Eleven Warriors

1. Carlos Hyde, Senior. 6’0”, 235 lbs. Our best running back since Clarett? Hyde hits the hole hard and wiggles in it. He puts tacklers on their backs, doesn't fumble, and he's durable. When he was complaining about playing time, I thought that was crap. BUCK UP BUDDY, WAIT YOUR TURN. Now? NEED MORE GUAP. If he’d left after just two-thirds of a season as a starter, that would have shown us. I would’ve left.

2. Jordan Hall, Senior. 5’9”, 198 lbs. Hall might not be the biggest or fastest, but he hurt his foot cleaning up after his dog like a goddamn hero. I live in Brooklyn, the dog-poop-on-the-sidewalk capital of the world. I’ll go for a jog and see 20 varieties of dog poop: Lincoln Log poops, Italian snake sausage poops, mooseberry poops, chocolate Tasti D-Lite poops, crumbly Stonehenge poops. My neighbors are frantic to catch the sociopaths who don’t clean up after their dogs. When I owned a dog, I got screamed at once a week. YOU BETTER CLEAN UP AFTER THAT PIT. Lady, he’s not even pooping, he’s trying to murder a bird shadow. He’s so cute! It got to the point where I’d hold my plastic bags in my hand at all times. You want to catch the people who don’t clean up after their dogs, stake out the corner at four in the morning. They know you ain’t like them.

3. Rod Smith, Junior. 6’3”, 230 lbs. I would shriek and dive out of the way rather than try to tackle this man. You guys remember the Oklahoma Drill? Bet they don’t do that drill any more (NSFW, language), what with the CTE that’s been going around. When I was in seventh grade, I fancied myself a pretty stout linebacker. Then they pitted me in an Oklahoma Drill against the eighth-grade’s starting tailback. Dude knocked me on my back with a stiff-arm, high-stepped on my stomach, and pranced away like Deion Sanders. Twas a real lonely moment. I didn’t quit the team—I have character—but after that I certainly did quit on the team. Stupid meritocracy, what about my dreams?

4. Bri’onte Dunn, Sophomore. 6’1”, 214 lbs. After Jamaal Berry, I'm no longer advocating for the flashy young backup. Dunn looks phenomenal when he gets to play, but is that just because Hyde and Smith have already destroyed the other team’s will? Or was Berry a great talent, but he just didn’t have his “head in the game” blap blap blap? Don’t ask me. I’m not the most sophisticated judge of talent. PUT HIM IN, HE SCORES THE TOUCHDOWNS.

5. Warren Ball, Freshman. 6’1”, 215 lbs. I hate that some people are acting like his window is already closed. He missed all season with a broken foot; give him a chance before chasing him off to Scranton A&M. Me, I’m fired up to root for Warren B the Regulators because I am old and I think 20-year-old hip-hop references are cool. When Bernard Pollard Wu-Tanged Steven Ridley in the AFC championship game, I rewound the hit about a hundred times while shouting lines from “Killer Tape” (Legos! NSFW). HE’S IN THE BLACK LAND WITH THE SHADOWS AND GHOSTS. My guests were nonplussed. I might be the last person left who’s a) old enough to care about Wu-Tang outros, yet b) immature enough to drunkenly yell them at a concussed dude on the TV. The worst part is that I seem to be bragging about this.

6. Ezekiel Elliott, Freshman. 6’0”, 205 lbs. He was best player from the state of Missouri, yet we nabbed him to be our sixth-string running back. I once dated the daughter of a billionaire, which is something I like to mention. I’ve got five grand in my checking account. Proportionally, her dad was richer than me like I’m richer than a dude with two cents. That’s not even sleeping-on-the-subway money. If a homelessman asked me for five bucks, well, I’d tell him to slag off, but what if that five bucks would change his whole life? GODSPEED, PUNGENT SOUL. But if I’d asked the billionaire for a million? He would’ve reacted like I asked to rear-end his dog. GITCHER FILTHY HANDS OFF MAH MONEY. And he’d be right—that ain’t America. America needs some dudes to be billionaires and other dudes to have weird lumps on their kidneys they can’t afford to get checked out. I don’t know why, but it does. That’s why college football is the quintessential American sport: OSU is the billionaire, Mizzou is the doofus with five grand, and the homelessman with 2¢ is, I dunno … Indiana? My point is, calling the Buckeyes “we” as they drub Indiana year after year feels really, really empowering.

