Wrestling Recap: No. 4 Buckeyes Come From Behind to Beat No. 13 Rutgers 23-18

The fourth-ranked Ohio State wrestling team bounced back from a couple of decisive losses to No. 3 Iowa and No. 2 Penn State with a 23-18 victory over a scrappy No. 13 Rutgers team. The Buckeyes won six of the 10 matches, including four by bonus points as they ended their home schedule on a high note.

The match started at 141 with a pair of ranked wrestlers, but Luke Pletcher was unable to get anything going against No. 6 Anthony Ashnault. Ashnault struck early and often, only giving up an escape in the third period to the Buckeye freshman. Rutgers’ two-time All-American gave the Scarlet Knights a 4-0 lead after the first match.

Micah Jordan showed that he’s put consecutive losses behind him as he scored four first period takedowns against No. 14 Ken Theobold at 149. Theobold swung some of the momentum back his way as he rode the younger Jordan for the entire second period, but Jordan was able to score a takedown seconds before the end of the match to secure the 12-4 major decision and tie the dual at 4-4.

Jake Ryan was still out of the lineup, so Josh Powell got his first start of the season at 157 against No. 18 John Van Brill. Van Brill absolutely had his way with Powell, rolling to a 17-0 tech fall after a relatively slow first period. The tech fall gave Rutgers a 9-4 lead heading into 165.

Cody Burcher notched his second win of 2017 when he held of for a 7-5 decision over Anthony Pafumi at 157. Burcher had a couple of nice takedowns, but ran out of gas down the stretch and managed to avoid Pafumi as the match came to a close.

Bo Jordan was out of the lineup after injuring his ankle against Iowa, so Justin Kresevic got the nod at 174 against Jordan Pagano. Pagano breezed to a 7-1 decision, but was unable to secure a late takedown to earn a major decision. Following the third Rutgers victory, the Scarlet Knights held a 12-7 lead over the No. 4 Buckeyes halfway through the dual.

Myles Martin bounced back from a tough loss to Bo Nickal of Penn State with a 9-2 decision over No. 13 Nicholas Gravina at 184. Martin showed some excellent patience and motion in addition to some tough riding on his way to his 21st win of the season.

Kollin Moore stayed hot, winning his 22nd match of the year with a major decision over Matt Correnti at 197. Moore stayed aggressive throughout the match, but needed all seven minutes to score the major decision against a game Correnti. Moore gave the Buckeyes their first lead of the dual meet.

Kyle Snyder had a difficult time taking Razohnn Gross down for the first 30 seconds of the match, but was able to keep the pressure on enough to earn yet another technical fall. Snyder used a variety of takedowns to win 25-9.

Jose Rodriguez was unable to wrestle due to injury, so Brandon Paetzell of Rutgers earned the medical forfeit at 125 to pull the Scarlet Knights to within a single point with only the 133 match remaining.

Top-ranked Nathan Tomasello put the nail in the coffin, scoring a major decision over a tough Scott DelVecchio to lock up the match for the Buckeyes. Tomasello struck first, but DelVecchio managed a takedown of his own. Tomasello notched a final takedown just inside the final buzzer to win 14-5.

The Buckeyes improve to 9-2 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten with the 23-18 victory. While the score looks closer than many expected, the Buckeyes were without three starters and Rutgers scored 14 points at those weights. Ohio State will return to action twice next weekend when they travel to No. 5 Nebraska on Friday and No. 10 Minnesota on Sunday. Check back with Eleven Warriors for previews of all of the action this weekend.