It wasn’t the repeat performance that they had in mind after earning last year’s co-championship at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, but third place in NCAA wrestling's toughest conference isn’t half bad. The championship round was bookended by Buckeye titlists as Nathan Tomasello won his second straight title at 125 and Kyle Snyder notched a big win at heavyweight.
All ten Buckeyes placed in the top eight in their respective weight classes and seven Buckeyes earned automatic qualifications to the NCAA tournament in two weeks based on their finish.
Penn State won the team title, their fifth in the past six seasons, with 150.5 points. Iowa edged the Buckeyes 127 to 126 for the runner-up spot.
After breezing to the finals with his performance on Saturday, Tomasello faced his toughest test in the championship match against Penn State’s Nico Megaludis. For the second time this season, Tomasello scored a late takedown to edge Megaludis and defeated the Penn State senior 3-1.
Tomasello earned one of the Big Ten’s automatic qualifiers and should earn the top seed at the NCAA championships. The win for Tomasello was his second Big Ten title in as many seasons after winning one last year in Columbus.
2015 #B1G champ? !
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 6, 2016
2015 NCAA champ? !
2016 #B1G champ? !
Congrats to @wrestlingbucks' Nathan Tomasello! https://t.co/zL76xGITJI
Johnni DiJulius struggled on Saturday, going just 2-2 with a couple of tough losses. He still earned a trip to the 7th place match, where he thoroughly dominated Geoff Alexander of Maryland. JDJ earned a tech fall by score of 19-2 to earn 7th place. In the championship match at 133, Iowa’s Cory Clark (who defeated DiJulius in the quarterfinals) won a 2-1 decision over top-seeded Zain Richards of Illinois. DiJulius earned one of the Big Ten’s nine automatic qualifiers to the NCAA Championships with his seventh place finish.
At 141, Micah Jordan was upset in the quarterfinals, but came back strong to finish in 3rd place at his first Big Ten Championships. Jordan rolled to two major decisions, a tech fall over Danny Sabatello of Purdue, and finally, a pin of second-seeded Tommy Thorn in the 3rd place match. Jordan broke through in a tight match with a double leg and deftly transitioned to pin Thorn in the third period. In the championship bout at 141, Rutgers earned their first individual Big Ten title as Anthony Ashnault dominated Jimmy Gulibon of Penn State with a 9-0 major decision.
Cody Burcher earned 8th place in his first Big Ten Championships, dropping a 4-2 decision to Minnesota’s Jake Short in the 7th place match. Penn State’s Zain Retherford won a dominant 4-0 decision over Brandon Sorensen of Iowa in the championship match. The weight class was comparatively weak this season, so the Big Ten only earned six automatic bids to the NCAA championship. Burcher is unlikely to earn an at-large selection this season.
Jake Ryan bounced back from his quarterfinal defeat on Saturday to earn 6th place at his first Big Ten Championships. Ryan was pinned by Brian Murphy (Michigan) in the consolation semifinals and then dropped a 5-2 decision to Richie Lewis of Rutgers in the 5th place match. Ryan earned a trip to the NCAA tournament with his placement in the top 7. In the highly-anticipated rematch, Isaiah Martinez of Illinois avenged his only career loss with a marathon decision over Penn State’s Jason Nolf.
Bo Jordan has lost just four matches in his almost two years of varsity wrestling, and now three of those have come at the hands of his cousin Isaac. Bo gave up a last second takedown and dropped a 3-1 decision to Isaac of Wisconsin in the championship bout. By finishing in the top six in the weight class, Bo earned a trip to the NCAA tournament.
Myles Martin took full advantage of his first shot at a Big Ten title, finishing in third place with a 7-5 decision over Indiana’s Nate Jackson. Martin earned his fourth win over the tough Jackson on the season and his second of the weekend in the 3rd place bout. Bo Nickal of Penn State cruised to his first conference title with an 18-9 dismantling of Zach Brunson of Illinois in the championship bout. Martin will make his debut at the NCAA tournament in two weeks thanks to his placement in this weekend’s tournament.
Kenny Courts may find himself on the outside looking in at the NCAA tournament as he failed to snag one of the seven allotted NCAA tournament bids, finishing in 8th place. Courts went a disappointing 2-2 on Saturday and lost to Wisconsin’s Ryan Christensen 10-4 in the 7th place match. Iowa got their second champion of the tournament at 184 as Sammy Brooks edged Nebraska’s TJ Dudley 6-4. Courts will need to wait to see if he is selected for one of the at-large selections to the NCAA Championships when the field is announced in the coming days.
Mark Martin, like Courts, will be hoping to earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as he finished just a spot away from earning an automatic bid. Martin went 2-2 on Saturday, but showed some guts late and scored a last-second takedown against Drake Stein of Purdue to take 7th place. The Big Ten was allotted just six spots at 197, so Martin will have to sit and await his fate. Morgan McIntosh of Penn State won a 3-2 decision over Iowa’s Micah Burak in the championship bout.
Bookending the championship round, Kyle Snyder faced his toughest collegiate of the season in Michigan’s Adam Coon. Snyder took a 7-4 decision to give the Buckeyes their second conference champion of the tournament. Coon was the top seed and Snyder was the number two seed, so their clash in the championship wasn’t unexpected, but it was truly a sight to see. The pair of athletic heavyweights are truly the class of the Big Ten heavyweights this season, and could lock horns again at Madison Square Garden late in the NCAA Tournament. The title was Snyder's first after finishing as runner-up at 197 last season.
The Buckeyes will patiently wait the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field in the coming days, with Kenny Courts and Mark Martin hoping their collegiate careers don’t end at the Big Ten Championships.
Be sure to check back with Eleven Warriors for updates on the NCAA Tournament selections and more on the wrestling Buckeyes as they look to defend their NCAA title.
