Tag: Ohio State Wrestling

Sammy Sasso wins Big Ten Championship at 149-pounds

Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso took home the Big Ten Championship at 149-pounds on Sunday, the only Buckeye to get the trophy.

Ohio State wrestler Sammy Sasso has taken home the Big Ten Championship at 149-pounds, and he had to do it in come from behind fashion against No. 7 seed, Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett.

Lovett got on the board first with a takedown in the first period, but Sasso quickly escaped to make the score 2-1. Sasso went on the offensive just before the first period ended with a takedown of his own to take the lead 3-2.

As he has throughout his brief career, Sasso was a Houdini throughout, scrambling and fighting in close-quarters throughout. He would not relinquish the lead from there, but did score again with a reversal for the final margin of 5-2.

No other Ohio State wrestler was able to win a league individual title, but Ethan Smith did finish as the runner-up at 165-pounds. Sasso will now go into the NCAA’s as the likely No. 1 overall seed. The journey is not yet over.

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Ohio State wrestling drops close decision to Michigan

The Ohio State wrestling team fell in a close one to arch-rival Michigan in Ann Arbor Friday night.

The Ohio State wrestling team suffered its third loss of the season Friday night in a dual-meet with arch-rival Michigan. It was a top-ten matchup and one that came down to the final match that was decided by riding time. It was a thrilling back-and-forth affair, but one the Buckeyes came out on the short end of 18-16 in Ann Arbor for the first time since 2007.

Things started well for Ohio State when Ethan Smith took down No. 23 Cameron Amine in the 165-pound match. Smith had a late third-period takedown then survived by riding things out to set the tone early.

Michigan took a 4-3 team lead after the 174-pound match, but then Rocky Jordan got a major decision at 184-pounds to give OSU the momentum and a 7-4 lead. The Wolverines would rebound to win the next two matches at 194-pounds and heavyweight to take a 12-7 lead at the halfway mark.

That would set the stage for a classic second half.

Malik Heinselman would get Ohio State going again with a 3-1 decision to close the team score to 12-10, but the Wolverines would rebound right back with a 6-4 decision at 133-pounds. The Buckeyes would then take the next two with Dylan D’Emilio and Sammy Sasso taking care of business at 141 and 149 pounds respectfully, and suddenly the Buckeyes were poised for the upset, up 16-15 with just the 157-pound drama to unfold.

With the loss, OSU drops to 5-3, while Michigan improves to 4-0 coming out of its two-week pause because of COVID-19.

Ohio State will next be in action against Penn State in Columbus next Friday. It’ll be the Buckeyes’ last dual-meet of the season and be carried live by the Big Ten Network.

 

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Former Ohio State wrestler Kevin Randleman to be inducted into UFC Hall of Fame

Former Ohio State wrestler Kevin Randleman will be inducted into Pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame.

Former Ohio State and three-time NCAA wrestling All-American Kevin Randleman will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. The announcement came Saturday night during the UFC’s Fight Night 176.

Randleman wrestled for Ohio State from 1991-1993. He won the Big Ten title all three years, with two NCAA championships in both 1992 and 1993, but fell just shy of winning his freshman season in the NCAA final. After being a three-time All-American, he was ruled ineligible his senior season because of academic issues.

After his collegiate career, Randleman joined mixed martial arts and competed in not only the UFC, but PRIDE, WVR, and Strikeforce. It was with the UFC that Randleman was able to take hold right when things were really taking off in the world of MMA. He eventually became the UFC Heavyweight Champion in 1999, successfully defending his title once, before moving down to Light Heavyweight and also winning that title in his final bout with the UFC.

Randleman will be going into the Pioneer wing of the UFC Hall of Fame. He was inducted into the Ohio State Hall of Fame in 2004, and sadly passed away in 2016.

 

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WATCH: Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan’s hilarious antics watching Logan Steiber’s first NCAA Finals match

Video has surfaced of Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan watching Logan Steiber during his first-ever NCAA Finals match. It’s hilarious.

