Ohio State redshirt senior Ethan Smith wrestles against sophomore Thomas Schmitt during the Ohio State-Notre Dame College match Nov. 23, 2021. Ohio State won 51-0. Credit: Casey Smith | Assistant LTV Sports Producer
No. 8 Ohio State wrestling traveled to Penn State to take on the No. 1 Nittany Lions, falling 32-7 Friday.
Starting the night was No. 10 senior 125-pounder Malik Heinselman against Penn State’s No. 6 senior Drew Hildebrandt. Hildebrandt scored off an escape in the second period, giving him the 1-0 lead. In the third period, Hildebrandt secured riding time, leading to a 2-0 victory by way of decision.
Following the close match between Heinselman and Hildebrandt, redshirt junior Brady Koontz wrestled against the reigning 2021 NCAA champion, No. 1 senior Roman Bravo-Young. Bravo-Young scored multiple takedowns in the first period, giving him the 6-2 lead entering the second period. Early in the third period, Bravo-Young won by fall.
No. 20 redshirt sophomore 141-pounder Dylan D’Emilio also faced the reigning NCAA champion in his weight class, No. 1 senior Nick Lee. Lee pulled away in the third period, winning by way of Major Decision with a final score of 13-3.
No. 2 redshirt junior Sammy Sasso faced off against No. 18 sophomore Beau Bartlett in the 149-pound weight class. With an escape early in the second period, Sasso jumped in front. With a minute left in the third period, Bartlett scored a takedown off a reversal, making him lead 2-1. After an escape by Sasso, he also scored a takedown with only 7 seconds remaining, propelling him to a thrilling win by decision, 4-2.
After a last-second win by Sasso, sophomore 157-pounder Isaac Wilcox made his Big Ten debut, squaring off against sophomore Terrell Barraclough of Penn State in a match that went to sudden victory. With little time remaining in sudden victory, Barraclough scored a takedown, giving him the win with a final score of 4-2.
In the 165-pound weight class, redshirt junior Kevon Freeman also fell 2-0 in sudden victory, after a scoreless first three periods against junior Creighton Edsall.
No. 7 redshirt senior Ethan Smith got the Buckeyes back in the win column with a 15-5 victory over junior Mason Manville in the 174-pound weight class.
The Buckeyes couldn’t sustain that success for long, as redshirt junior 184-pounder Rocky Jordan fell 4-1 by fall to reigning NCAA champion junior Aaron Brooks.
The losing continued as redshirt junior Gavin Hoffman couldn’t unseat No. 2 junior Max Dean in sudden victory in the 197-pound weight class. Dean took the win with a takedown to push the score to 5-3.
The final match of the day saw No. 13 redshirt senior heavyweight Tate Orndorff fall 10-2 to No. 5 sophomore Greg Kervliet.
The Buckeyes are now sitting at 6-3 with another dual meet at Rutgers scheduled for Sunday. The meet will be streamed on Big Ten Network Plus.