Outlook: Dunn, Warren B, and the Regulators run for 13.4 YPC in fourth quarter after fourth quarter through opposing B1G defenses layin’ in their blood like a newborn child.

1. Braxton Miller, Junior. 6’2”, 220 lbs. Miller came a long way with his passing last year. He was still a little below average, but as a freshman he was uncorking bombs like Raul Ibanez. If he stays healthy, I think our worst-case scenario is going 13–0 and then watching in horror as C. J. Mosley repeatedly sticks Miller mid-juke like a lepidopterist pinning a butterfly. SABAN RUINS THE WHIMSY.

2. Kenny Guiton, Senior. 6’3”, 206 lbs. After the Purdue game, a commenter on this site said Guiton would never have to buy another beer in his life. That seems like an exaggeration. I’d buy him ONE beer. Look, my cable bill alone is like $160. Krenzel, he gets all the beers he wants, but even that’s a one night only deal. If he wants to drink with me all the time, he’s got to be a good friend and pony up. I’ve accomplished stuff too you know.

3. Cardale Jones, Freshman. 6’5”, 226 lbs. Jones is a big dude. Say, “we ain’t come to play SCHOOL” was pretty funny, but have you seen this? #LOL. I’m rooting for this kid. I want to yell “we ain’t come to play SCHOOL” at the TV as he tramples Northwestern d-linemen on his way into the endzone.

4. J. T. Barrett, Freshman. 6’1”, 205 lbs. Anybody as worried about Barrett’s knee as I am? James Andrews compared the inside of RGIII’s knee to a patch of FedEx turf. And Griffin got his ACL surgery at Baylor. I have nightmares of Barrett’s high-school lunch lady stuffing his knee with ground-up gym mats. THERE’S VERY LITTLE CARTILAGE IN THESE GYM MATS.

Outlook: Black quarterbacks will take all the snaps. Since Troy Smith and Terrelle Pryor, we’ve been Black Quarterback U. Everybody’s good with this, right? You’d have to be Clayton Bigsby to prefer Zwick, Boeckman, or Bauserman, Or my stepdad. He thinks black quarterbacks run too much because they’re me-first glory boys. Yeah, that’s the ticket. Ask Eric Crouch or Tommy Frazier: FIRST YOU RUN THE OPTION, THEN YOU GET THE MONEY, THEN YOU GET THE WOMEN. Meanwhile Tom Brady is living with Giselle Bundchen in a castle with a moat cause he’s so unselfish. What an idiot.

The Paterno Report - a response to the Freeh Report on Penn State's role in the Jerry Sandusky tragedy - was released this morning. It was no surprise; the Paternos made it known that they had commissioned a response to what former FBI director Louis Freeh compiled last year.

It's important to remember a few things about the Freeh report:

1. It was commissioned by Penn State. Freeh's team consisted of former FBI agents and federal prosecutors whom his firm selected.

2. The report was released to Penn State trustees and the general public simultaneously without being reviewed by the Penn State general counsel on July 12, 2012.

3. The report was "deeply critical of the administration of former university president Graham Spanier, athletic director Tim Curley, late coach Joe Paterno and former university vice president Gary Schultz."

I have no appetite to do 3,000 words on this tragedy again. Instead, I've storified tweets from when I read it in real-time. I realize how obnoxious that is. Follow me on Twitter, or don't. That's not really the point of this exercise.

In short: If the Freeh Report was flawed, the Paterno Report took took it to a whole new, sad level.

*EDITED* I removed the list of potential transfers and just listed positions where we may see transfers. Hope that clears up the controversy.

A couple of days ago I posted a comparision of the last two recruiting classes for Ohio State and Michigan using the 24/7 Composite Ratings as the sole metric.

This comparison allowed for us to see how each school's potential strengths/weaknesses both in a vacuum and in direct relation to the other as well as give a little preview for what areas each school might be looking to address in 2014 and 2015.

Piggybacking off of that post, I wanted to see how these last two Ohio State recruiting classes (2012 & 2013) stack up talent-wise with the recruiting rankings of the rest of the roster right now. Thus, using the same 24/7 Composite Ratings, I was able to create this new document that breaks down the talent position by position.

