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.
Ohio State Dominates Michigan
Ohio State outplayed That Team Up North across all sports last athletic season. The final record between the two rivals was 21-9. Ohio State finished second in the Director's Cup with a total of 1,306 points. This was the highest they've placed in the last five years of the cup. Michigan finished just behind Ohio State in third, but the competition wasn't as close as it may seem. Michigan finished with just 1,196 points and missed out on fourth place by less than one point.
Ohio State had two first place finishes last season, Men's Volleyball and Pistol. They also had two second place and two third place finishes. Michigan's highest ranking of the season was Women's Water Polo in fourth place. While Michigan may have an impressive number of team finishes in the top 20, the Buckeyes have six top three performances to the Wolverine's zero.
Here's another look at Ohio State's 2015-16 athletic season:
| sport | FinAL RANK |
|---|---|
| Men's Volleyball | 1 |
| Pistol | 1 |
| Fencing | 2 |
| Women's Rowing | 2 |
| Wrestling | 3 |
| Men's Gymnastics | 3 |
| Football | 4 |
| Men's Tennis | 5 |
| Women's Tennis | 5 |
| Rifle | 7 |
| Women's Basketball | 9 |
| Women's Volleyball | 13 |
| Men's Soccer | 14 |
| Men's Swimming | 14 |
| Women's Soccer | 21 |
| Women's Golf | 22 |
| Women's Indoor Track and Field | 24 |
| Baseball | 33 |
| Softball | 33 |
Bucks in the Olympics
Buckeye wrestler Kyle Snyder had his final competition before heading to Rio last Saturday. He took home the bronze at the Grand Prix of Germany. Snyder fell to the seven-time World and Olympic medalist, Khetag Gazyumov in the semifinals, 2-1. He then came back to defeat Serdar Boeke to win the bronze. Snyder has had a series of impressive performance leading up to the Olympics. There are high hopes of seeing Snyder, the youngest World Champion in U.S. history, on the podium in Rio.
Many other Ohio State athletes are competing for a spot on Team U.S.A. this week. The Buckeyes are well represented at Olympic Trials being held all across the country. Ohio State swimming alone had 34 qualifiers. While no Buckeye swimmers made the final cut, they did beat personal and Ohio State records in the process. Taylor Vargo had a 200 breast time of 2:27.9, a new personal best and an Ohio State record. There are also nine current and former Ohio State track and field athletes competing to go to Rio this week.