There are coaches that get behind their guys and live vicariously through them, and then there are those that are literally on edge rooting for their athletes. If Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan was a multiple choice quiz, we’d check all the boxes.

Video has surfaced thanks to Flo Wrestling and its Twitter profile of Ryan watching former Buckeye wrestling great Logan Steiber during his first NCAA Finals match. And yeah, it’s pretty hilarious.

To say that Ryan is an interested observer would be an understatement. He not only rocks back and forth in suspense, but he runs back and forth, and we believe at some point he even put an arm lock on an unsuspecting security guard.

Click on the below, watch, and have a good laugh.

What’s underrated here is the security guard trying to stop Ryan from running into the arena once Stieber presumptively sealed the deal. We’re going to go out on a limb and assume Ryan made it to his wrestler before being stopped.

Six Ohio State wrestlers make 2020 NWCA Scholar All-American Team

Six Ohio State wrestlers were named to the NWCA Scholar All-American team.

The wrestling season may have ended before the NCAA tournament could get off the ground, but there was still plenty of action and results both on and off the field to name an All-Scholar Team.

And that’s just what happened Friday, with six Ohio State wrestlers earning a spot on the NWCA Scholar All-American Team, per a release from the university. Malik Heinselman, Rocky Jordan, Kollin Moore, Luke Pletcher, Kaleb Romero, and Sammy Sassoa all made the honor as NCAA Qualifiers and owners of cumulative grade-point averages of greater than 3.20.

Ohio State has set the bar over the last couple of years with the number of wrestlers appearing as NWCA Scholars and came just shy this year with the second-most honor behind only Iowa. The Hawkeyes finished the season with eight according to the complete release from the NWCA.

ā€œOn behalf of the NWCA and our Board of Directors, we are ecstatic to honor the amazing academic achievement demonstrated by this yearā€™s Scholar All-American teams and individuals,ā€ Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director, said. ā€œNCAA Division I institutions continue to demonstrate their commitment to academics.ā€

Here is a recap of the six Ohio state honorees and their majors:

Ohio Stateā€™s NWCA Scholar All-Americans

Malik Heinselman, Health Sciences major
Rocky Jordan, Sport Industry major
Kollin Moore, Kinesiology major (masterā€™s)
Luke Pletcher, Sport Industry major
Kaleb Romero, Marketing major
Sammy Sasso, Exploration major

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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 wasĀ 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 ā€˜overall body of work through the conference tournament and up to the national championships.ā€™

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.

ā€œDuring difficult times there are always people who rise to the occasion and Iā€™m proud of the action that the NWCA Division I Leadership Group in providing direction for honoring the 2020 Division I All-American team,ā€ Mike Moyer, NWCA Executive Director, said. ā€œItā€™s important that these athletesā€™ efforts and successes during the season are recognized. Congratulations to each this yearā€™s honorees and National Qualifiers.ā€

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.

Two-time NCAA wrestling qualifier Tate Orndorff transfers to Ohio State

Ohio State wrestling got good news last week with the transfer of Utah Valley’s Tate Orndorff, a two-time NCAA qualifier at heavyweight.

Big-time college football and basketball aren’t the only sports where the transfer portal can lead to changes to rosters, they just aren’t publicized as much.

According to a report from Intermat, the Ohio State wrestling program has received a significant heavyweight transfer from Utah Valley. Tate Orndorff, a 6-foot, 285-pounder went 18-4 this past season and finished as the No. 11 ranked heavyweight in the country.

He also represented USA wrestling at the World Championships on the U23 squad in 2019, going 1-1. He is now headed to Columbus to compete in a Buckeye uniform.

The transfer is intriguing. Ohio State was able to find lighting in a bottle with the revelation of heavyweight Gary Traub this past season. “Gas tank” Gary was thrust into the limelight when incumbent starter Chase Singletary was lost for the season to injury, and he excelled. The big man went 23-9 and qualified for the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled.

Traub is graduating from the program however, so it’ll be interesting to see what happens with any competition that takes place between a healthy Singletary and Orndorff. There is no NCAA requirement to sit out a year in the sport of wrestling.

