Tag: Sammy Sasso

Ohio State Wrestling bounces back with win over Cornell

The Ohio State Buckeyes wrestling team picked up a much-needed bounce-back win after losing to Virginia Tech last week.

The Ohio State Buckeyes wrestling team needed a good performance, coming off a surprising and disappointing loss against Virginia Tech two weeks ago. The team got exactly that this weekend, beating Cornell 23-9, though there is still work to be done if it wants to contend for a national title.

The Buckeyes still have two No. 1 wrestlers in their weight classes, with Luke Pletcher at 141 pounds and Kollin Moore at 197 pounds. Neither has lost yet this year, and both pulled out strong wins on Sunday, with Moore’s coming as a Major Decision. Pletcher, as he is wont to do, kept the score tight, but he was never in danger of losing to Cornell’s Noah Baughman.

Sammy Sasso bounced back from his shocking pin against Virginia Tech to dominate Hunter Richard. The final score was a very close 12-9 as it seemed like Sasso just ran out of gas in the final minutes of his match. He will likely have to work on conditioning as the season goes on, or maybe it was just a bad day. We will find out more at the Cliff Keen Invitational this coming weekend, when Sasso will likely have to face multiple talented wrestlers on the same day.

Kaleb Romero looks to have the Buckeyes established at 174 pounds, and he silenced the doubters with a big win over Top 15 foe Brandon Womach. Romero pulled out a late takedown to break a 4-4 tie and win the match. Malik Heinselman (125 pounds) and Ethan Smith (165) were both pretty impressive in wins, and used matches against weaker opponents to work on getting bonus points.

The Buckeyes still have some real holes that need to be filled, though. No one has yet stepped up at 157 or 184 pounds. There are decent options at the first, but unless Gavin Hoffman or Zach Steiner improves, 184 pounds will be a real weakness in Ohio State’s lineup this year. The Buckeyes haven’t quite had enough individuals in the National Championship hunt to take the team competition from Penn State the past few years, but have been the most competitive top-to-bottom in all ten weight classes. Unless there’s a fix at 184 pounds soon, though, that streak may come to an end.

Ohio State wrestling needs work after tough weekend

What should the Ohio State Buckeyes learn from losing a tough wrestling dual against Virginia Tech?

The Ohio State Buckeyes fell to the Virginia Tech Hokies in their third wrestling dual of the season. It was Ohio State’s first loss of the season, and the first nonconference loss since losing to Cornell in February 2017.

You could see that Ohio State’s wrestling team was not quite up to its expected elite level in its dual on Friday, when four out of ten Buckeyes lost their matches against Pittsburgh. Heavyweight Chase Singletary did upset No. 9 Demterius Thomas on Friday, and Quinn Kinner (141 lbs) looked strong in a close loss against No. 4 Mickey Phillipi, but Ohio State’s holes at 157 and 184 lbs were clear.

That was evident on Sunday, when six of the ten Buckeyes lost. Neither Gavin Hoffman nor Zach Steiner seems elite at 184 lbs, and Elijah Cleary (157 lbs) is talented but not able to compete with the top athletes. Ke-Shawn Hayes is probably the best bet for the Buckeyes at that weight class when he returns from injury.

Luke Pletcher and Kollin Moore, ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes (141 and 197 lbs) were strong as always. Still, the two of them couldn’t cover for a lineup that just wasn’t at its best on Sunday.

Quinn Kinner never could get things going against Collin Gerardi. And, of course, the match that turned the dual was at 149 lbs. Freshman sensation Sammy Sasso–who had not yet lost this year–made one wrong attack early in his match, which was quickly countered into a pin by Virginia Tech’s Brent Moore.

Sunday’s dual was not all bad, though. Ethan Smith–who is highly-touted and hugely talented but has somehow never produced on the big stage–pulled off an incredible upset over No. 4 David McFadden at 165 lbs.

Ohio State’s roster is still stacked with talent, and coach Tom Ryan always has his team ready come tournament time in March. If Quinner and Sasso can use matches like this to build themselves into elite competitors, the Buckeyes will definitely be in the thick of things in a few months.

For now, though, Ohio State clearly has a lot of work to do. The Buckeyes next take the mat a week from Sunday against Cornell. We’ll see what changes and improvements have been made by then.

Ohio State wrestling impresses again with domination of Stanford

The Ohio State Buckeyes wrestling team dominated the Stanford Cardinal in the team’s first dual matches of the season.

Ohio State wrestling opened its brand new Covelli Center with a dominant win over unranked Stanford.

The final score of the dual match, 29-6 in favor of the Buckeyes, doesn’t show how close this match actually was. Ohio State lost only one of the nine weight classes, when Ethan Smith (165 lbs) was pinned by Shane Griffith. Of Ohio State’s wins in the other nine eight classes, none came via Fall (a pin) and only two were Major Decisions (wins by 8-14 points). The other seven wins were all by less then eight points, including two matches that required Sudden Victory.

Sammy Sasso, who absolutely ran roughshod over all of his competition at the Michigan State Open, found himself in the first tight battle of his collegiate career. He fought his way to a tight 3-1 win against No. 19 Requir van der Merwe.

Luke Pletcher, the newly-minted No. 1 at 141 lbs, needed some incredible moments in Sudden Victory just to eke out the win.

I’m certainly not complaining about a blowout win. But if coach Tom Ryan wants to show his team that it still has a lot it can improve on, most of these matches showed some definite room to grow. And it was great to see wins from Quinn Kinner 133 lbs and Zach Steiner at 184 lbs.

Ohio Intercollegiate Open

Several Buckeyes also competed at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open this weekend, instead of in the dual against Stanford. There was no official team competition, so every Buckeye at the OIO was representing themselves.

Three Buckeyes won their Gold Division brackets, including an impressive performance from freshman Carson Kharchla at 165 lbs. The competition level at the OIO wasn’t near the level that Ohio State will see in Big Ten play, but it was good to see such a strong performance. Rocky Jordan won the bracket at 174 lbs, while Gavin Hoffman did the same at 184. It’s hard to read too much into Hoffman’s victory, as two of his four wins came via injuries to opponents (one before the match, one mid-match). Still, 184 lbs is definitely the current weak spot in Ohio State’s lineup, and it will be great if the Buckeyes can get some confidence and victories in that weight class as the season progresses.