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Andy's Weekend Wrestling Wroundup

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by Andy Vance
May 19, 2018 at 3:39pm
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Several Buckeyes – past, present and future – are in action this weekend. Here's a quick rundown of what's happening, and where you can watch the action yet to come:

Captain America: Still The Best

Kyle Snyder started the weekend in Buckeye-centric wrestling with his appearance Friday night at "Beat the Streets," an annual charity wrestling exhibition. The organization uses wrestling, "to develop the full human and athletic potential of the urban youth and to strengthen the culture of New York City wrestling," and Friday night's event under the bright lights showcased some of the best in the sport.

Snyder debuted his Rudis footwear to rave reviews, and embraced his "Captain America" moniker by wearing the brand's Marvel-licensed Cap singlet. Facing Cuba’s two-time world silver medalist Reineris Salas Perez, Snyder needed every bit of his super powers to overcome an unusually slippery mat surface and an 8-3 first period deficit.

Stop me if you've heard this one before... Snyder took a 5-point deficit in stride, and recaptured the lead and the 9-8 victory with a series of his signature takedowns.

From USA Wrestling's event recap:

“Salas is a good athlete, he has good leg defense. I think next time I can beat him much worse than I did this time, but it was a good effort,” Snyder said. “If anyone wants to come to my weight, I’m not going anywhere. I’ve been here three years, anyone who wants to come in, I welcome everybody. But every time I wrestle someone, I learn more about them.”

Like other top U.S. freestyle wrestlers, Snyder will compete in Final X next month to earn a spot on the U.S. team competing at the 2018 world wrestling championships in Budapest, Hungary, in October.

“The first step is always to make the team,” Snyder said. “Then in the summer it’s train as hard as you can, believe in yourself, be consistent, keep your faith strong and then everything is good.”

Logan Stieber: On to the WTT Finals

Another Buckeye who is still good at wrestling is 4-time NCAA champion and 2016 World Freestyle champ Logan Stieber. Stieber wrestled Saturday at the Senior Men's World Team Trials Challenge Tournament for another shot at making Final X and the U.S. Men's World Team (training partner Joey McKenna, as champion of the U.S. Open, advanced directly to Final X for a shot at the team).

Wrestling in Rochester, Minn., Stieber got off to a fast start with a 16-6 tech fall over Brandon Wright in his first match. The second round was a tougher row to hoe, and Stieber won the 6-6 victory on criteria because of an impressive four-point move on Evan Henderson.

His victory sets up a U.S. Open rematch with Jaydin Eierman in the best-of-three finals. Eierman scored the biggest upset at the open when he bounced Stieber into the consolation bracket, and one can imagine Logie Bear will be loaded for bear when the two face off Sunday at 1 p.m. for a three-match series to determine who gets to advance to Final X. The matches will stream live via FloWrestling.

The Young Bucks

Inbound freshman Malik Heinselman is on his way to his fourth age-level world team. The Colorado lightweight has as much international freestyle experience as anyone Ohio State has ever recruited, and he is poised to make the world team with a victory in the best-of-three junior world team finals this afternoon over Brandon Courtney.

As the top seed at 57 kg, Heinselman earned a bye in the first round of the tournament, and posted a 10-0 tech in the second. He squared off against Michigan State starter Rayvon Foley, and held fast for the 13-12 win and advanced to the challenge tournament finals versus Paul Bianchi, a match he won 8-2.

That victory earned him a the spot in the best-of-three finals at 5 p.m. Saturday to determine who will make the Junior World Freestyle Team. He'll face Arizona State's Courtney, and the man who wins two of the three matches gets the spot on the Team USA roster.

Things did not go as well for Heinselman's future teammate Jordan Decatur, who fell in the challenge tournament finals to Vitali Arujau. From USA Wrestling:

At 61 kg, Vitali Arujau got the satisfaction of avenging an ugly 10-0 technical fall he suffered at the hands of Jordan Decatur at the U.S. Open. Heading into the second period down 2-0, Arujau made up for lost ground, scoring quickly off a big double-leg takedown on the edge of the mat. Once he got started, he couldn’t be stopped, putting together a flurry of scores to win, 8-2.  When asked what the difference was this time around, Arujau responded:

Decatur took the loss in stride.

Kaleb Romero, a likely starter for the Buckeyes this fall, drew Iowa standout Alex "The Bull" Marinelli, a graduate of the famed St. Paris Graham wrestling dynasty and one of the most impressive young wrestlers of the past season. Romero, who has very little freestyle experience compared to some of his teammates at the Ohio Regional Training Center, gave it the ol' college try at 74 kg, but The Bull bucked Romero from the tournament with a 16-3 tech fall.

Sammy Sasso, another 2018 recruit, had an impressive pin in his opening match at 65 kg, but fell short in an 11-7 decision in the second round.

At 79 kg, Ethan Smith appeared to be on a roll, with a pair of decisions in his opening bouts to earn a spot in the challenge tournament finals. He wouldn't advance to the best-of-three, however, as Michael Labriola handled his business and earned the 16-5 tech fall.

So Heinselman will wrestle Saturday afternoon and Stieber Sunday; with Joey McKenna and Kyle Snyder already earning berths to Final X, the Buckeyes could see three world team members on the roster when practice starts this fall.

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