OSU freshman Luke Fletcher celebrates his first varsity victory over Missouri’s Zach Synon. Credit: Sam Janicki. Courtesy of OSU Athletics
The dual-meet between Ohio State and Missouri, featuring two 2016 Olympians and recognizing last season’s championships won by sophomore Myles Martin and junior Kyle Snyder, the No. 4 Buckeyes dominated the No. 5 Tigers 30-9.
Redshirt juniors Nathan Tomasello and Bo Jordan, Snyder and Martin all won in landslide decisions.
“You see these four guys, four of the 10 were a critical part of our first national championship,” OSU coach Tom Ryan said.
At 133 pounds, Tomasello faced off against Missouri’s Jaydin Eierman, in a match that turned controversial after Tomasello finished a slam out of bounds after a blown whistle.
“I didn’t hear any whistle and then as the whistle blew, I already had him in the air,” Tomasello said. “I wanted to finish my tag. I think it was kind of good to get the crowd more involved after that.”
Tomasello won the match 11-2. Since beginning the season with an injury, he has lived up to the hype of a championship contender in the few weeks of competition.
“Patience, patience is important,” Tomasello said. “Having support from the training staff and from coach Ryan and all the guys like Kyle (Snyder) has helped me to continue to push hard and come back even better than I was last year.”
A point of anticipation in Thursday’s match was the debut of OSU freshman Luke Pletcher at 141 pounds, who had his redshirt pulled earlier this week. Down early in the first period, Pletcher rebounded by scoring a late takedown, ultimately prevailing 6-3.
“I remember him staying in the fight,” Ryan said. “I remember him scoring late in the periods. You want to be the guy that scores the last points in the period.”
Coach Ryan praised Pletcher’s ability to handle the stress and pressure that comes with short turnarounds and tough competition.
“We felt pretty good about Luke going in. On a daily basis, he does the things necessary to have a performance like that.”
OSU’s Kollin Moore, redshirt freshman at 197 lbs., wrestled the tightest match of the night, taking on Olympic bronze medalist and top-ranked J’den Cox of Missouri. Moore fell behind 0-2 early, but kept close the entire match. Two crucial takedowns in the third period brought Moore within a point of Cox, but his effort fell short, as Cox prevailed 6-4.
Bo Jordan and brother Micah won their matches by a combined score of 37-13. Martin scored six takedowns, winning 21-5. Snyder pinned his opponent in the heavyweight division.
