it at The Schott. But for whatever reason, they chose to have in a great venue, just a smaller venue.”
Jeff Nelson, Penn State’s Associate Athletic Director for Strategic Communications, wrote this response to The N-H:
“The Big Ten determines the conference
“We could have had 15,000 fans for what could be the great college wrestling dual of all time. I believe competitive advantage was the reason.”
schedules for all sports. On Feb. 3, in addition to the Ohio State dual at 8 p.m. in Rec Hall, Penn State is hosting a men’s basketball game in the Bryce Jordan Center at 6 p.m. The Big Ten determined both start times.”
When asked his opinion why the match was held at a 6,500-capacity venue when fan interest would certainly generate double that in attendance — and likely more at a different venue — Ryan didn’t hold back.
“It’s hard for me to not surmise (this decision) was calculated,” he said. “Take a step back, and use common sense. In my humble opinion, common sense wasn’t used. We could have had 15,000 fans for what could be the great college wrestling dual of all time. I believe competitive advantage was the reason.
“I understand competition at its deepest level. For me personally, I try to do things that look at every angle of it. I feel like an event like this should be showcased for everyone — their fans, our supporters, and wrestling fans in general.”
Ryan also said no tickets were made available for OSU students or fans.
“They didn’t give us any (to sell),” said Ryan.
In response to that claim, Pat Donghia, Assistant Director of Communications for wrestling, wrote in an email to The N-H:
“Ohio State has been allotted 75 tickets, which is what we do for every visiting opponent for player/ guest.”
Regardless of where the dual is held, and the tickets allotted, something has to give Feb. 3. Ohio State and Penn State have been Nos. 1-2 — depending on the poll — all season, and neither has a lost a dual. The Nittany Lions are 11-0, and the Buckeyes are 12-0 after they defeated Purdue at St. Paris Graham High School, 35-7, on Jan. 28.
The Feb. 3 winner could use it as a springboard to an NCAA team title at The Q, where OSU (the 2015 NCAA champ) and PSU (winners of six of the last seven) are the huge favorites.
That tournament is a month-and-a-half away. One of the most unique college sporting events in a long time is fast-approaching.