Ohio State concludes its dual meets with a victory over Wright State. Credit: Sydney McNulty | Lantern reporter
The Ohio State men’s swimming team won its final dual meet of the season against Wright State, picking up a 153-103 victory at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion.
Some of the highlight swims for the Buckeyes included a win for sophomore Michael Salazar in 200-yard freestyle (1:39.79), along with senior Mark Belanger and junior Jack Barone both taking home first in their respective events, the 100-yard backstroke (48.62) and 100-yard breaststroke (55.96).
Sophomore standout Mossimo Chavez glided to victory in the 50-yard freestyle by matching his time last week against Michigan, touching the wall in a time of 20.73 seconds.
“I felt good today,” Chavez said. “Dual meets are just another opportunity for us to race and to prepare for the next couple of weeks.”
The Buckeyes seized the opportunity by sweeping every single event, but for the seniors, the meet meant more than just another win.
“It’s been a pretty emotional meet for me,” senior Matt Moen said. “ It’s definitely different because all these years we saw the older guys go through it, and you never think of you going through it yourselves. We were over there and talking, and we were like, ‘Wow this is pretty real that we are going to be in the real world soon,’ so that adds a little bit of energy too, which is always good.”
Moen finished 3rd in the 200-yard breaststroke behind two fellow Buckeyes.
Moving forward, however, the Buckeyes as a unit are focused on the rest of the season, using every meet as a chance to get ready for the Big Ten Championships in Columbus on Feb. 22-25.
“It is a rehearsal for Big Tens,” Moen said. “The next couple of weeks are just trying to work on the details. We put in a lot of work the last couple of months, so at this point it’s just working on technique so we can perform as well as we need to.”
Up next the Buckeyes will host the OSU Winter Invitational on Saturday, Feb. 11.
