On the heels of its second-consecutive Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational championship, the Ohio State wrestling team returns to dual-meet action Sunday, hosting the Indiana Hoosiers at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy near Akron.
CVCA is the alma mater of three-time All American and former NCAA champion Nathan Tomasello. NaTo, recovering from an injury sustained at the U23 World Team Trials in early October, is not expected to compete Sunday, though he told Eleven Warriors last week there was a "small chance" he'd return to action in his home gym.
Ohio State holds a 48-34-2 lead in the all-time series with the Hoosiers. The last eight matches have all gone in favor of the Scarlet & Gray, with Indiana's last win coming back in 2006, Tom Ryan's first year as head coach.
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6-1, 0-0 Big Ten ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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NOON – SUNDAY, DEC. 8 CUYAHOGA VALLEY CHRISTIAN ACADEMY CUYAHOGA FALLS, OHIO |
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FACEBOOK LIVE Ohio State University Wrestling |
Buckeye Breakdown
The Buckeyes are 3-0 on dual meet action on the season, and are fresh off a dominant performance at one of the biggest tournaments in the country. Seven Buckeyes placed in the Top 4 of the Cliff Keen, with Luke Pletcher, Myles Martin and Kollin Moore all winning their individual weight classes.
Ohio State's margin of victory over the field was 15.5 points, on the strength of its five wrestlers in the finals and seven total in medal-round matches. The Buckeyes won 78% of their 50 matches on the weekend, with 41% of their wins coming with bonus points: seven pins, three tech falls and six major decisions.
With such strong performances over perhaps half the ranked wrestlers in the country, it was no surprise that eight of the team's starters appear in the Top 5 of most rankings, and no Buckeye in the presumed postseason lineup is ranked lower than 11th.
Kollin Moore capped off the tournament with a first-period pin of the No. 2 wrestler in the country at 197 pounds. He was recognized as the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for his efforts.
Joey McKenna will return to the lineup versus Indiana; he watched the Cliff Keen from the sidelines, having just returned from a bronze-medal finish at the U23 World Championships in Poland.
| Weight | Ohio State | Indiana |
|---|---|---|
| 125 | Brakan Mead (6-7) | Elijah Oliver (12-6) |
| 133 | No. 4 Luke Pletcher (13-0) | Garrett Pepple (12-6) |
| 141 | No. 6 Joey McKenna (14-1) | No. 13 Cole Weaver (14-2) |
| 149 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes (14-1) | Davey Tunon (9-7) |
| 157 | No. 5 Micah Jordan (11-2) | Jake Danishek (6-0) |
| 165 | Cody Burcher (0-0) | Bryce Martin (12-4) |
| 174 |
No. 3 Bo Jordan (12-2) -OR- Fritz Schierl (16-2) |
Devin Skatzka (11-2) |
| 184 | No. 2 Myles Martin (14-0) |
Norman Conley (10-7) -OR- Spencer Irick (2-4) |
| 197 | No. 1 Kollin Moore (9-0) | Jake Kleimola (0-3) |
| HWT | Kevin Snyder (12-5) | Fletcher Miller (8-3) |
Presuming Tomasello doesn't surprise his friends and neighbors with a return - picture Jim Ross exclaiming "Good Gawd Almighty, is that Nathan Tomasello's music?!? - Brakan Mead will continue his journeyman turn as the former champ's stand-in at 125 pounds. Mead
Kevin Snyder will again wrestle at heavyweight, filling in for his older brother Kyle. The reigning world champion spent most of the week in Tehran, Iran, wrestling under the Titan Mercury banner is the Wrestling World Clubs Cup; he went 5-0 for the tournament, and the team finished as Clubs Cup runner-up.
Te'Shan Campbell came back from Las Vegas a little banged up; he placed 4th at the Cliff Keen. "Nothing serious," a team spokesman told Eleven Warriors.
Redshirt junior Cody Burcher is listed in Campbell's stead. Burcher went 17-17 for the Buckeyes last season, finished eighth at the Big Ten Championships and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bo Jordan, who came this close to beating No. 1 Zahid Valencia in the final match of the Cliff Keen, is listed as an -or- on the Buckeye roster. Like Campbell, he came back from Nevada a little worse for wear, though a team spokesman said it was more likely than not that the elder Jordan would take to the mats; if he doesn't wrestle, redshirt freshman Fritz Schierl will take his place.
The Indiana Hoosiers
Head Coach: Duane Goldman
Goldman, entering his 26th season at the helm of the Hoosier wrestling program, shares the same Iowa wrestling lineage as Buckeye chief Tom Ryan, both having studied under legendary coach Dan Gable.
In his four years as a Hawkeye, Goldman accumulated a 132-10 career record, won four Big Ten Championships and finished as a four-time NCAA All-American. After three consecutive second-place finishes, he won the NCAA Championships in his final season at 190 pounds.
As head coach in Bloomington, he's led the Hoosiers to 287 dual meet victories, more than any coach in school history. His record is a school-best .636 over his quarter-century tenure.
The Hoosiers are coming off a 3-0 run last weekend at the Hoosier Duals, besting Northern Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville and Cleveland State.
"I thought we wrestled well today, and it was good to get guys back in the lineup," Goldman said of the effort. "That brings a little confidence to each guy on the team, and that showed today on the mat."
Indiana's road trip to Summit County kicks off a gauntlet of three dual meets against Top-10 conference foes: they travel to face No. 1 Penn State (3-0) on Sunday, December 17 at 2:00 p.m. ET before hosting No. 9 Michigan (1-1) on Friday, January 5 at 7:00 p.m.
Notable Hoosier Wrestlers
No. 13 Cole Weaver - 141 pounds
Indiana's lone ranked wrestler is one of three Hoosiers to finish their non-conference dual schedule undefeated. Weaver is 14-2 on the season, having dropped decisions to ranked opponents at the Clarion and Navy open tournaments; he finished third at both events.
Devin Skatzka - 174 pounds
Skatzka, like Weaver, is undefeated this season in dual meet bouts, but dropped a pair of matches in tournament action.
Last weekend he logged only 4:09 of mat time en route to three victories, including the second-fastest fall of his career at 0:47 against Quinton Rosser (NIU), a win by forfeit vs. SIUE, and won by fall in 3:32 against Gabe Stark (CSU).
Match Outlook
Indiana simply lacks the roster talent to compete with what may be the greatest Buckeye lineup of all time. With only one ranked competitor to Ohio State's seven, the question isn't who will win, but how many bonus point victories can the Buckeyes accumulate in front of a friendly Northeastern Ohio crowd.
Four Buckeyes enter the meet undefeated: Pletcher, McKenna, Martin and Moore.
Action gets underway Sunday at noon; streaming is available via the Ohio State University Wrestling Facebook page.