After reviewing the data, I have several non-sequential observations:

1. Urban Meyer has seriously upgraded the talent level of this team with just 1.5 classes of his own recruits, particularly at Running Back, All-Purpose, Defensive Line, Linebacker and Cornerback. He has brought in key people at every other position as well - Barrett at QB, Clark/Smith at WR, Baugh at TE, Lisle/Decker/Dodson at OL and Vonn Bell at Safety.

2. Three of the most highly-regarded recruits brought in during the Tressel/Fickell era have not developed as expected - Rod Smith, Steve Miller and Curtis Grant.

3. Brad Roby, Devin Smith and Carlos Hyde have significantly outperformed their rating as a recruit. Roby, in particular, should be added immediately to the Hawk/Jenkins/Laurinaitis canon of '3-stars who devleoped into 5-star 1st Round Draft Picks'.

4. Meyer has been superlative at bringing in dynamic all-purpose offensive weapons (Marshall/Wilson/Elliott) but has been surprisingly average with his WR commits, missing out on James Quick and Stefon Diggs, among others. I'm sure that Corey Smith and James Clark can develop into big-time talents but neither are the can't miss prospects that Meyer is bringing in at other positions.

5. This defensive-line has a chance to go down as the best in the history of Ohio State football over the next 2 years. And that still might be underplaying their potential because of how YOUNG they are - Not a single senior among the bunch and only 4 juniors (Steve Miller, JT Moore, Michael Bennett, Joel Hale). And considering some of the 2014 talent that Meyer is already in on, we should expect for these riches to continue growing.

6. The linebackers are the most underrated unit on the team right now - The 4 sophomores from last season (Perry, Perkins, Williams, Marcus) are all VERY talented and I expect them to develop a lot coming into this season. Add to that Mike Mitchell and Trey Johnson, who are comparable to Grant/Shazier in terms of how recruiting services see them. Oh, and we still have Shazier and Grant. And we're likely to add Raekwon McMillian, Dante Booker and Kyle Berger next year. So if opponents manage to slow down the elite D-Line, they run into a fearsome crew of LBs.

7. Without Vonn Bell, here's our 2014 Safeties: Devan Bogard, Jayme Thompson, Ron Tanner, Darron Lee and Tyvis Powell. That's all of them. With Vonn Bell this unit goes from a HUGE question mark to a promising but unproven group. Expect Bell, Bogard, Thompson and Lee to be on the field a lot (defense AND special teams) this fall as coaches try and figure out what 2014 will look like.

8. The 2014 offensive line is potentially a hot mess. ASSUMING that Taylor Decker, Kyle Dodson, Jacoby Boren and Chase Farris come good and can be counted on as 4 out of 5 starters that leaves Evan Lisle, Antonio Underwood, Tommy Brown, Tim Gardner, Pat Elfien and Daryl Baldwin as the ONLY scholarship depth. OL is THE priority for the 2014 class and I expect a big-time class to come in and challenge for immediate playing time.

9. Here's some potential postions where transfers may happen SOLELY based on depth and no other information: RB, DL, LB and Corner.

Interested to hear some other thoughts!

The title is "Vonn Bell listens to parents and picks Ohio State."  Oh, here's the link: http://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2013/feb/07/vonn-bell-listens-to-pare...

The author makes it seem as if Bell's parents forced him to go to OSU.  Examples:

-The title.

-"Vonn Bell knew his choice was going to ruffle some feathers, but in making the biggest decision of his life the Ridgeland High School five-star football recruit did the most basic of things. He listened to his parents."

-"Bell ignored the pleas of friends and area fans -- and his own heart..."

However, the article contradicts itself with the following quote when it cites Bell, "My parents kept telling me that this is your decision, you're the one that has to go play, so don't let other people make it for you."  There are other quotes on the page, but you'll notice that nowhere in its being does it ever cite any evidence that Bell was forced to choose OSU over Tennessee outside of the own opinion of the journalist who wrote the peice.  I know this isn't a big deal and this blog post isn't really significant, I was simply annoyed that Bell's hometown press is trying to sway the story to the side that Bell wanted to be a Vol, but he was forced to be a Buckeye by other forces than his own wants and needs.

Whatever the case, welcome to BuckeyeNation, Vonn Bell. Go Bucks.

