Ohio State junior wrestler Malik Heinselman looks for an opening to shoot during the Ohio State-Rutgers match on Jan. 24. Ohio State won 19-14. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
Ohio State junior Malik Heinselman is doing away with his old, worn gray attire and exchanging it for brand-new black apparel that represents his acclaimed status as a Buckeye wrestler.
Only wrestlers deserving of elite recognition for their performance and leadership on the mat and in the classroom are bestowed a “black shirt” and are allowed to wear black inside of the Jennings Wrestling Facility. Heinselman is the sixth black shirt in program history, following in the footsteps of former Ohio State wrestlers Kolin Moore and Luke Pletcher, and teammates redshirt sophomore Sammy Sasso, and redshirt juniors Kaleb Romero and Ethan Smith.
“The black shirt is the representation of the total effort of the student-athletes on our team,” Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan said. “In every category, Malik was a black shirt.”
Romero said to become a black shirt the coaching staff and current black shirts must unanimously vote to nominate a wrestler.
“It’s really awesome to see Malik become a black shirt because he works so hard and he’s probably one of the hardest workers in the room,” Romero said. “We’re really happy for him, and we can’t wait to see him continue to grow each day and keep getting better.”
When it comes to performance on the mat, Heinselman said being a black shirt means pouring both heart and soul on the mat and working as hard as you can in practice and competition.
“I think that’s what I’ve been doing this season,” Heinselman said. “Every match, whether I’m winning or losing, it doesn’t really matter as long as I put 100 percent in.”
Because of his efforts, Heinselman has seen success against his competition this year. He started the season with five straight victories, three by decision, one by major decision and another by pin.
Heinselman’s first four wins came against opponents who had beaten him in the past, prompting the Ohio State wrestling Twitter account to nickname this season his “revenge tour.” The victories also provided another reason for him to earn a black shirt.
“The main reason he got it this year is that he’s avenged a couple of losses,” Ryan said. “We’ve seen a transformation. There was nothing necessarily wrong, but we needed more grit and more belief, and we’re seeing that now, and that’s why he got the black shirt.”
Heinselman said that the biggest transformation this season has been in his preparation. Over the summer, he worked with Sasso and personal trainers to get stronger, which has changed his performance and his mentality.
“My biggest things were making sure I was at the weight this year and that when I wrestled I started having fun with it,” Heinselman said. “Once I started having fun with it, I started growing more, and what’s been shown this season so far is that I started having fun again.”
In the classroom, Heinselman has excelled as a finance major. In his first two years as a Buckeye, he was a two-time NWCA Academic All-American, a two-time Ohio State Scholar-Athlete and named Academic All-Big Ten once.
After wrestling, Heinselman said he is unclear about which career he wants to pursue in the future, but he enjoys working with numbers and statistics.
As for Heinselman’s time on the mat, he said he just wants to continue to improve.
Heinselman suffered his first loss in a hard-fought battle with Purdue redshirt senior Devin Schroder Feb. 7. Schroder earned the only point of the match from a release to win a 1-0 decision.
Heinselman bounced back against Michigan Friday to get to 6-1 on the season and will finish the regular season with a dual meet against Penn State.
From there, Heinselman will compete in the Big Ten Championships where he finished ninth as a freshman and seventh as a sophomore. Then, Heinselman will seek individual and team success when the Buckeyes travel to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis.
