Sophomore wrestler Jesse Mendez waves to the crowd while being honored during the Ohio State-Georgia game at the Schottesnstein Center Tuesday. Credit: Caleb Blake | Photo Editor
After almost six years, Jesse Mendez broke Ohio State wrestling’s drought by winning an NCAA championship.
On Saturday, the Buckeyes’ true sophomore and 141-pounder entered the T-Mobile Center hopeful and left Kansas City, Missouri, a champion.
Mendez’s victory marks the first individual national title win for Ohio State since its former heavyweight wrestler Kyle Snyder in 2018, who won three consecutive NCAA titles.
“If you want to be the national champion, even if you are not that guy yet, you have to walk like you were that guy and act as if you were him,” Mendez said. “The first moment I stepped on campus I said I was going to be a national champion. If you don’t act that way, you will never be a champion.”
As the No. 1 seed in his weight class, Mendez defeated Penn State’s No. 2-ranked Beau Bartlett 4-1, which was topped by a decisive takedown in the last period, to take home the title.
Mendez registered a 30-2 record in his championship season, including six fall victories, 10 technical falls and five major decision wins.
Rocco Welsh, a true freshman who forewent his redshirt year and had a convincing 26-6 season, said having Mendez as a teammate is inspiring.
“He’s only a true sophomore, but after practice and stuff he’s giving tips, talking to us like he’s another coach and that’s awesome,” Welsh said. “We all look up to him and seeing him win a national title is kind of like, dang, we can all do this if we work like him.”
Mendez’s season started Nov. 10, 2023, with an 18-3 technical fall win over then-No. 3 Virginia Tech’s freshman Hunter Mason, topped by three takedowns and two near falls.
Already ranked, then-No. 5 Mendez needed just over a minute to pin unranked Anthony Ferraro of Edinboro to add 6 points to the team score in head coach Tom Ryan’s 200 win at Ohio State Nov. 12, 2023.
Following a bye week for him against Columbia and Hofstra in the New York tour, Mendez returned to action in the then-No. 5-Buckeyes’ upset to then-No. 18 Pittsburgh Dec. 10, 2023. The national champion faced his first loss, 4-2, against redshirt senior Cole Matthews, topped by a last-minute decisive takedown.
Nine days later in the Collegiate Duals, where then-No. 8-Ohio State won the title, Mendez defeated then-No. 9 Cael Happel of then-No. 21 Northern Iowa by 4-2, decided by an early escape point and a takedown in the last period.
In the second dual meet against Lock Haven Dec. 19, 2023, Mendez’s 19-3 technical fall win over Zack Zeamer put Ohio State on the board after losing the 125- and 133-pound matches.
Next up that day, then-No. 3 Mendez pinned then-No. 4 Ryan Jack of No. 4-ranked North Carolina State for an 18-0 lead in the Buckeyes’ favor.
Two weeks later on Jan. 5, Mendez’s 14-4 major decision win over then-No. 17 Vince Cornella extended Ohio State’s lead over then-No. 8 Cornell for a tight 21-0 victory at the Covelli Center.
Then came Big Ten competition in which Mendez and the Buckeyes cruised through their first four duals, including wins over then-No. 25 Illinois, Maryland, then-No. 17 Wisconsin and Michigan.
In its visit to then-No. 1 Penn State Feb. 2, then-No. 3 Mendez had his second loss of the season against then-No. 2 Bartlett by 4-1 in sudden victory, topped by a controversial takedown, where the Buckeyes fell short by 28-9. Mendez then got the best of Bartlett to become a national champion Saturday.
In the 22-12 victory against then-No. 14 Rutgers Feb. 4, Mendez picked himself up by gaining another season victory against then-No. 20 Mitch Moore due to a 5-0 regular decision.
Then-No. 6 Ohio State cruised to a 32-6 win over Indiana in its last dual meet at home and then-No. 3 Mendez defeated then-No. 19 Danny Fongaro 19-6, topped by five takedowns.
Mendez closed the regular season with a 19-2 technical fall win over Michigan State’s then-No. 27 Jordan Hamdan, where then-No. 7 Ohio State beat the hosts 38-7.
Heading to the Big Ten tournament at Xfinity Center in University Park, Maryland, March 9 and 10, No. 2-ranked Mendez went undefeated and earned the Big Ten title, where he had revenge against then-No. 1 Bartlett of Penn State in the finals — for the first time — and took his No. 1 ranking.
“I’ve never felt anything like that, so it’s hard to put into words,” Mendez said. “[I] just look back and see all the hours I put in since I was 8 years old.”
The gold medal winner defeated Bartlett 4-1 after a decisive takedown in the last period. Prior to that, Mendez took over then-No. 3 senior Real Woods of Iowa by 6-3 to earn a spot in the finals.
Head coach Tom Ryan praised Mendez for his ability to win in any way he can.
“In each of his big matches, we saw him winning with something different,” Ryan said. “His late match win was incredible; you don’t get to see that very often. He’s been progressing in many ways.”
Mendez went on to capitalize on his successful season by becoming the 24th NCAA individual champion in Ohio State program history. He said it felt incredible to have achieved a goal he’d been striving toward for so long.
“This is a goal I set up at a young age,” Mendez said. “It is a feeling I can’t describe and I can’t be more grateful for the people who are around me.”