Tom Ryan adamant about All-American wrestlers being recognized

College wrestling ended abruptly due to COVID-19. Ohio State’s Tom Ryan would like All-Americans recognized still.

Many winter sports ended abruptly due to COVID-19, and wrestling was left in a particularly odd place, having yet to announce All-Americans due to the NCAA Tournament getting shelved.

Ohio State’s Tom Ryan is not ok with that, and it’s anything but an act of selfishness.

He just wants his players recognized for their hard work. A top-five wrestling program in the nation, Ohio State, if Ryan’s concept would have been adopted, would have numerous All-Americans.

ā€œThere’s a possibility that you simply do like college football did before there was a playoff: whatever you were ranked in the last ranking, thatā€™s where you finish. If you were ranked 1, you finish the season No. 1; if you were ranked 2, you’re No. 2; if you were ranked 7, you’re No. 7,” he noted on The Eleven Dubcast, an Eleven Warriors podcast.

For Ohio State, that’s like naming them the third-best team in football, although that really wouldn’t do much given the structure of their All-American selections.

It would matter greatly for wrestling. If Ryan’s ways were adopted, the program would have three first-team nominations, Luke Pletcher, Kollin Morre and Sammy Sasso. They’d have a second-team and third-team All-American as well in Kaleb Romero and Ethan Smith respectively.

“If you were ranked from No. 1 to No. 4, youā€™re considered first-team All-American,” Ryan continued. “If youā€™re ranked from No. 5 to No. 8, youā€™re second-team. And 9 to 12, you were third-team.”

Not giving winter athletes another year of eligibility is bad enough, but also not giving them the proper appreciation when they’ve worked their entire life for it is a completely different matter.

Ryan wants that to change, but who knows if he’ll get his way anytime soon.

 

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Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan challenges Buckeye Nation to give blood to the Red Cross

Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan gave blood to the Red Cross during this COVID-19 health crisis and is challenging you to do the same.

In times like these, the sports world converges with real life and a call to do your part as an American to make a difference. The novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a global crisis that is taxing the healthcare of this country and planet. The crisis continues to grow by the day, meaning the need to help others continues to expand almost exponentially.

One of those areas that have been impacted greatly is our nation’s blood bank. With all the hospitals feeling the influx of patients, there’s a big need to get more blood to assist others that require it as a part of the therapy to improve and get better.

Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan is bringing awareness to the problem and challenging Buckeye Nation to answer the call. He shared a video to Twitter of himself at a Red Cross donation center asking those that can, to sign up and give blood.

And it’s easy, and perhaps most important, safe. All you have to do is go toĀ redcrossblood.org and sign up to give the literal gift of life during this awful pandemic.

It’s not often that we ask you to share something, but maybe we can get the word out and others can do a little bit of something to help in this extreme time of need. You can do this and still practicing the social distancing guidelines and stay at home orders that will get us all through this.

Click on the below video from Ryan and hear from him directly on this challenge to act.

Come on Buckeye fans and fans of the human race in general, let’s get the word out on this one!

Kollin Moore finishes runner up for Hodge Trophy

Ohio State wrestler Kollin Moore finished just short of winning the Hodge Trophy, finishing runner-up for 2020.

Ohio State wrestler Kollin Moore finished just shy of taking home the most coveted award in college wrestling. The Dan Hodge Trophy goes to the best collegiate wrestler yearly and is often called the Heisman of the sport.

And while Moore received three first-place votes, he was beaten out by Iowa’s Spencer Moore for the 2020 recognition. Still, it was an impressive season for the Buckeyes’ 197 pounder who went 27-0. Those wins included 10 major decisions, six tech falls, and four pins.

Moore won the Big Ten Championship and was set to go into the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed at his weight class. That was before everything was canceled out of an abundance of caution with the COVID-19 health crisis.

Congratulations are in order for a warrior on the mat Ohio State wrestling fans won’t soon forget.