OSU then-redshirt sophomore Nathan Tomasello competes in a match against Arizona State on Nov. 13.
Credit: Courtesy of OSU
ST. LOUIS — With the consolation bracket finished at the 2017 Division I NCAA Wrestling Championships, two Buckeyes have finished in third place in their weight class, while two others finished in the top five.
Top-seeded redshirt junior Nathan Tomasello, at 133 pounds, and No. 3 197-pounder and redshirt freshman Kollin Moore won out their consolation bracket to finish in third place, while 149-pound redshirt sophomore Micah Jordan and 184-pound sophomore Myles Martin finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
Tomasello wrestled Michigan’s Stevan Micic for the third-place finish, an opponent the junior Buckeye is plenty familiar with.
“I’ve probably wrestled Micic six or seven times already in my career, so it’s just (about) being strong, knowing that he knows almost everything you show him,” Tomasello said. “I think I was able to get to my offense a little better than the last two times I wrestled, so hopefully I can keep that up going into next year.”
This marks the second consecutive year Tomasello has finished in third, but this year’s bronze finish came in a higher weight class. Tomasello won a national championship as a redshirt freshman in 2015 at 125 pounds.
Moore won with an emphatic pin in the first period over Virginia Tech’s Jared Haught. Moore used a barrel roll — a move he said his dad taught him — to seal his win.
“I’ve been doing the same move since I was a little kid, and it’s the one that’s always worked for me,” Moore said. “My dad always told said, ‘Keep the arm, the arm’s the key.’ I got the arm, I got the pin.”
Moore’s father, Jon Moore, was a decorated Ohio high school wrestler and his high school coach.
“My dad just grabbed me after semis and said, ‘You’ve got to take third place for yourself. If you don’t, you’ll regret it.'” Moore said. “It’s what I came here to do today and I got it done.”
Jordan faced off against Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen yet again, and Sorensen was able to take the matchup and push Jordan to fourth place.
Jordan defeated Sorensen 3-2 at Big Ten championships, but was eliminated from the championship bracket by Sorensen Friday, and then lost again — this time 4-0 — in the consolation finals.
Martin also lost to a familiar Big Ten foe: Iowa’s Sammy Brooks. Martin lost his Big Ten championship match to Brooks, then was ousted to the fifth-place match by Brooks at the NCAA tournament.
In that match, however, Martin did not disappoint. Taking on Oklahoma State’s No. 4 Nolan Boyd, Martin was relentless.
Martin scored the first points of the match with a takedown and never relinquished the lead. He went on to beat Boyd 10-6.
The Buckeyes have two more wrestlers competing for NCAA championships Saturday night: No. 3 174-pounder Bo Jordan and No. 1 heavyweight Kyle Snyder. Snyder is appearing in his third championship and looking to win his second, while Bo Jordan is making his first appearance.
Both finals matchups will be rematches of the Big Ten championships at those weights. Snyder will wrestle Wisconsin’s No. 2 Connor Medbery and Bo Jordan will take on Penn State’s No. 5 Mark Hall.
The Buckeyes won both matches at the Big Ten tournament.
Penn State has clinched the team title at the NCAA Wrestling Championships with 122 points, so the best Ohio State can do is finish second. After session five, the Buckeyes are in good position, currently sitting in second place with 106 points. Oklahoma State is in third with 99.
