The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
No. 1-ranked Buckeyes rolling to Cleveland
This No. 1-ranked team in college wrestling begins and ends with an all-time great.
Heavyweight Kyle Snyder is a fine place to start in Columbus, and when it’s said and done, Cleveland will be the final send-off spot for the two-time NCAA champion and reigning Olympic gold medalist.
Wrestling fans in these parts won’t want to miss it March 15, 16 and 17 at Quicken Loans Arena, the site of this year’s Division I NCAA Championships.
Snyder, a senior, won’t be the only attraction heading north from Ohio’s capital city. The Buckeyes’ entire lineup could make it to The Q as NCAA qualifiers. As many as five could advance to the finals. All have the talent to be NCAA champions.
The Buckeyes have been No. 1 all season, and will likely be the favorite for the NCAA team title.
Still, their entire lineup was intact for a dual or tournament the first time this season Jan. 12 when the they hosted Minnesota. OSU won 8 of 10 matches, and rolled to a 31-7 win. That resembles a football score, and it’s only fitting.
Coach Tom Ryan’s team has steam rolled its opponents all season with offensive talent that is scary good. Its defense is rock solid. In nine duals, and nine victories, it’s won by an average score
of 35.6-9.3. It also won the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational team title by 15.5 points without Snyder and another national champion Nathan Tomasello.
In the win over Minnesota, the Buckeyes welcomed back the 125-pound Tomasello — out three months recovering from a knee injury — for the first time, and he rolled past No. 4-ranked Ethan Lizak, 18-3. It was a huge return for Tomasello, as Lizak was an NCAA runner-up last season.
It’s an embarrassment of scarlet and gray riches. A look at OSU’s lineup vs. the Gophers:
• Snyder, Tomasello, and Kollin Moore (197) are ranked No. 1 nationally in their weight class.
• Myles Martin (184) and Luke Pletcher (133) are ranked No. 2 nationally.
• Bo Jordan (174) is No. 3, and Micah Jordan (157), Ke-Shawn Hayes (149) and Joey McKenna are each No. 6. A weak link in the lineup might be 165-pounder Te’Shan Campbell, but he’s still ranked No. 13.
• Most impressive is this: The collective record of that lineup this season is 114-10. OSU’s top five in Snyder, Tomasello, Moore, Martin and Pletcher are a
combined 55-0.
“It was good to have a full lineup,” said Ryan after his team’s win over Minnesota. “When you have the leadership like we have, and they’re in the lineup it adds a lot of value to the team performance.”
In other words, this collection of Buckeyes wrestlers will only get better.
When they roll into The Q in mid-March this awesome collection of college wrestlers will really be rocking it to “Hang on Sloopy.” OSU’s remaining schedule includes six more duals, then the Big Ten Championships March 3 and 4 in East Lansing, Mich. Ryan said
from now until then is critical, and while the Minnesota win offered promise, there’s much more out there.
“The score, as relevant as it is, it’s irrelevant because we’re looking for performances that will equate to the type of performances we’ll need in order to do the type of things we need to do in Cleveland,” said Ryan.
Next on the docket is the Buckeyes’ final home dual of the season. They welcome longtime college wrestling power Iowa to the Schottenstein Center Jan. 21.
“Any time you wrestle Iowa, there’s not much
that needs to be said to jack you up,” Snyder told reporters Jan. 12. “It’s a team a lot of people want to crush, but not a lot of teams have the ability, but we do.”
Acquiring tickets to college wrestling’s premiere event isn’t easy. It plays out to capacity crowds, and is a tough ticket, no matter the host city. The timing of The Q playing as the host venue couldn’t be better.
These Buckeye will be must-watch come March.