Around The Oval: Ranking Ohio State's Top 10 Student Athletes

The Ohio State athletic program has historically been home to some of the greatest athletes of all time. Legends like Jesse Owens, Jack Nicklaus, Archie Griffin, and most recently Logan Stieber have all done great things wearing the scarlet and gray. Today, that still holds true. Ohio State is home to some of the most talented athletes in the country, and we took a shot at ranking the 10 best.

10. Nichelle Prince (Women's Soccer)

Nichelle Prince is entering her third season at Ohio State. After a wonderful debut season that left her with Second Team All-Big Ten and Freshman All-Big Ten honors, she suffered an injury that cut her sophomore season short. Prince missed the first nine games of the season, but still led the team in shots and finished third on the team in points while playing in just 10 games. Prince has also contributed on the U-17 and U-20 Canadian National Teams. She was a member of the 2014 Canadian U-20 World Cup team. 

9. Mikael Torpegaard (Men's Tennis)

Mikael Torpegaard is an up-and-coming star on what is always a talented Ohio State tennis team. After his first season, he was given 2015 First-Team All-Big Ten honors and was named the 2015 Big Ten Freshman of the Year, as well as the ITA Midwest Region Freshman of the Year. Last season he went 24-13 in singles and 20-11 in doubles. He also won the ITA Midwest Region singles title and was selected for the NCAA Singles Championship. Before coming to Ohio State, he competed in various tournaments across the world as a junior including Wimbledon, the US Open, and the French open. Next season, he'll look to improve upon a wonderful start to his Buckeye career.

8. Alanna Goldie (Fencing)

As just a freshman, Alanna Goldie established herself as the top competitor on the Ohio State fencing team, which has finished ranked in the top-5 for 14 consecutive seasons. In her first season competing with the team, Goldie finished tied for third at the NCAA Fencing Championships, which was the team's best finish. She also has an impressive international career, competing with the Canadian National Fencing Team. She looks to lead a talented group next year to compete for another top-5 finish and possibly a national title.

7. Bo Jordan (Wrestling)

Bo Jordan, a sophomore at 165 pounds, is coming off an impressive finish to his redshirt freshman year. In his first season as a Buckeye, Jordan went 22-2, winning his first 17 matches. He was a runner-up in the Big Ten Championships and he finished third in the NCAA Championships, losing to eventual champion Alex Dieringer. He has a promising career ahead of him as part of an enormously talented Ohio State wrestling team.

6. Catherine Shields (Rowing)

There are not many NCAA athletes who can put "Three-Time National Champion" on their resume — Catherine Shields can. She is one of the more decorated athletes at Ohio State currently. In addition to her three national titles, she is a two-time All-American, was the 2013 Big Ten Freshman of the year, the 2014 Big Ten Athlete of the Year, and the 2014 Ohio State Female Athlete of the Year. She'll compete her senior year as her team attempts to go for the unprecedented fourth straight national championship. If the Buckeyes win another title this upcoming season, Catherine Shields will have won a national title every year she competed.

5. Glenn Zimmerman/Irina Andrianova (Pistol)

These two are ranked together because based on their resumes, it is nearly impossible to distinguish them enough to confidently list one higher than the other. 

As freshmen, both Glenn Zimmerman and Irina Andrianova won individual national titles aiding their team in winning its second consecutive title. Zimmerman took home the title in 3-gun aggregate while Andrianova took first in women's sport pistol. The two were also both named first team All-Americans in 2 events, and second team All-Americans in one. Entering their sophomore season, they'll look to continue their domination and improve on their scores from last season, hopefully paving the way to a three-peat national championship for the team.  

4. Joey Bosa (Football)

If Joey Bosa would have been eligible to declare for the NFL Draft following his Sophomore season, at just 19 years old, he would have almost certainly been a top-5 pick, possibly even first overall. Instead, Bosa will return to school for one more year to wreak havoc on opposing offenses. He is regarded by many as the best defensive player in the country entering the 2015-16 season. He's the reigning 2014-15 B1G Defensive player of the year, a consensus All-American, and was nominated for 3 national awards last season which he looks to be favored in this season.

3. Nathan Tomasello (Wrestling)

With everyone (understandably) caught up in the drama of Logan Stieber's 4th national title, Nathan Tomasello quietly won his first national title as a freshman. He finished the season with a record of 33-4, leading the team in wins. He really put it all together at the end of the season, winning his final 18 matches, along with the Big Ten Championship and the NCAA Championship.

We're a long way away from it, but after winning a national title his freshmen season, Tomasello could very well be next to Logan Stieber in history following his senior season. One title down, three more to go.

2. Ezekiel Elliott (Football)

Ezekiel Elliott heads into this upcoming season as perhaps the nation's best player on probably the most talented Ohio State team in 20 years. He enters the season as a front-runner for the Heisman trophy after absolutely dominating in the post-season. In the three biggest games of his life, with an inexperienced quarterback making his first career starts, Elliott rushed for 220 yards, 230 yards, and 246 yards — all records in some right. In addition to his talent with the football in his hands, Ezekiel Elliott has established himself as one of the best blocking running backs in the country, is a fine receiver out of the backfield, and is even more than capable of making plays on special teams. 

There are a number of records he could break this season, including Eddie George's single season rushing record, which he was just 49 yards short of this past season. He also hopes to extend Ohio State's streak of having a Heisman winning running back every 20 years.

1. Kelsey Mitchell (Women's Basketball)

Ranking Kelsey Mitchell at number-one is virtually a no-brainer. As a freshman, Mitchell carried an inexperienced and injury-depleted Buckeye team for much of the season, establishing herself as one of the nations top players. In her one years in scarlet and gray, she broke a total of 29 different single-season or single-game records including a B1G record 873 and an NCAA record of 127 three pointers in a season. She also became the first freshmen ever to lead the nation in scoring, and did so by a wide margin — she was the only player in the country to even score over 800 points.

Kelsey Mitchell goes into this season as one of the front-runners for this season's player of the year awards and looks to lead her talented — and now deep — team into the NCAA tournament and possibly to the program's first ever national championships. It's likely that even more records will fall in the process.

Freshmen to Watch

Many members of this top-10, including the top-ranked Kelsey Mitchell, were just freshmen last season and quickly made a name for themselves. Here are a few freshmen to watch who could have breakout seasons in just their first year on campus.

• Jincy Dunne (Women's Hockey): Jincy Dunne was the last one cut from the United States 2012 Sochi Olympic Team. She would have become the youngest U.S. Olympic women's hockey player ever had she made the final roster.
• Ryan Feltner (Baseball): Ryan Feltner is a consensus top-100 college pitching prospect and was rated a top 10 Ohio Player on Prep Baseball Report all four years of high school. He was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 26th round in the latest MLB draft.
• Martin Joyce (Men's Tennis): Martin Joyce is a five-star blue chip prospect out of Hinsdale Illinois. He's ranked 11th in the nation in the 2015 class.
• Myles Martin (Wrestling): Myles Martin, weighing 184 lbs., is the fourth ranked wrestler in the nation in the 2015 class according to D1CW.
• Kaylan Pugh (Women's Basketball): Kaylan Pugh is the 26th ranked prospect in the country according to Prospect nation. Her senior season she shot over 70 percent from the floor.

Comparing and ranking different types of athletes across 36 different sports is not an exact science. There are many talented student-athletes who may be deserving of a spot on this list whom I did not mention. So, tell me what you think. What's your top-10?

Note: Kyle Snyder is not included on this list simply because he is redshirting. This is meant to be a preview for the 2015-16 season. Since he won't be competing this season, he was left off.