Senior wrestler Sammy Sasso won Best Male Athlete in the “Best of OSU” Instagram poll done by The Lantern.
Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics
A “once-in-a-career athlete.”
Those were the words Sammy Sasso’s high school wrestling coach Dave Crowell used to describe him.
He knew this about Sasso before he became a two-time Big Ten Champion or four-time collegiate All-American. He knew Sasso would be a success after watching him step on the mat for the first time — a mat that became his second home.
Sasso grew up in wrestling country, otherwise known as Nazareth, Pennsylvania, located on the east side of the state — the Lehigh Valley area. Crowell said here, wrestling is of incredible importance and the youth program that Sasso spent years in, the Valley Elementary Wrestling League, is well organized and competitive.
Sasso stepped on the mat for the league at first chance until he reached high school and aged out of the program.
“It’s interesting, Sammy, though he started wrestling young — he was probably in kindergarten or first grade when he started — he wasn’t even a starter on our youth team until fifth grade,” Crowell said.
Crowell said he and Sasso got to know each other well — quickly — and on a deep level once he entered his program the summer before ninth grade.
“He’d really gotten quite good by the time his eighth-grade year was over,” Crowell said. “And then you start to get into those deeper things about what kind of person you want to be [and] how you succeed.”
Crowell said Sasso didn’t win every match his freshman year, 2014-15. Sasso was the “young guy on the block” and probably just wanted to “survive” in a strenuous wrestling world, he added.
In 2015, Sasso won the USA Wrestling Cadet Freestyle Nationals at 132 pounds and was a finalist for the Cadet World Team Trials. The following year, Sasso was the 2016 Walsh Jesuit Ironman Champion in his weight class, the 138-pound winner in the Super 32 tournament as well as a Beast of the East Championship.
It wasn’t his medals and 180-11 high school record that set him apart in Crowell’s eyes, though.
Sasso’s leadership, character and who he is as a teammate make him different from other wrestlers Crowell has coached, he said.
“By the time he was a senior, he was very possibly the best leader I’ve had in 39 years of coaching,” Crowell said. “He developed into just one of those kids that could be once-in-a-career kind of a kid. Not just his accomplishments, but the way he did what he did. So it’s one thing being a good wrestler, but it’s another thing being a great teammate.”
When it came time for Sasso to begin the college recruitment process, Crowell said he tried to stay on the sidelines and let him make his own decision. However, Crowell and Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan had been good friends since Ryan’s coaching days at Hofstra, 1995 to 2006, and Ryan was well aware of Sasso.
“Sammy was a huge target for the program,” Ryan said. “Crowell really helped guide me in the type of person that he is. And as soon as we met Sammy, and talked to his teammates, I realized that this is a guy that would be a great leader at Ohio State.”
Sasso announced his commitment to the Buckeyes Oct. 22, 2017, via Twitter, now called X.
During his freshman season, Sasso took a redshirt. Even then, Ryan said he was a vocal leader on the Ohio State team, so when his sophomore season rolled around, he stepped into a bigger role, both in leadership and on the mat.
That year, Sasso went 9-0 in Big Ten duals, 12-3 against opponents ranked in the top 25 and entered the NCAA tournament as the third seed at 149 pounds, which was canceled due to COVID-19.
In 2021, Sasso was the No. 1 seed going into the NCAA tournament but came up short against the University of North Carolina’s Austin O’Connor. Crowell said he doesn’t get to attend many of Sasso’s meets because of their conflicting wrestling schedules, but he was at that one.
Crowell said he was sitting with his own thoughts after experiencing Sasso’s “heartbreaking” loss when he felt a tap on his shoulder.
“I get choked up now thinking about it,” Crowell said. “It was Sammy. He found his way up to my suite and he tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around, I was kind of shocked to see him, and we never said a word. We just hugged, and I had never seen him cry before.”
In his four seasons as a Buckeye, five including his redshirt year when he went 19-2, Sasso qualified for the NCAA tournament four times, is a four-time All-American and holds a perfect 34-0 record in the Big Ten.
Crowell said Sasso has “exceeded his expectations,” but Sasso told Crowell he has one more job to do: become a national champion.
However, tragedy struck on the night of Aug. 18 when Sasso was shot in the abdomen by two teen suspects in Columbus’ university area.
After police arrived on the scene, Sasso was rushed to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center where he underwent emergency colon reconstruction surgery. The next morning, Sasso had a second surgery to remove the bullet that was lodged in his spine, however, it had already caused severe nerve damage, according to a GoFundMe started by his family.
Ryan was sitting at a friend’s home for dinner when he got a text, then a call, from Ohio State executive associate athletic director Carey Hoyt that said, “Please call me right away.”
“I remember that incident like I remember other tragedies not only in my life but in the history of my life,” Ryan said. “She said Sammy was shot, and it’s surreal. Right, it’s the unthinkable, and right away, I got some information on where he was and I left our friend’s and just went right to the hospital.”
After three days in the intensive care unit, Sasso spent some time in an acute care unit, according to the GoFundMe. While in the hospital, Ryan said his teammates fluctuated in and out to visit him, and so did potential future Ohio State wrestlers.
Ryan said the wrestling program had several “really big” recruits come to town while Sasso was in the hospital, and he was adamant about spending time with them, which “captures his essence.”
“He said to them before they were leaving, he said, ‘I got all cleaned up for this meeting. I couldn’t wait to meet you guys, and thank you,’” Ryan said. “He said, ‘I even shaved and did my hair for you guys.’”
Forty-one days after the shooting, Sasso was discharged from the hospital and his first stop was none other than the Jennings Wrestling Facility, according to his X, formerly Twitter, post. Ryan said Sasso is in great spirits and attends practice frequently.
Crowell, who visited Sasso last week, said he relies on crutches to move around as there is still severe nerve damage in his left leg. Sasso told Crowell that he could have a complete recovery, or he may never, but Crowell said, knowing him, he’ll “fight his way through it.”
Sasso is currently unenrolled from the university according to Dan Wallenberg, wrestling’s sports information director, but told Ryan that he has every intention of returning to the mat in 2024-25 for his final year of eligibility, with hopes of winning the NCAA tournament.
“There’ll be plenty of things in the record books that he will be remembered for, but there’s far more things not in the record books,” Ryan said. “His words of encouragement — sometimes challenging words of encouragement — I think he’s touched a lot of lives. I think that’s not measurable in X’s and O’s.”
