After an up and down season, the No. 9 Ohio State wrestling team is ready to open up the most important part of its season when it travels to Wisconsin for the Big Ten Tournament. The tournament kicks off Saturday and will conclude the next day.
“It doesn’t matter what you did earlier, it matters now,” said OSU coach Russ Hellickson. “The only things that are important are the Big Ten and the national tournament.”
The Buckeyes opened the season with wins in six of their first seven matches, including victories over three Top 25 teams. After losing to No. 1 Oklahoma State in the semifinals of the National Wrestling Coaches Association National Duals, the Buckeyes rebounded with a victory over No. 6 Cornell. With the quick start, OSU jumped to as high as No. 3 in the national rankings.
However, the season quickly turned sour when the Buckeyes dropped four of their next five duals, including losses to Big Ten foes Minnesota, Illinois and Purdue.
OSU got back on track last weekend with wins over both Northwestern and Wisconsin. The Buckeyes finished the season 12-7 overall and 4-4 in the conference.
“We could have easily been undefeated in the conference instead of 4-4,” Hellickson said. “So I hope the guys feed off that.”
One of the guys who won’t need any extra motivation is Keaton Anderson. Anderson is the top seed in the 157-pound weight class and wrapped up his senior season with a 32-1 record, including a perfect 15-0 in dual meets. Riding a 20-match win streak into this weekend’s tournament, Anderson could become the fourth OSU wrestler in the past two seasons to reach the century mark in career wins. He would join teammate Tommy Rowlands and assistant coaches Ken Ramsey and Mitch Clark.
“Definitely, I feel more confident coming into this tournament knowing I beat everyone so far,” Anderson said. “But everyone’s tough, and it’s going to be hard to beat them all again.”
Anderson’s road won’t be without its hurdles. One of the biggest tests will be Minnesota’s No. 2 seed, Luke Becker, the reigning national and conference champion in the 157-pound class. Anderson’s only loss this season came at the hands of Becker, who won an 8-5 decision in the championship bout of the Las Vegas Invitational. Anderson did gain a little retribution later in the season when he took a 10-3 decision from Becker in a dual meet.
“All that matters now is the end of the year,” Anderson said. “No matter how you ended the regular season, it all matters now.”
While Anderson is the Buckeyes’ lone No. 1 seed, OSU does have two No. 2 seeds in John Clark (165 pounds) and Tommy Rowlands (heavyweight).
Clark finished his junior season with a 32-6 overall record and a 16-3 record in duals. Last season, Clark placed second at the conference tournament and hopes to improve this year.
“Getting second was very disappointing,” Clark said. “However, it was good motivation for me this offseason. Getting second in the Big Ten and not being an All-American really fueled me in the offseason. Hopefully, I can get back what I kind of lost last year.”
If Clark wants to get his championship, he will have to go through Illinois’ Matt Lackey. In their only matchup this season, Lackey earned a 7-5 decision over Clark, but Clark knows the past isn’t something to worry about.
“This ultimately is like a new season,” Clark said. “Russ trains us so we’ll be in shape at the end of the year. Usually, we find people are a lot better at this time of the year than during the year.”
Despite being ranked No. 9 in the nation and having seven wrestlers seeded in this weekend’s tournament, the Buckeyes aren’t the clear-cut favorite. In fact, four other Big Ten teams are ranked higher than the Buckeyes in national polls, with No. 2 Iowa leading the way.
“It’s tough — we’re like fourth or fifth in the Big Ten and ninth in the country,” Clark said. “I just feel very confident going in as a team right now. We’re ready to go.”
