Ohio State No. 2 senior Kollin Moore celebrates after defeating Michigan’s Jackson Striggow in the 197-pound bout by decision, 12-5. Credit: Sal Marandino | For The Lantern
The No. 6 Ohio State wrestling team (9-1, 5-1 Big Ten) defeated No. 21 Illinois (2-6, 1-5 Big Ten) 23-14 on Friday, and defeated Northwestern (3-7, 1-4 Big Ten) 27-15 on Sunday.
Ohio State seniors Myles Martin and Kollin Moore, the No. 1 wrestlers in the country at 184 pounds and 197 pounds, respectively, remained undefeated after their pair of matches over the weekend.
Martin defeated Illinois redshirt senior Emery Parker, No. 4 wrestler in his class, by an 8-4 decision in a clash of two top 5 wrestlers. Martin defeated Northwestern true freshman Brendan Devine via pin in 42 seconds.
Moore defeated Illinois redshirt senior Andre Lee via pin, and beat Northwestern redshirt junior Zack Chakonis by technical fall 19-4.
Martin and Moore gave Ohio State much needed bonus points without senior Joey McKenna, the No. 2 wrestler in the country at 141 pounds, who missed both games with an undisclosed injury.
Ohio State redshirt sophomore Hunter Lucas had two matches against ranked foes this weekend in Illinois junior Travis Piotrowski and Northwestern redshirt sophomore Sebastian Rivera, the No. 11 and No. 1 at 125 pounds in the country, respectively. Both defeated Lucas this weekend.
Ohio State redshirt senior Micah Jordan, the No. 3 wrestler in the 149-pound class, won in dominant fashion in both duels this weekend, improving his record on the season to 18-1.
Jordan defeated Illinois junior Christian Kanzler by technical fall 27-12 and pinned Northwestern junior Shayne Oster in the first period.
Ohio State redshirt freshman Ethan Smith, the No. 18 wrestler in the country at 174 pounds, won both of his bouts.
Smith defeated Northwestern redshirt senior Johnny Sebastian, No. 16 in the country, by major decision 11-3. Smith won by decision 7-5 over Illinois redshirt junior Carver James, improving his record to 14-5 on the season.
Ohio State redshirt junior Ke-Shawn Hayes, the No. 7 wrestler in the 157-pound weight class, had two ranked foes to face this weekend splitting the matches with a 1-1 record.
Hayes defeated Illinois redshirt junior Eric Barone, No. 8 in the country, 3-1 by decision in a tight match. Northwestern redshirt sophomore Ryan Deakin, No. 3 in the country, defeated Hayes by major decision 8-0 to improve his record to 20-2 on the season.
No. 6 Ohio State will take on No. 1 Penn State at St. John Arena at 8:30 p.m. on Friday .
