Tag: Kaleb Romero

Six Ohio State wrestlers get All-American recognition despite canceled NCAA championships

Ohio State received All-American honors from the NWCA for six wrestlers despite the shortened NCAA Wrestling Championships.

Wrestling has a unique way of determining its All-Americans. It has absolutely nothing to do with what you accomplish during the regular season and tournament championships, and everything to do with where you finish in the NCAA Wrestling Championships at the end of the year.

Well, there’s a slight problem with that this season. Despite seeding everyone, the NCAA Wrestling Tournament got canceled like everything else as a measure to mitigate further spread of the emerging COVID-19 health crisis. Right before all the fun began.

Afterward, head wrestling coach Tom Ryan was very vocal about finding some way to still recognize those that worked so hard and had the ending of their seasons canceled for reasons beyond their control. It was especially important for those seniors that had their careers abruptly stopped.

Ryan has now gotten his wish. In lieu of All-America honors being decided at the COVID-canceled NCAA Championships, the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) has announced its 2020 All-America teams. Six Ohio State student-athletes were recognized for their ‘overall body of work through the conference tournament and up to the national championships.’

Those Buckeyes include Kollin Moore, Luke Pletcher, Kaleb Romero and Sammy Sasso as First Team honorees, while Ethan Smith was placed on the Second Team, and Rocky Jordan came in with an Honorable Mention.

It has to be especially gratifying for seniors Kollin Moore and Luke Pletcher. Without the distinction, they both would have left college without the ability to garner First Team All-American distinction. It’s Moore’s fourth time being recognized as an All-American, and Pletcher’s third.

“During difficult times there are always people who rise to the occasion and I’m proud of the action that the NWCA Division I Leadership Group in providing direction for honoring the 2020 Division I All-American team,” Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director, said. “It’s important that these athletes’ efforts and successes during the season are recognized. Congratulations to each this year’s honorees and National Qualifiers.”

You can get a look at the remainder of the All-Americans thanks to the list provided in the media release below.

NWCA All-America First Team

NWCA All-America Second Team

NWCA All-America Honorable Mention

Well done to Ryan as well in pushing for something like this to happen. And good on the NWCA for listening and doing what’s right in the midst of such a difficult situation.

Can Ohio State qualify ten wrestlers for the NCAA Championships again?

Last year, the Ohio State Buckeyes were the only team in the country to place ten wrestlers in the NCAA Championships. Can they repeat that?

Last year, the Ohio State Buckeyes were the only wrestling team in the country to place ten wrestlers in the NCAA Championships.

That record seems very unlikely to repeat this year, as the Iowa Hawkeyes will almost certainly qualify a full squad for the NCAAs. Additionally, Campbell might be able to pull off that by sweeping the SoCon, and Oklahoma State looks to be competitive in the Big 12 at every weight class, except maybe heavyweight.

However, the big question for the Buckeyes is whether Ohio State can put a full lineup in the NCAAs. And, if they can’t, just how many spots can the Buckeyes earn? Let’s go through the lineup and break it down.

The Locks

141, 149, and 197 pounds

There’s no need to get too into the weeds of the bracket and number of bids at these three weight classes. Luke Pletcher, Sammy Sasso, and Kollin Moore are going to get in the NCAA Championships. Even if all three lose early in the Big Ten Championships, they’re still getting in to the NCAAs. And while Pletcher would obviously like to avenge his loss to Penn State’s Nick Lee in the process, for our purposes right now, we know he’s done enough this season to reach the postseason.

What about the rest of the Buckeyes? Some of them, like Kaleb Romero and Rocky Jordan should have pretty easy paths to the NCAA tournament. Some–like No. 14 seed Jordan Decatur–will have a very challenging path indeed. In a series of articles over the next few days, we will break down the paths and brackets for the other seven Buckeyes in the Big Ten Championships. We will look at how many spots are available for Big Ten wrestlers, and how tough each Buckeye’s path to those spots will be.

For now, let’s just give a quick overview of where the rest of the Buckeyes stand.

Near-Locks

174 pounds: Kaleb Romero
184 pounds: Rocky Jordan

Should make it

165 pounds: Ethan Smith
Heavyweight: Gary Traub

Very difficult path

125 pounds: Malik Heinselman
133 pounds: Jordan Decatur
157 pounds: Elijah Cleary

Ohio State Wrestling solid in close loss to Nebraska

The Ohio State Buckeyes lost a very tight wrestling dual against Nebraska on Sunday, but they looked strong in the process.

If the college wrestling season has taught us anything so far, it’s very likely that the top four teams in the country are all from the Big Ten. Iowa is ahead of everyone with Penn State, Nebraska, and Ohio State just behind them.

It’s no surprise, then, that the dual match between Ohio State and Nebraska went down to the wire. Don’t let the 19-14 final score deceive you. The Buckeyes were in this match until literally the final second.

