Tag: Ohio State Wrestling

Ohio State wrestler Jesse Mendez wins Big Ten Championship

A bit of an unexpected Big Ten title for Mendez over the No. 1 seed! #GoBucks

One of the Ohio State wrestlers is bringing home a Big Ten Championship at the 141 lb. weight class. Jesse Mendez, the No. 2 seed, sprung an upset of No. 1 seed Beau Bartlett of Penn State to take home the title, with a 4-1 decision in dramatic fashion.

The entire match was basically a stale mate with both wrestlers getting one point for an escape until Mendez was able to get a very late take down with a urgent move that seemed to surprise the undefeated Nittany Lions’ grappler. It was so late in the contest that Bartlett had little to no chance of making up the differential and Mendez held on easily to win his first Big Ten championship.

Mendez will now head to nationals to try and bring home the biggest prize of a national championship. Congrats are very much in order.

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Jesse Mendez, Nick Feldman to wrestle for Big Ten title Sunday

Let’s cheer on these two Buckeyes that have a shot at a Big Ten title on the mat Sunday. #GoBucks

It hasn’t been a banner performance for the Ohio State wrestling team at the Big Ten Championships, but the team does have two wrestlers that will be competing for a Big Ten title on Sunday

At 141 lbs., No. 2 seed Jesse Mendez took care of business with a  6-3 win over No. 3 seed Real Woods of Iowa thanks in large part to a last second take down. He will face No. 1 seed Beau Bartlett of Penn State.

In the heavyweight class, redshirt Nick Feldman took down Michigan’s Lucas Davison 8-6 as the No. 2 seed over No. 3. He will take on No. 1 seed Greg Kerkvliet, also of Penn State.

Both matches are set to take place during session IV at 4:30 PM ET. As a team, Ohio State sits in fifth place with a chance to make up some ground with several matches on Sunday.

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Ohio State wrestling falls to No. 1 Penn State

In case you missed it, it was just too much Penn State. #GoBucks

There was hope for the young Ohio State wrestling team to pull off the shocker, but in the end, there was just too much talent on the mat for No. 1 Penn State in a 28-9 loss for the Buckeyes.

Ohio State got just two of the ten victories in the dual-meet set up, a 12-10 decision at at 141 pounds for Nic Bouzakis, and then a pin for Ryder Rogotzke at 184 pounds. Penn State controlled the rest of the meet and was never really threatened, winning five decisions, getting two major decisions, and one technical fall.

It was the first Big Ten loss for the No. 6 ranked OSU wrestlers and continued quite the run for the Penn State program who is currently on a two-year national title streak and looks like the team to beat again this year.

Ohio State must now pick itself up and get ready to face No. 14 Rutgers in Piscataway, New Jersey on Sunday.

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Ohio State heavyweight Nick Feldman named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week

After a thrilling and dramatic upset win last weekend, OSU’s Nick Feldman received this Big Ten honor. #GoBucks

What a week it was for the Ohio State wrestling team. Down quite a few key players going into a matchup with Michigan, the Buckeyes fell down by ten points in the dual-meet on two separate occasions only to battle back and force a winner-take-all final heavyweight match between OSU’s Nick Feldman and Michigan’s No. 4 ranked Lucas Davison.

It was a close battle, but Feldman got a late takedown to pull off the 4-3 upset and give the Buckeyes a 20-19 dual-meet win over arch-rival Michigan this past weekend.

And now, for all of his efforts, Feldman was named the Big Ten’s Wrestler of the Week on Tuesday. It’s the fourth time this season a wrestler wearing a Scarlet and Gray singlet took home the weekly award.

Things get very difficult for the 12-1 Buckeyes on Friday as they travel to Happy Valley to take on No. 1 Penn State Friday. They’ll need the same type of effort and more to have any shot of staying with the best program in America right now.

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Ohio State wrestling knocks off Michigan in come-from-behind match

A thrilling and dramatic victory over TTUN! #GoBucks

Things didn’t look so great for the young Ohio State wrestling team at times on Friday night vs. No. 11 Michigan. Twice, the Buckeyes, who were without three of their starters, fell down by ten points. Twice, the scarlet and gray got up off the mat literally and figuratively to reel the Wolverines back in.

