Buckeye excellence is not exclusive to the football field or the basketball court. Around the Oval is our way of keeping you informed of the amazing things happening with the other 34 varsity sports on campus.
B1G Domination
(Photo via OSU athletics).
Friday, the Ohio State men's gymnastics team captured the program's 13th Big Ten title and first since 2007 in front of a hometown crowd of over 1,500, and they did it in dominating fashion taking first place by more than five points.
Ohio State redshirt sophomore and U.S. Senior National Team Member Sean Melton led the way for the Buckeyes posting the top score on rings, parallel bars and floor exercise en route to his first career Big Ten all-around title with a six-event score of 89.750. His freshman teammate Alec Yoder was the all-around runner up finishing with a score of 87.550.
The domination did not stop Friday, either. Saturday, the Buckeyes capped the impressive weekend by winning three event finals and sweeping the Big Ten post-season awards. Melton was named the Big Ten Gymnast of the Year, Alec Yoder took home Big Ten Freshman of the Year honors, and Ohio State head coach Rustam Sharipov earned the Big Ten Coach of the Year award.
“We’ll take a day to celebrate this achievement," said Sharipov in an Ohio State release. "Then it’s back to the gym as we focus on our main goal – the NCAA championship.”
No. 3 Ohio State hosts the 2016 NCAA Men’s Gymnastics Championships April 15 and 16 in historic St. John Arena.
TENNIS TYRANNY
The Ohio State men and women's tennis teams share striking similarities in this 2016 season – both are highly ranked suffering just one regular season hiccup midway through march, both are led by a young top-3 ranked player, both are absolutely tyrannizing the big ten conference, and both are legitimate national title contenders.
The women's tennis team began the season ranked No. 18 in the country – the highest preseason ranking in the program's history. The Buckeyes were not eager to stay there, however, and quickly climbed all the way to the top of the polls, earning the program's first-ever No. 1 ranking March 1st.
The team currently sits at No. 2 in the country after suffering a mid-march setback against No. 12 Miami. The Buckeyes are 19-2 overall, and are led by freshman phenom Francesca Di Lorenzo. The freshman sensation won the program's first-ever national title in the spring and is currently No. 3 in the latest ITA rankings.
Not to be outdone, the men's team is currently the nation's No. 4 team with a 20-2 record. Like the women, the men are led by their own star in sophomore Mikael Torpegaard. The Denmark native earned his highest ever ITA ranking in the latest poll where he sits at No. 2 nationally.
No. 2 Miikael Torpegaard holds his highest ITA ranking ever (Photo via Ohio State Athletics).
Still, numbers and rankings mean very little if results don't follow – and they have. Both teams have been nothing short of dominant, particularly in conference. The teams are a combined 10-0 in Big Ten play, sweeping every single opponent for a combined 54 sets to 0.
Both of these teams appear on the path towards a special season, and have proven they can play with anyone and maintain success. Could the 2016 ITA Championship be owned by both the Buckeye men and women? That possibility is looking more and more realistic every day.
Streaking
With yet another a walk-off win coming this time against Toledo on Wednesday and a weekend sweep of Bethune Cookman, the Ohio State baseball team has now won 12 of its last 13 games and is riding a seven game win streak. The recent success comes after a relatively slow start to the season, with the team going 7-6-1 in its first 14 games.
.@OhioState_BASE gets the WIN in walk off fashion.
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) March 31, 2016
Final score: Toledo-8 #Buckeyes- 9@BTNStudentU https://t.co/p0tNopsQpv
“We weren’t clicking as a lineup as a whole to begin the year, but that’s been happening lately now," said senior second baseman L Grant Davis. "We are putting good swings on the ball. It’s very scary what this team is capable of. That’s a good thing.”
The mid-season success is impressive, but it's just a start. The baseball team will look to maintain this momentum and mirror the success of another streaking Buckeye program – the men's volleyball team.
The volleybucks began the season by dropping two of their first three matches, but have been on fire since winning 21 of their next 22 matches including eight wins against current top-15 opponents. OSU is currently riding a 14 match winning streak and sits at No. 2 in the latest rankings.
At 22-3 overall and 13-1 in MIVA, No. 2 ranked Ohio State is just two wins away from from clinching its conference-best 25th MIVA regular season title. After a month long road trip, they'll have the chance to clinch at home, hosting their final three regular season matches in St. John Arena.
The team's homecoming begins with a Big Ten Network televised battle with No. 11 Penn State, Tuesday at 8 p.m. The Buckeyes will look to extend their winning streak to 15 matches.
Other Scores and News
- No. 3 Women's Rowing: Won four races against Clemson and two races against Virginia.
- No. 12 Women's Lacrosse: Defeated Michigan 10-9
- No. 24 Softball: Entered the top-25 for the first time this season then split a series with Wisconsin losing the first game 6-5, winning the second 10-8, and tying the third 9-9.
- Men's Lacrosse: Lost to No. 19 Penn State 6-5, losing their fifth straight game.
- Women's Gymnastics: Finished fifth of six at the NCAA regional.
- Men's Golf: Finished sixth at the Aggie Invitational.
2015-'16 Title Count: 1
- Pistol