Interview by Curt Heinrichs

Curt Heinrichs: Thanks again for taking some time to speak with me. This past weekend, you had what’s become a tradition for the wrestling Buckeyes, and had a home match on the road, so to speak. How did that tradition come about?
Tom Ryan: We just felt that in the business that we’re in, which is serving our community, why would we not take our show on the road to various high schools and communities around the state. The central focus is a current wrestler that’s been a standout for us, and that was a bunch of them. We’ve got Cody Magrum (Senior 184 lbs) and Drew Stone (Sophomore 125 lbs) and we had the Bergmans (JD and Wes). Going to Oak Harbor was an easy choice.

CH: It also has to help that the community of Oak Harbor is absolutely nuts about wrestling, too.
TR: That’s right. That sure did factor into the decision.

CH: Your Buckeyes took on a tough Illinois team and the Buckeyes were able to win 7 of the 10 matches en route to a 25-9 victory. I spoke with Coach Jaggers following the match, but what were some things that you saw that you liked?
TR: I think a lot of the critical matches went our way. Not all of them, but a lot of the critical matches. Whether it was the crowd or whatever it was, we were able to win in critical positions and the energy from the crowd certainly helped. I think that Logan Stieber being back in the lineup was a boost for everybody (defending National Champion Stieber had been out of the lineup for several weeks with a leg injury). Overall, we wrestled well and came out on top.

CH: One of the matches I noticed was at 174 with Nick Heflin beating Jordan Blanton in a matchup of top 10 wrestlers. From top to bottom, the Big Ten is absolutely ridiculous at 174 (at the time of this match, 8 of the top 10 wrestlers in the country at 174 lbs were from the Big Ten). Maybe with Nick getting the late victory, is that something that will help with seeding at the Big Ten Tournament?
TR: It’s not so much with seeding, but it will help him mentally. He’s had a couple of wins over top opponents and a couple of losses to tough opponents. Nick’s coming off of a pretty significant hand injury. He was out for 6 weeks and has been back for 3 now, so we’re seeing the results of consistent training. I think Nick believes he can win a national championship, and a win like that will only help his confidence. We’re really happy that Nick pulled out a big win there.

CH: Speaking of the Big Ten Tournament, Freshman Kenny Courts was able to knock off Gonzalez, who was the defending Big Ten champ at 197 lbs. Do you see Kenny sticking in that role, or will we see Andrew Campolattano come back in the lineup at 197?
TR: Andrew isn’t healthy right now, so we don’t have a choice other than to go with Kenny. Kenny wasn’t a strategic choice to put in there, but that was the way it worked. Andrew is hurt, Kenny is a 184 pounder who was willing to step up and ended up beating the defending Big Ten champion. Kenny is wrestling well and you’ll see him in that spot this weekend. The thing about Kenny is that he weighed in at 184 and wrestled 197. He didn’t wrestle a full match, which is unacceptable for the kind of conditioning we like our guys to have. He found a way to win, and we’re happy with that.

CH: Any time you’re up 8-0 after the 1st minute, that’s a pretty good start to your match. Looking forward, the Buckeyes have 2 duals this weekend, starting on the road at Michigan on Friday and on Sunday at home against Penn State. What’s that like for these guys, having to make weight 2 times in a weekend. Does that wear on the wrestlers, especially with a day off in between?
TR: I think that compared to some things in life, this isn’t so tough. You’ve got to make weight twice, travel to Michigan, and come back home to wrestle Penn State on Sunday. We try to keep it in perspective. There are a lot of people in the world with tougher things to do than weigh in on Friday and Sunday. The bottom line is that we’re looking for incredible performances at this time of year. Michigan is obviously the big rivalry for Ohio State. That’s going to be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, and after that, we’ll get a chance to beat Penn State. First things first is Michigan. It’s a big match and we’re looking forward to it.

CH: Since you mentioned it, Michigan has been down in the past couple of years. Does that maybe take some of the intensity from that rivalry, or is it still first and foremost?
TR: It’ll always be important. They were ranked as high as #11 before they dropped. They have the same group of guys, and as we’ve seen in college wrestling, matchups are absolutely critical. Penn State was #1 and Iowa was #3 last weekend, but the matchups really favored Iowa. In this duel, we’re favored, but if we take these guys lightly it could be close. If we go in there and hold our ground, we can score some bonus points here and there and win the match.