Michigan jumped out to a quick 9-0 lead by winning its first two matches at 125 and 133 lbs., but then OSU got on the board thanks to a forfeit at 141 pounds that gave No. 3 ranked Jesse Mendez a 6-0 victory. The Wolverines would bounce back however by winning the next two matches, a 17-6 decision at 149 lbs. and a 5-2 victory at 157 lbs., and just like that the Buckeyes were down 16-6.

Bryce Hepner would close the gap with a 12-10 decision at 165 lbs. to make it 16-9, but then Michigan would almost put things away by winning the 174 lb. matchup 2-1 to again go up by ten with a score of 19-9. From there, Ohio State would have to pull off some magic with two of the last three matches being against higher ranked and favored matchups.

Ohio State got it done though, first at 184 lbs. when Ryder Rogotzge defeated No. 15 Jaden Bullock by technical fall to cut the score to 19-14. That was followed by OSU’s Luke Geog holding serve at 197 lbs. to tighten things up at a 19-17 Michigan advantage with just the heavyweights to go.

No. 16 Luke Feldman was a heavy underdog against No. 4 Lucas Davison, but he found a way with a late takedown to pull off the shocking 4-3 decision to give the Buckeyes a 20-19 dual-meet win.

The win keeps Ohio State undefeated in the conference at 4-0 and improves its overall record to 12-1. The Buckeyes have the daunting task of taking on No. 1 Penn State next weekend.

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How to watch No. 6 Ohio State wrestling at 2023 Midlands Championships

Want to watch #Buckeyes wrestling compete against the best in the country? The two-day 2023 Midlands Championships will be streamed live on B1G+.

Get ready for collegiate wrestling action on Friday, Dec. 29, and Saturday, Dec. 30 at the 2023 Midlands Championships, featuring the No. 6 Ohio State Buckeyes.

The 59th annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, set to take place at the NOW Arena in Hoffmann Estates, Ill, will include competitors from 13 ranked teams in the Intermat’s top 30 including No. 3 Missouri, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 9 Virginia Tech, No. 10 Michigan, No. 14 Rutgers, No. 16 Oregon State, No. 17 Pitt, No. 19 Arizona state, No. 20 Penn,  No. 23 West Virginia, No. 24 Illinois, No. 28 Lehigh and No. 30 Wisconsin.

If you’re wondering how you can watch the action live, you’ve come to the right place. Big Ten Network veteran wrestling broadcasters Shane Sparks and Jim Gibbons will anchor the Midlands Championships coverage on B1G+.

[afflinkbutton text=”Watch Ohio State at the 2023 Midlands Championships” link=”https://bit.ly/MidlandsSession3″]

Midlands Championships Schedule

Date Session Time (EST) How to watch
Fri, Dec. 29 Session 1 10:30 a.m. Watch Session 1
Fri, Dec. 29 Session 2 8 p.m. Watch Session 2
Sat, Dec. 30 Session 3 12 p.m. Watch Session 3
Sat, Dec. 30 Session 4 7:05 p.m. Watch Session 4

For the first two sessions on Dec. 29, B1G+ will feature 10 individual mat cameras along with whip-around coverage focused on the best action at a given moment.

On Dec. 30, B1G+ will once again be home to individual mat cameras for both the men’s and women’s divisions in sessions three and four, along with the whip-around feed.

The Buckeyes have won one men’s wrestling national championship, in 2015, while finishing as the national runners up five times, including three consecutive years from 2017-2019. Earlier this year, Ohio State took down then ranked-No. 5 Virginia Tech 24-12 in the season opener.

[afflinkbutton text=”Stream Ohio State wrestling on B1G+” link=”https://bit.ly/MidlandsSession3″]

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Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso shot, recovering from non-threatening injuries

Here’s wishing Sasso a speedy recovery from such a senseless act. #GoBucks

Ohio State wrestler, Sammy Sasso, is recovering from being shot on Friday evening according to a statement from the Ohio State Department of Athletics.  A two-time Big Ten wrestling champion and two-time NCAA runner up, Sasso was a fifth-year senior last season.

