Rocky Jordan did not begin the year as Ohio State’s starter at 184 pounds, but he sure finished there. 184 looked like a potential weak spot for the Buckeyes, but now it’s probably their strongest weight class after the three-headed monster of Luke Pletcher, Sammy Sasso, and Kollin Moore. Gavin Hoffman and Zach Steiner both took some duals at this weight, but Jordan improved throughout the first half of the season and has been the starter since January.
Big Ten Wrestling Championships: 184 pounds
Basic Info:
Buckeye Wrestler: Rocky Jordan
Seed:No. 6
Place needed to qualify: 10th
By NCAA qualification, this is the Big Ten’s strongest weight class. The conference will put ten wrestlers in the NCAA Championships, and it would be shocking if Jordan wasn’t one of them.
Paths to the NCAAs
Jordan will face Purdue’s Max Lyon in the opening round. If Jordan wins, it will be very difficult not to imagine him qualifying for the NCAAs. A win, and he will likely face Abe Assad of Iowa in the second round. (Assad will face No. 14 seed Kyle Jasenski of Maryland in the first round.) A Jordan win over Assad clinches a top four spot. A loss to Assad would put Jordan in the consolation bracket.
If Jordan wins his first match but loses the second, he will get two shots at qualifying. He will face the winner from the losers of the Billy Janzer vs Jack Jessen and Taylor Venz vs Jake Hinz matches. The only possible matchup there Romero should fear is Venz, who Jordan beat in a very close match last month. Even if Jordan loses in that match, he will get to face one of the other second-round losers in the consolation bracket for an NCAA spot.
Looking at the bracket, there’s only one real way that Jordan could be left out of the bracket (barring anything like injury). If he loses in the first round and somehow Assad is also upset by Jasenski, then Jordan could end up with an 0-2 record and miss out on the NCAAs. But that’s not happening. Among the safest of safe Buckeyes, Jordan is right up there with Pletcher, Sasso, and Moore.
Other Buckeyes in this series:
125 pounds: Malik Heinselman
133 pounds: Jordan Decatur
157 pounds: Elijah Cleary
165 pounds: Ethan Smith
174 pounds: Kaleb Romero
Heavyweight: Gary Traub