Wrestling Bucks update

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Well, unfortunately all is not rosy with the wrestling Buckeyes right now. I knew this was going to be a down year when I saw the guys we were redshirting but Sunday was just plain awful. We wrestled the 3x NCAA champs Penn State and got smoked. Even our 2x NCAA champ lost (although there are reports that he was sick which I believe having watched the match... he wasn't his normal self). Losing wasn't the issue as everyone knew they were just better. What was disturbing was how many of the guys just laid down for them. No real fight. No attitude.
Well, that did not go unnoticed by Ohio State head wrestling coach. As a result of their poor effort he took the following actions:
1) Held a full practice the moment they got back to Columbus (think that scene in the movie Miracle where they were doing suicide sprints).
2) Took away their privilege to wear Ohio State gear to practice. Essentially they lost the privilege to wear the Ohio State logo and must earn it back.
3) had their access to university laundry for their practice clothes revoked until further notice.

Tom Ryan takes a lot of pride in Ohio State and the men who represent it and he makes sure there are consequences for poor effort.
From what I'm hearing from inside the room, practices suck right now.
I must admit this makes me smile as he is developing champions on and off the mat. Even in a down year we will do okay. Next year is the year they really feel they can bring back the ncaa title to Columbus.

[TH1Bucks]

Nice move by the coach !

Thank You Sir !!

[mauricxe]

so with redshirts this year, we expect them to be back to "top 5" status next yr?

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Yes. To put it in perspective, we are red shirting a 2x AA (Hunter Stieber), a guy who was 1 win away from AA status, as well as 2 #1 recruits in their respective weights from their graduating classes. Our freshman 165lber (who was a 4x Ohio champion) could possibly finish as an AA this year. However, it is believed with a year under his belt he would be a strong finalist contender next year. Our other outstanding freshman (also a 4x Ohio champ) is at 125lbs and is a work horse. He needs to refine the technical side of his game but he may likely AA next year as well.
So, next year looks like this:
125lbs: Nathan Tomosello (probable AA)
133lbs: Johnni DiJulius (probable AA...may finish as an AA this year too)
141lbs: Logan Steiber (likely National Champ...should win it this year too which would end up giving him 4 next year and making him only the 4th 4time champion in NCAA history)
149lbs: Hunter Steiber (likely finalist/strong possibility he ends up as champ)
157lbs: Josh Demas (strong AA contender...just missed it last year and had to take a medical redshirt this year due to shoulder surgery)
165lbs: Bo Jordan (very strong AA contender and possible NCAA finalist/champ)
174lbs: Mark Martin (don't know what to expect from him)
184lbs: Kenny Courts (very good possiblity to finish as AA)
197lbs: Not sure who will be here next year
HWT: Nick Tavenello (I don't expect much unless he develops his game a ton in the off season)

That is 7 out of 10 weights that we could have guys finish in the top 8 at the NCAA tourney next year. If all things go right we could have 3 champs out of that bunch. If they achieve those individual accomplishments, there is no doubt in my mind Ohio State walks away with their first team NCAA title next year.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Since the Penn St meet, Ohio State has gone 3-1. They beat Kent State (at KSU), Illinois (at Illinois), and most recently Northwestern (wrestled at Moeller HS in Cincy as part of the new thing OSU is doing to try to draw the top Ohio wrestlers to OSU by bringing the action to their back yard and not always staying in Cbus) and lost to Wisconsin (at Wisky). There have been both positives and challenges along the way. Pros: Logan Stieber appears to be healthy once again and shouldn't lose another match this year. Some of our upper weights are coming into their own and actually beating top 10 ranked guys and not just hanging with them, illness seems to have made its way through the room and all are back to full strenght
Cons: 149 thru 165lbs are 3 weights where we are not strong at this year. That does not look like it will change until next year.

The Big Ten season is in full swing and we will see more "surprise" wins by lower ranked guys as the B1G season is a grueling one both physically and mentally. You find out who your real March contenders are very quickly.

[TH1Bucks]

Forgot you still put these in here Mikey..... THANKS !

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Ohio State takes on ttun this week in Columbus. The football team gets gold pants for winning and the wrestling team gets gold singlet when they win.

[mikeytbuckeyes]

Sadly the Buckeyes lost 21-12 to ttun. What is so frustrating about that match is there is no reason we should have lost. For a change, our upper weights did what they needed to do to set our lower weights up for success. 2 of our ranked wrestlers lost to unranked ttun guys. Our guy at 125lbs is ranked 15th and lost in double OT while our guy at 133lbs is (was) ranked 3rd and also lost in double OT. That is a 6 pt swing. If we just win those 2 matches (like we were supposed to) we win 18-15. So frustrated with this team right now. It's like we can't get everyone to deliver their best at the same time (against a quality team). ttun is no slouch as they just beat the #2 ranked Minnesota a week or two ago.
One highlight is our young HWT almost knocked off the #2 ranked guy but lost in double OT. Good effort by a guy who is still growing into that weight.
I knew this would be a down year given how much talent we've red-shirted this year but this is sad and dowright pathetic at times. I'm already looking forward to next year.
Hopefully Logan will win NCAA title #3 and set himself up for a historic run next year.
As always, GO BUCKS (even when they cause me to vomit in my mouth after a performance like tonight).