CH: If you wouldn’t mind, let’s break down the key matches between the Buckeyes and the Wolverines.
TR: Well there are 10 weight classes and we’re going to be heavily favored in 4 of them. Does that mean that we’ll absolutely win those? No, but we have a great shot. At 133 (Logan Stieber), 141 (Hunter Stieber), at 157 (Josh Demas), and at 184 (CJ Magrum).  We should be able to pick up some bonus points in those matches. To win the dual, we’ll need 1 more win. At 125, we’ll have Boyle (UM) vs Triggas in what is going to be a critical match. They’re both tough and both are capable of a big win. At 149, that’s actually a rematch of the 3rd place match of last year’s Big Ten Championships. Both guys won 4 state titles in high school, both are not accustomed to losing, so (Eric) Grajales (UM) and (Cam) Tessari is going to be a big one. The 174 lb match is the next big one with Heflin and Yates. We’re probably favored a little bit there, but Yates is a tough competitor. At 197 with Huntley and Courts should be outstanding. In order for us to lose, we’ll need to lose all of those and probably heavyweight, which is a weight where we’re probably favored. The dual meet looks like we’re favored, but that’s why we wrestle, right?

CH: You’ve got Penn State at home on Sunday. They were beaten at #3 Iowa last weekend, but held on to the #1 ranking this week. Let’s talk about that match up.
TR: I would say that against Penn State, we’re in the same type of position that Michigan is in against us. Is it winnable? Yes. Do a lot of things have to go our way? Yes. You know that in sporting events every day, things have to go the right way. We’ve got to get the crowd involved early on.
Nikko Triggas (AA for the Buckeyes) and Nico Megaludus (NCAA runnerup as a freshman last year for PSU) is a big match, and we have to win that match.
At 133 and 141, we’re going to need bonus points. If you look at the Penn State lineup, those are tough kids, hard-working kids, but they’re not at the level of the rest of the team.
At 149, we’ve got to win. They’re slightly favored at 149 and 157 (with twins #8 Andrew and #5 Dylan Alton) with the Alton brothers against our Tessari and Demas. We’ve got to have wins at those weight classes.
At 165, they have the David Taylor Special. Mark Martin is our freshman against a 4th year junior. We’ve just got to hold our ground and keep the match close like he did against (Illinois’ Conrad) Polz and try not to give up bonus points. If it goes our way, it’ll come down to bonus points.
At 174, we’ve got another huge match that we’ve got to have. They’ve got (Matt) Brown, who is a competitor and a goer. He was ranked as high as 4th or 5th against Heflin. Ohio State has to win at 174 to be able to win the match .
At 184, Penn State has Ed Ruth, who is probably one of the best wrestlers in college wrestling. We’ve got to hold our ground there and Cody has to stay gritty and keep the match close.
At 197, the match is interesting because they have (Quentin) Wright who could win the national tournament. We’re probably favored at the lower weights, but they’ve got the edge in the upper weights.
At heavyweight, there’s another critical match that we’ve got to have. Heavyweight, 174, 157, 149, 141, 133, and even 125. If we win those matches, we win the dual.

CH: I spoke with Cam (Tessari) last Friday night, and he mentioned he’s going to try and “peak in March.” That’s a familiar sentiment for a lot of guys, but what can you do as a staff to help guys wrestle their best in the postseason?
TR: Training picks up and we know it’s been a long season. The goal is to be at their best in March and the training changes quite a bit, which is the biggest thing. We start to shorten workouts and focus on technique and individual strengths and weaknesses. We want to make sure that guys’ strengths are super strengths and the holes in their games close up. When you’ve great athletes and guys that want to win and know how to win, they achieve when it matters the most. I think Cam is one of those guys. He was an All-American last year and we think he can do it again this year.

CH: I was especially impressed when he lost his first match at Nationals last year and won 7 straight to finish as an All-American.
You have an exceptionally young team. Is youth an advantage that’s on your side or does that youth expose itself as the season wears on?
TR: I don’t think so. I think that every year in high school, matches are so competitive and there are so many great kids coming into college. It’s really competitive. We have a great group of young guys and each of them want to win a national championship for this institution. Overall, I’d think the older a guy gets, the better he gets. The future is bright with our young team winning as young guys. We’re only going to improve in coming years.