“Ohio State student-athlete Sammy Sasso was the victim of a senseless shooting incident Friday evening in Columbus,” an OSU statement read. “Sasso was transported to The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center (WMC), where he is continuing to be cared for and monitored. Our coaching staff, along with members of the wrestling program and Athletics administrators, are grateful for the caregivers at WMC, thankful Sasso’s injuries are not life-threatening, and are supporting Sasso and his family. OSUPD is assisting Columbus Police with the ongoing investigation.”

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Sasso, and his friends and family. Hopefully, he continues to make a speedy recovery and gets back to competing on the mat post college career.

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Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter), and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes, and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.

Ohio State wrestler, Nic Bouzakis, takes gold at U20 Pan-Am Games

It’s everyone’s favorite color of medal for a Buckeye wrestler at the U20 Pan-Am Games. #GoBucks

Ohio State redshirt freshman wrestler, Nic Bouzakis, took home a gold medal at the U20 Pan-Am Games in Chile on Saturday.

Bouzakis was competing in the 61kg weight class and finished off five impressive victories for Team USA to have the hardware placed around his neck. He won three matches in the morning session, one by way of pin, then won by scores of 12-1 and 10-0 for a spot in the semifinals.

From there, Bouzakis won 10-0 for a shot at the title, where he won decisively, 14-4, for the Gold.

Here’s a recap of the matches:

  • WIN – FALL (4-0) over Blayne Helou (CAN)
  • WIN – 12-1 over Eli Kirk (PUR)
  • WIN – 10-0 over Enrique Herrera (PER)
  • WIN – 10-0 over Joao Da Silva (BRA)
  • WIN – 14-4 over Enrique Herrera (PER)

Congrats to a Buckeye we should see plenty of during the next few years wrestling in the scarlet and gray and hopefully taking home even more hardware.

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Sammy Sasso finishes in second place at NCAA Wrestling Championships

Still a great career for Sammy Sasso! #GoBucks

Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso gave all he could but came up just a little short in the national championship match on Saturday at the NCAA Wrestling Championships, losing to No. 1 seed, Yianni Diakomihalis, of Cornell Saturday at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

It was a close one. Neither wrestler was able to score any points in the first period, but Diakomihalis got the first two points with a reversal after starting out the second period down to go up 2-0. Sasso was able to record a point on an escape to close the gap to 2-1, but Diakomihalis was able to score two more points on a takedown to extend the lead to 4-2.

Sasso had a late charge and tried to score late, but his attempts were rebuffed by the three-time defending national champion Diakomiahlis and that’s how things ended.

With the result, Sasso finishes the year with a 29-4 record with a Big Ten Championship, and became an All-American for the fourth-straight year.

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Five Ohio State wrestlers earn All-American status

Not a bad showing at all for the wrestling Buckeyes! #GoBucks

It hasn’t been the year Ohio State wrestling wanted on the mat, but there have been some bright spots. Finishing fourth in the regular season and fourth in the Big Ten championships wasn’t horrible, but wasn’t the level we’ve been accustomed to either.

But now, the Buckeyes are makings some noise in the NCAA Championships. The team currently sits in the No. 4 spot, with five wrestlers earning the title of All-American by way of finishing in the top eight in their weight class.

If the Buckeyes can reamain in fourth place or better, it’ll be a podium finish and a great end to the season. And with a young nucleus back, it could be a spring board to 2023-2024.

Here are the five Ohio State All-Americans for this season.

  1. Jesse Mendez at 133 lbs.
  2. Dylan D’Emilio at 141 lbs.
  3. Sammy Sasso at 149 lbs.
  4. Ethan Smith at 174 lbs.
  5. Kaleb Romero at 184 lbs.

Only Sasso is alive for a naitional title, but it’s still an impressive showing for Ohio State when most of the experts likely counted the team out of a posium finish.

We’ll have the ending of where each of these All-Americans finish when the competitions are complete this weekend.

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