Ohio State wrestling head coach Tom Ryan raises his fist after sophomore Gavin Hoffmann won his match during the Ohio State-Rutgers matchup on Jan. 24. Ohio State won 19-14. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor
After the coronavirus dashed Ohio State wrestling’s national title hopes last year, the team will return to the NCAA Championships in St. Louis Thursday, looking to avenge a runner-up finish from two seasons ago.
Seven Ohio State wrestlers are poised to make a run for individual titles, with redshirt sophomore Sammy Sasso leading the pack. His undefeated regular-season record and title-winning performance at the Big Ten Championships earned him the No. 1 seed at 149 pounds.
Sasso said he prides himself in his preparation, but at the NCAA Championships, so does everyone else. Being ready for each wrestler’s best performance will be crucial to his success at the tournament.
“I’m focused on me and what I do best and making sure I’m prepared, so it doesn’t really matter who’s out there,” Sasso said. “They’re gonna fight hard because they want to win too, and they don’t care if I’m the one seed.”
Ohio State redshirt junior Ethan Smith, the No. 7 seed at 165 pounds, enters the tournament with an 11-2 record after a second-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
After a season-opening loss to Illinois, Smith carried 11-consecutive victories into his title bout with top-ranked Iowa senior Alex Marinelli. Both wrestlers fought to the final buzzer, with Marinelli escaping with a 3-2 decision.
Smith said winning an individual Big Ten title was the goal, but the loss has better prepared him for the national tournament, and he will use the narrow defeat as motivation. The championship defeat only pushed him to become a better wrestler, he said.
Smith faced six ranked wrestlers this season, finishing with a 4-2 record in those matches. Like Marinelli, he said each opponent challenged him to improve, and he will carry that forward into the NCAA Championships.
“I belong with these top guys, and I can scrap with any of them,” Smith said. “I wrestled tough at Big Tens — some of the matches weren’t perfect — but I just wrestled tough for seven minutes, and that’s all I’m asking myself going into nationals.”
Ohio State redshirt junior Kaleb Romero missed time to injury this season, but a 9-4 record and a fifth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships earned him the No. 7 seed at 174 pounds.
Romero will face No. 17 Rutgers sophomore Jackson Turley in the national tournament’s first round. In the Buckeyes’ dual meet with the Scarlet Knights, Turley pinned redshirt junior Zach Steiner in the second round.
After a fourth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships, Ohio State junior Malik Heinselman earned the No. 10 seed at 125 pounds. He will square off with No. 23 Penn State freshman Robert Howard, an opponent he beat 5-2 earlier this season.
As a 285-pound heavyweight, Ohio State redshirt junior Tate Orndorff lost a fifth-place match to Nebraska senior Christian Lance at the Big Ten tournament. Still, Orndorff’s regular-season resume allowed for an automatic bid to the NCAA Championships.
Ohio State redshirt freshman Dylan D’Emilio and redshirt junior Rocky Jordan earned at-large bids to the national tournament.
D’Emilio said assistant coach J Jaggers told him of his selection into the tournament. However, there wasn’t a big celebration, the idea was to carry forth with business as usual.
“Midway through practice, Jaggers told me from across the room, and that was that,” D’Emilio said.
Jaggers said the interaction aligns with the high expectations for the Ohio State wrestling program. When wrestlers make the tournament, it’s not a time for celebration; instead, he said it’s time to work harder.
“There wasn’t much to it,” Jaggers said. “We were showing technique at the time, so wasn’t wrestling, and I grabbed him and told him, ‘You’re good.’”
The Buckeyes did not meet pre-season expectations, finishing with a 5-4 record and a ninth-place finish at the Big Ten Championships.
For Ohio State to hoist a trophy, Jaggers said each wrestler needs to fight for every point.
“Every guy on our team right now is gonna have to fight tooth and nail for everything they want this weekend, and that’s what we expect from them,” Jaggers said. “If they do that, I think we’ll be fine.”
The NCAA Championships will occur in St. Louis and will be streamed on ESPN networks, with matches beginning Thursday morning and running through Saturday night.