CH: As we mentioned before, you have coach J Jaggers on your staff who has been at the top of the NCAA podium a couple of times recently. How has J as a coach an asset to these young guys who’d like to get there for themselves?
TR: J brings the “I did it” factor. He was a 3 time Academic All-American and a 2 time National Champion. He is a tremendous coach who is good in all positions. He is an incredible asset for our staff. He’s an X factor for us and we’re happy to have him as a coach.

CH: The last question for you tonight deals with recruiting. It was announced that this week, the Buckeyes got the commitment from maybe not one of the biggest names, but certainly one you were glad to land. I’m talking about your son, Jake Ryan. What does it mean for you to have your son to further his career and join your team in the wrestling room?
TR: It means a tremendous amount to me. I’m blessed that he has developed a love for the sport. He started late and really only started in 9th grade. He really fell in love with the sport. He’s got a great high school coach and he’s going to really help this team push for a national championship. I’m proud of him and I’m glad he decided to stay home and wrestle for the Bucks.

Massillon (OH) Washington ATH Gareon Conley is one top prospects in the state of Ohio for the class of 2013. Conley was a Michigan commit for about nine months, but de-committed back in December, a couple of weeks after Ohio State offered him a scholarship. Conley took a visit to Columbus from December 5th-7th and committed to the Bucks on the visit. I caught up with Conley to talk about the feeling of officially becoming a Buckeye and more:

• Signing: "It felt really good to officially get the process over with. It's an honor to play for Ohio State, Coach Meyer, and the fan base. It's truly an honor."
• Why he chose OSU: "I feel more comfortable as a Buckeye. I know I'll always have people there for me and I'm an Ohio boy."
• Other Signees: "I probably talk to Darron Lee the most. It's a really good class, I can't wait to play with them."
• Meyer: "We have a really good relationship. He's a great coach and I'm excited to play for him."
• Devin Smith (Cousin): "We have a very good relationship. We went to school together and he's one of the main reasons I decided to play football."
• Favorite recruiting memory: "My officially visit to Ohio State when I committed. It felt like home."
• College position: CB or WR (most likely CB)
• Interested in studying business
• Message for Buckeye Nation: "I can't wait to get to Columbus and play football."

Full Recap of the OSU victory over Illinois on February 1, 2013

Interviews by Curt Heinrichs

Assistant wrestling coach J Jaggers spoke with Curt Heinrichs following the #5 Buckeyes' victory over #6 Illinois. Jaggers was a 2-time NCAA Champion in his career as a Buckeye, as well as a multiple time Academic All-American. Jaggers is in his 2nd year as an assitant coach.  

Curt Heinrichs- On the Illinois match…What did you as a coaching staff like about the match?

J Jaggers- Obviously we liked the box score (25-9 in favor of the Buckeyes). I think with us, we never try to get too low when we lose and never try to get too high when we win. That was a good Illinois team that we just beat. To win 25-9 against a team that’s ranked 1 slot lower than you is pretty good. When you go back and look at individual matches, there are things you can critique with each match, probably with exception to 133 lbs (#1 Logan Stieber pinned #8 Daryl Thomas in the 1st period).
Triggas at 125 needs to work on leg attack defense. He gave up a 5 point move and took himself out of the match.
At 133, it took a little too long to get his offense going, but when he doubled up his attacks, he scored the takedown.
Hunter (Stieber) has got to score more points in the 3rd period. He kicked the guy’s butt for the 1st 5 minutes and in the last 2 minutes, it was even. You’ve got to keep building your lead.
CH- Have you been working with Cam (Tessari) on some of that scramble-type wrestling? Some of that
Looks pretty familiar to those who remember you as a wrestler?
JJ- A lot of that’s him. You can’t teach some of those positions, but we scrap in practice for sure. The more times you’re in those positions, the better you’ll do with it.
(Josh) Demas has got to find a way to get the major (in a major decision, the winning wrestler has between 8 and 14 points more than his opponent at the conclusion of the match, earning 4 team points). He had the major with 1 minute left. You see it all the time that a guy is able to escape with 5 seconds left and there goes the major. Josh was taking him down at will, so we wanted him to go ahead and get another takedown to ice the major. He wasn’t able to use enough juice to get that takedown at the end.