The dual began at 174 pounds, where Mikey Labriola beat Ohio State’s Kaleb Romero on a last-second takedown to win the battle of Top 10 wrestlers. That match was tight as can be, but there are no ties in wrestling, and someone had to win. There’s no shame or hurt for Romero in not coming out ahead. The same is true for Nebraska’s Taylor Venz, who lost to Rocky Jordan (in another ranked matchup) on a late reversal. After two matches, each team had one win, and the margins in each were razor-thin.

The next match was not as close, as No. 1 Kollin Moore got two early takedowns against No. 10 Eric Schultz and never relinquished the lead. Schultz kept the match close enough to avoid giving bonus points, which is always important. Nebraska followed that with its second win, as Gary Traub couldn’t out-wrestle David Jensen’s size advantage over him.

Nebraska took its second lead of the dual when Malik Heinselman couldn’t make good on any of his attacks, several of which led to points the other way. 125 pounds is quickly becoming Ohio State’s most troublesome weight, as Heinselman hasn’t been able to replicate his form that saw him into the NCAA tournament last year. Jordan Decatur then lost his match at the last second as well, to No. 14 Ridge Lovett. There’s no shame in that, regardless of the team outcome.

Luke Pletcher and Sammy Sasso–who, along with Moore, are Ohio State’s three real National Champion contenders–each earned bonus points with Major Decisions, Sasso’s the courtesy of four back points with just a few seconds remaining. After Peyton Robb beat Quinn Kinner, who moved up from 133 pounds to 157 pounds, the dual would come down to its final match, as the score entering it was 14-14. (Kinner’s move up to 157 pounds is interesting and worth a longer discussion. He’s new to the weight and it showed in his match, but he also seems to have more upside than Elijah Cleary.)

The final match was a good one. Isaiah White is a Top 5 wrestler, and he was just a bit better than Ethan Smith until White injured his ankle. After that, it was a very even match. The 19-14 final score is a product of an ill-advised last-second move by Smith, that got countered into a takedown and pin (Nebraska then lost a team point for storming the mat).

All in all, it was a great dual, and a strong showing by both programs. Each wrestler competed very well against talented (and in almost all cases ranked) wrestlers of the opposition. Nebraska will move up in the rankings after a well-deserved win, but these teams are both clearly very good, and right there behind Iowa and Penn State.

Ohio State defeats Minnesota 22-13 in Top 5 wrestling bout

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes defeated the No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers in one of the most anticipated wrestling duals of the season.

The No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes traveled to Minneapolis to take on the No. 5 Minnesota Golden Gophers in one of the most anticipated wrestling duals of the season so far, and it did not disappoint. The Buckeyes were coming off a 26-10 loss to Iowa on Friday. There’s no shame in that, though, as Iowa is far and away the No. 1 team in the country right now. The Buckeyes showed in Minneapolis on Sunday night that they are not far behind, though.

The dual meet started at 157 pounds, because the 141- and 149-pound matches were expected to be the two best of the night–a decision that obviously turned out to be the correct one. Elijah Clearly of Ohio State couldn’t find a way past the defenses of Ryan Thomas, and lost a very close match. Cleary definitely has potential at 157, though his lack of positive results so far has to be a bit concerning as the season moves on.

Following that, Ethan Smith picked up a Major Decision and a team bonus point with a late takedown, while Kaleb Romero picked up a 2-1 win over Devin Skatzka with a late takedown of his own. The Buckeye came out with an important win in a Top 10 battle, something that will definitely be a big boost to his ranking and eventual NCAA seeding.

184 pounds looked like the potential weak spot in the lineup for Ohio State early in the season, but Rocky Jordan seems to have found his place in the lineup. He lost a very tight battle to No. 18 Owen Webster of Minnesota–getting turned for two back points early in the match was just barely too much to overcome–but the way he fought against a strong ranked wrestler shows that he should be fine for Ohio State in that slot when the NCAA tournament rolls around.

Kollin Moore earned a seemingly-routine Tech Fall to give Ohio State a 12-6 team score lead, and “Gas Tank” Gary Traub managed to keep his heavyweight match against prohibitive No. 1 Gable Steveson to just a Major Decision. At the time, that was big in the team score, though later matches would show it wasn’t quite necessary.

Minnesota took the team lead after Patrick McKee defeated Malik Heinselman at 125 pounds, but the Buckeyes wouldn’t lose another match from there. Jordan Decatur picked up some much-needed momentum with a strong Major Decision victory. Decatur had lost four matches in a row–and while all four were close matches against Top 10 wrestlers, consistently losing is never good for an athlete’s psyche.

No. 1 (141 pounds) Luke Pletcher gave up an early takedown to No. 5 Mitch McKee, but the Buckeye controlled the match from there for a solid victory. And, finally, Sammy Sasso followed his Friday upset of No. 1 Pat Lugo with a victory over No. 4 Brayton Lee, capped by a late takedown for the win.

Next… Season Outlook

Pages: Page 1, Page 2