Ohio State’s Myles Martin wrestles Mitch Bowman in the dual-meet against Iowa on Jan. 21 in the Schottenstein Center. Credit: Jack Westerheide | Managing Editor for Design
The No. 2 Ohio State wrestling team (7-1, 3-1 Big Ten) was defeated by No. 5 Michigan (9-0, 5-0 Big Ten) 19-17 on Friday for its first loss of the season.
Ohio State finished the match with four wins in 10 matches against the undefeated Wolverines.
Ohio State seniors Joey McKenna and Myles Martin, No. 2 and No. 1 at 141 pounds and 184 pounds respectively, remained undefeated after Friday’s match against Michigan, as McKenna and Martin both won by technical fall.
McKenna defeated redshirt sophomore Kanen Storr, the No. 5 wrestler in the weight class, by technical fall 18-3.
After Ohio State fell to a 7-0 deficit, McKenna brought the home crowd back to life, winning the team’s first match.
“I had high expectations for myself going into the match. I knew I was wrestling the No. 5 guy, but I knew my team needed me,” McKenna said. “I tried getting the place riled up and we did, but coach Ryan said there is a lot of work to be done.”
Martin won in dominate fashion 24-9 with a technical fall against Michigan redshirt freshman J.T. Correll. Martin said he is used to playing in front of a big home crowd and was trying to motivate the others.
“For this match, it was more about the team, and I knew my kid wasn’t very good,” Martin said. “I was just trying to get the team going just because I have been here before.”
Ohio State redshirt senior Micah Jordan, the No. 3 wrestler in the country at 149 pounds, won by major decision over Michigan redshirt senior Malik Amine 17-4.
Jordan said winning as an individual is always something he strives for, but he wanted the team to win the duel.
“Being able to win my match against [Michigan] is always awesome,” Jordan said. “I wish we beat them as a team, but that didn’t happen tonight.”
Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan said Martin, Jordan and McKenna were impressive, but he needed more points from the rest of the team.
“These three seniors scored 14 points for us, and we had two techs from two of our seniors, and a four-point major,” Ryan said. “These three guys lead us tonight and it would have been nice to get some help, but we didn’t get it.”
Ohio State redshirt junior Kollin Moore, No. 2 wrestler in the country at 197, remained undefeated and won by decision 12-5 against Michigan redshirt junior Jackson Striggow.
Moore’s victory gave Ohio State a 17-16 lead after nine of 10 bouts, which left Singletary, only needing a victory by decision, to win the duel in the final bout.
“Kollin knew he had to pin the guy, so I think that when a student athlete goes out there and he knows he needs the pin sometimes you don’t focus on the little things you need to do,” Ryan said. “He knew it was a pin or Chase needed the win.”
Ohio State redshirt freshman Chase Singletary, the No. 17 wrestler in the country, lost by a 6-3 decision to Michigan freshman heavyweight Mason Parris leaving Ohio State just short of a team victory.
No. 2 Ohio State will take on Illinois at 9 p.m. on Friday in Champaign, Illinois.