Mark Martin did an excellent job against the #8 kid in the country. Polz is tough and Martin needs a signature win. He kept it tight and took him out of his comfort zone, but wasn’t able to get out from the bottom.
(Nick) Heflin did a good job. I’d still like to see him get his offense going a little bit more. He’s working on it a lot in practice and it’s starting to come out a bit in his matches. Tonight was a little glimpse of it. We saw it a little bit with those post-double legs. We’re used to seeing Nick Heflin shoot 3 times in a match, tonight it was 6. I’d like to see him shoot 14 in a match.
Kenny Courts weighed in at 186 and wrestled the Big Ten champion at 197. He did a good job of getting the win, but that style of wrestling in the 3rd period isn’t what we’re about.

Pete (Capone) did a great job. There aren’t going to be any high-scoring matches at that weight. He controlled the guy on his feet and never was in any danger. He got out from the bottom and almost turned him.

As a whole, we can be excited. We beat a pretty good team by a wide margin. We can ride back to Columbus (from Oak Harbor, Ohio, where the dual meet was held) and take a step back when we watch the film individually with our guys.

CH- Your alma mater St. Peter Chanel (where Jaggers won 4 Ohio High School State Championships) is closing after this year. What’s that mean to you?
JJ- Graham (Coghill, long-time Chanel coach) retired last year and a friend of mine, Tim Scarl, took over the program. He’s young and brings a lot of energy. I can’t comment on high school wrestling as a college coach, but it’s a little sad. My son won’t be able to go there and won’t even know what it was by the time he grows up, but that’s that.

Ohio State senior 184 lb wrestler and Oak Harbor Alumus CJ Magrum dropped a close 2-1 decision in front of his hometown crowd against ranked Illini wrestler Tony Dallago.
CH- Of all of the matches you’ve wrestled in this gym and on this mat, does this one really stand out to you?
CJ Magrum- For sure. This is the most packed I’ve ever seen the gym and a lot of people I know came from far away to come here. It’s just awesome to get the opportunity to wrestle here again.

CH- It was a close match. Obviously you’d like it to go in your favor, but talk a little bit about how the match panned out. Do you look forward to getting another crack at Dallago at Big Ten’s or Nationals?
CJM- We’ve wrestled like 3 times so far in my career. I know that I’ll probably run into him at Big Ten’s or Nationals, so I’m not too worried about it.

Cam Tessari, a returning All-American for the Buckeyes hails from nearby Monroeville, Ohio. Tessari earned a dominant 6-1 decision against Caleb Ervin of Illinois.

CH- What’s the distance from Monroeville to Oak Harbor?
Cam Tessari- About 30 minutes or so.

CH- You’ve obviously got a lot of family and friends in the crowd. Do you feed off of that energy from the stands, or do you just block it out once you hit the mat?
CT- I try to hit the mat and block it out. It’s also a lot of fun to see familiar faces in the crowd and mingle a little bit with people I know before and after the match.
CH- Obviously you’re used to wrestling after a pair of Stiebers (Tessari, Logan Stieber, and Hunter Stieber were all teammates at Monroeville High School and all won 4 Ohio State Championships). Do you feed off of the energy from Logan and then Hunter when you step on the mat? Does their high level of competition push you to succeed as well?
CT- I don’t like it (laughs). They’re always going out there and winning and putting me on the spot. Really though, I’m used to it and it’s good to see them succeed and it does help me a little.
CH- You rode Ervin tough when you got on top. Was that the gameplan, or was that what you saw working and stuck with it?
CT- I was working to get a turn, but I wasn’t able to. The gameplan coming out was to neutralize his top game and I was able to do that and get the W.
CH- You were an All-American last year as a true freshman (Tessari lost the first match at Nationals, then reeled off 6 straight decisions before losing in the 3rd place match. Tessari ended up placing 4th). You stumbled a bit early on this season. What are you doing to get back on the podium this year?
CT- I’m trying to peak in March. I didn’t have the best start to the season, but I’m working my way back up. I’m just trying to peak in March and make my way to the National Championship.

Buckeye wrestler Kenny Courts has burst on to the collegiate scene, currently ranked #16 at 184 lbs. Courts bumped up to 197 lbs to take on defending Big Ten champ, #13 ranked Mario Gonzalez of Illinois. Courts stormed out to an 8-0 lead after the 1st minute of the match and was able to hang on for a 13-9 decision.
CH- Kenny, great match! You came out and attacked right off the whistle. Was that the gameplan, to come out fast, build a lead, and hold on?
KC- I wasn’t trying to hold on. He was big and relentless, so that’s how it ended up. I tried not to be as passive as I’ve been in the past because that’s gotten me nowhere. I tried to treat it like a high school match and lay It on my opponent. That’s what I stopped doing and I’ve started getting back to it.
CH- You’ve wrestled most of the year at 184 lbs, but you were up at 197 tonight. What’s the difference in your mind?
KC- Basically I think the guys are a lot better at 184. The guys at 197 are bigger and stronger, but they don’t have as many shots to worry about. That’s the difference, but I’m not looking forward to wrestling up there soon. I’m happy to get a big win over a good guy, but I’m ready to move on.

Returning All-American sophomore Hunter Stieber is currently ranked #2 in the country at 141 lbs. Stieber continued his undefeated season by earning a major decision against Illinois’ Stephen Rodrigues.
CH- You grew up just a few minutes down the road (from Oak Harbor, in Monroeville). What’s it like wrestling in front of a lot of family and friends near your hometown?
HS- We actually have a pretty large crowd from Monroeville that follows us around. It’s nothing too different, but it’s cool coming back here to wrestle in front of all  of my family and friends again.
CH- You followed your brother who had a big pin. Do you feed off of that energy?
HS- He got a pin, but I wasn’t able to get one. I definitely feel that energy after he gets a big win, though. The way he wrestles gives me a lot of energy.
CH- You’re #2 in the country and undefeated. Do you have #1 (Oklahoma’s Kendric) Maple in your sights or do you not even worry about that?
HS-I just try to do the best that I can do. That’s all I can do right now. I don’t know when I’ll wrestle him, hopefully in the NCAA finals, but I can’t worry about that right now. I’m obviously going to keep an eye on him so there are no surprises, but that’s all I can do for now.

Last June, Indianapolis (IN) OG Timothy Gardner committed to Ohio State, or at least he thought he did. It turns out there was some miscommunication between Timothy and the staff and he did not have an offer at the time. The coaches asked Gardner to shed 30 pounds and if he achieved that goal, they would offer him a scholarship. He achieved that goal by the end of July. He was offered at Ohio State's "Friday Night Lights" camp and he committed on the spot. Today he signed his national letter of intent and officially became a Buckeye. I caught up with him to talk about what it meant to become a Buckeye and more:

• Officially a Buckeye: "It's a great feeling to be going to Ohio State. It's something I have always dreamed of and my dream came true."
• Why he wanted to play for OSU: "Well I just took everything into consideration. I just felt at home and it was the best fit for me."
• Preparing for college: "I'm just getting myself physically and mentally prepared for when I enroll in June."
• Coaches: "I talk to Coach Warinner two to three times a week. I also talk to Coach Coombs and Coach Meyer."
• Playing offensive guard at the college level.
• Future teammates: "I love all of them. We all talk a lot."
• Favorite recruiting memory: "I really liked the official visit. They fed us well (laughs).
• Goals: "To graduate college, to get better as a person, and improve on the football field."

Today the Buckeyes officially added 24 new players, which could grow to 25, depending on where Johnny Townsend ends up. I caught up with Toledo (OH) Central Catholic safety Jayme Thompson to talk about officially becoming a Buckeye shortly after he signed his NLOI:

• Signing/Becoming a Buckeye: "It felt amazing. I'm getting closer to my ultimate goal of playing in the NFL. I'm very excited to get to Columbus and play football."
• Favorite memory: "My favorite memory is Urban Meyer telling me, "I don't recruit against West Virginia, I really want you to be part of this program/tradition," and I said, "I wanna play for The Ohio State University."
• Position in college: "Probably free safety, but I might play the STAR position when I come in as a freshmen."
• Relationships with other signees: "It's a group of me, Ezekiel, Cam, and Eli. We're all really close."
• Playing in OSU defensive backfield: "That's kind of why I wanted to come, there's good, strong depth back there, it's one of the best in the country."
• Players he recruited to OSU: "I helped recruit Vonn Bell, James Clark, Mike Mitchell, I talked to him a lot on his official, Donovan Munger, and Mike Hill.
• Living up to Dane's legacy: "There's some pressure, but not really a lot."
• "Message for Buckeye fans: "I'm just extremely excited for the upcoming season. Go Bucks!"

Jayme is currently playing basketball for Toledo Central Catholic. They are one of the best teams in the state. He will enroll at Ohio State in June.