Wrestling: Ohio State unveils 2017-18 wrestling schedule

Then-sophomore Myles Martin checks the clock as he looks for back-points against Bo Nickal of Penn State on Feb. 3, 2017 at the Schottenstein Center. OSU lost, 32-12. Credit: Nicholas McWilliams | Former Sports Editor

Ohio State wrestling unveiled its 2017-18 schedule Thursday, which includes 14 dual meets and two tournaments.

The reigning Big Ten champion Buckeyes will host six duals during the upcoming season. The competitions will be held in three different cities and four different venues. While St. John Arena is the conventional home for Ohio State wrestling, duals will be hosted at the Schottenstein Center, and at two in-state high schools.

The season will kick off on Nov. 4 when the Buckeyes compete in the Princeton Open, a tournament hosted by Princeton in Princeton, New Jersey.

Ohio State will then host three non-conference foes at St. John Arena, beginning with Arizona State on Nov. 12. Cleveland State and Kent State will visit Columbus to take part in the Thanksgiving Throwdown on Nov. 21.

On Dec. 2-3, the Buckeyes travel west to compete in the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational.

The Big Ten opener against Indiana on Dec. 10 will be hosted by the Buckeyes at Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, the alma mater of Nathan Tomasello, the reigning Big Ten champion at 133 pounds.

Ohio State will have three straight duals on the road before rounding out regular-season conference play with six weekend matches, including a match against Purdue on Jan. 28 at Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio, which produced brothers Bo and Micah Jordan.

Before beginning postseason play in the Big Ten tournament, Ohio State will travel to Raleigh, N.C. for a dual with North Carolina State on either Feb. 16 or 18, with the official date to be announced at a later time.

The Buckeyes will have an opportunity to repeat as conference champions when the Big Ten tournament takes place on March 3-4 in East Lansing, Michigan.

If all goes well for certain Ohio State wrestlers, their season will conclude in their home state as the NCAA championships will be held Mar. 15-17 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.

The season schedule will see Ohio State face seven schools that finished in the top-20 at the 2017 NCAA championships.

Ohio State will return a wealth of talent from its 2016-17 roster, including two-time defending national champion heavyweight Kyle Snyder. Returning along with Snyder will be the Jordan brothers, Tomasello, Kollin Moore and Myles Martin.

Bo, the elder brother, is the defending Big Ten champion at 174 pounds. Micah, a redshirt junior, finished as a runner-up at 149 pounds in the Big Ten last season. Moore was the reigning champion at 197 pounds, while Martin won the NCAA championship as a freshman in 2016 at 174 pounds.

Schedule: