OSU junior heavyweight Kyle Snyder lifts Wisconsin’s Connor Medbery before slamming him to the mat for a takedown in the heavyweight finals of the 2017 NCAA Division I Wrestling Tournament in St. Louis, Missouri. OSU placed second, behind Penn State. Credit: Courtesy of OSU Athletics

ST. LOUIS — Ohio State finished second at the 2017 Division I NCAA Wrestling Championships and sent a total of nine wrestlers to the event. Five of those went on to be named All-Americans, four placed in the top three of their weight classes, and one won a national championship.

125 pounds

OSU’s redshirt freshman Jose Rodriguez went into the tournament unseeded and lost 13-4 in the first round of the championship bracket to American University’s No. 11 Josh Terao.
Rodriguez was able to get a single victory over Ohio’s Christian Moody, but was later pinned by Nebraska’s No. 5 Tim Lambert.

133 pounds

Redshirt junior Nathan Tomasello entered the tournament with a perfect regular season record and a Big Ten championship.
He beat Illinois’ No. 8 Zane Richards by a score of just 3-1 in the quarterfinals after getting major decision victories over his first two opponents.

In the semifinals, it was a Big Ten championship rematch with Iowa’s No. 4 Cory Clark. Tomasello beat Clark at Big Tens 5-4 on a last-second escape, but Clark fought to a different outcome at the NCAA tournament with a 7-4 decision.

In the consolation bracket, Tomasello took down Nebraska’s No. 7 Eric Montoya and Michigan’s No. 5 Stevan Micic in the finals to finish in third place for the second consecutive year.

141 pounds

OSU freshman Luke Pletcher entered the tournament as a No. 12 seed and defeated Michigan’s Sal Profaci 8-5 in the first round, but lost to All-American Anthony Ashnault from Rutgers.
In the consolation bracket, Pletcher was able to pick up another win over Iowa’s Christopher Carton, but Penn State’s Jimmy Gulibon upset him in his second consolation match.
149 pounds
Redshirt sophomore Micah Jordan came into the tournament as a No. 4 seed and, as a recent Big Ten runner-up, looked dominant early.

Jordan put together a technical fall over North Carolina’s Troy Heilmann, and then defeated Maryland’s No. 13 Alfred Bannister with a 10-2 major decision.
In the quarterfinals, Jordan faced off against Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen. Jordan lost to Sorensen in their regular season matchup, but notched a win at the Big Ten championships.

Jordan lost, this time 3-0. In the consolation bracket, Jordan beat Lehigh’s No. 10 Laike Gardner 9-6, getting a technical fall over South Dakota State’s Alex Kocer and a major decision over Northern Illinois’ Max Thomsen.

In the consolation finals, Jordan faced Sorensen yet again, and was held scoreless for the second time, losing 4-0.

165 pounds

OSU redshirt sophomore Cody Burcher entered the tournament as an at-large qualifier and unseeded, and seemed outmatched by the competition. Burcher was held scoreless by Arizona State’s No. 7 Anthony Valencia in the first round, losing 11-0.

In the consolation bracket, Burcher fared a little better, but still lost his first matchup 2-1 to Ohio University’s Yoanse Mejias.

174 pounds

Redshirt junior Bo Jordan came into the tournament as a Big Ten champion for the first time, and carried a No. 3 seed along with only one loss on the season.

Jordan earned a 10-1 major decision over Harvard’s Josef Johnson in the first round and a 10-4 decision over Iowa State’s No. 14 Lelund Weatherspoon in the second.

In the quarterfinals, he continued marching along, beating Iowa’s No. 11 Alex Meyer with a 4-3 decision. In the semifinals, Jordan faced off against Cornell’s Brian Realbuto, who handed Jordan his only loss of the season.

Jordan fought from behind for most of the match, but employed an acrobatic takedown in the last 20 seconds that also saw him pick up near-fall points to secure a 11-7 victory.

In a Big Ten championship rematch, Jordan and Penn State’s Mark Hall faced off for the national title at 174. Jordan won the Big Ten bout, but Hall was able to win, 5-2.

184 pounds

Hopes were high for No. 6 seed Myles Martin at the 2017 NCAA tournament, after winning a national championship as a true freshman in 2016, becoming the first Buckeye to ever do so.
Looking impressive in his first matchup, he was two points away from a technical fall over Bucknell’s Garrett Hoffman.

Martin’s run was spoiled by Illinois’ No. 11 Emery Parker in the second round, losing 14-9.
In the consolation bracket, Martin took down Penn’s Joe Heyob with a tech-fall before a 12-3 major decision of Edinboro’s No. 14 Dakota Geer.

Next, Martin faced a fellow All-American in Northern Illinois’ Drew Foster, and was able to come out victorious after surviving a sudden victory period.
Martin’s charge was stopped short by Iowa’s No. 3 Sammy Brooks. At the NCAA tournament, Brooks defeated Martin with a 6-2 decision to send Martin to the fifth-place match.

There, Martin impressed once again, getting some much-needed team points over Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Nolan Boyd and winning with a 10-6 decision.

197 pounds

Redshirt freshman No. 3 Kollin Moore, who recently won a Big Ten championship in his first year of competition, barrelled through the first two rounds of the tournament with a 16-6 major decision over North Carolina State’s Malik McDonald and a 16-4 major decision over Oregon State’s No. 14 Corey Griego.

In the quarterfinals, Moore faced a tougher challenge in Oklahoma State’s No. 6 Preston Weigel, but picked up a 13-5 major decision.

In the semifinals, a rematch with Minnesota’s No. 2 Brett Pfarr, the Gophers avenged his loss at the Big Tens with a 13-9 decision over Moore.

In the consolation bracket, Moore pinned Virginia Tech’s No. 4 Jared Haught in the first period en route to a third-place finish as a freshman.

He suffered only four losses on the season, all four against Pfarr and 197-pound champion J’Den Cox of Missouri.

Heavyweight

No. 1 seed and junior Kyle Snyder entered the tournament with sky-high expectations. A world and Olympic champion, he had an undefeated season for the Buckeyes.

After getting through the first two rounds with technical falls, Snyder sustained a rib injury against Colorado’s No. 16 Garrett Ryan.

In the third match, Snyder looked dominant for the first two periods, but his injury began to show in the third, during which he failed to record a point and was ridden out by Minnesota’s No. 8 Michael Kroells, but still won 13-7.

That would be the last time the injury seemed to bother Snyder.

In the semifinals, Snyder rolled over Duke’s No. 4 Jacob Kasper 19-6 and advanced to face Wisconsin’s No. 2 Connor Medbery in the NCAA Finals.

Yet another Big Ten championships rematch, and this one went in favor of the Buckeyes. Snyder tallied two takedowns en route to a 6-3 win over Medbery and his second consecutive national championship at 285 pounds.