Around the Oval: Wrestling Gets a Weekend Sweep, Volleyball Wins 36th Consecutive

By TJ Neer on February 13, 2017 at 1:05 pm
Ohio State men's volleyball.
Ohio State Athletics
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Ohio State wrestling dropped two of their final five matches of the dual meet season, but made up for it with three wins in seven days coming over ranked Big Ten opponents, volleyball captured two wins over top-ten ranked teams and No. 7 women's tennis suffered its first loss of the season.

Wrestling

Ending a two-week stretch of five games that began with two losses, the Buckeyes bounced back in a strong way. After defeating No. 13 Rutgers last week, the wrestlers traveled to No. 5 Nebraska and captured a strong 24-13 victory Friday, then took down No. 12 Minnesota 24-20.

The team was without Kyle Snyder for the tilt against the Golden Gophers as he traveled to Iran to participate in the Freestyle World Cup Feb. 16-17.

No. 1 174-pounder Bo Jordan was strong in his return to the lineup, capturing a major decision over Micah Barnes (Nebraska) and a fall over Chris Pfarr (Minnesota) over the weekend.

No. 10 184-pounder Myles Martin and No. 15 141-pounder Luke Pletcher both captured upsets over their Cornhusker opponent on Friday and No. 18 Jose Rodriguez defeated No. 6 Ethan Lizak (MINN) in overtime on Sunday.

Men's Volleyball

The VolleyBucks had an impressive week too, capturing two wins over top-10 teams in Lewis (No. 6) and Loyola (No. 10). The Bucks defeated the Lewis Flyers 3-1 before sweeping the Loyola Ramblers.

With the two wins, the team continues to roll toward the all-time win streak, and they currently sit at 36 consecutive wins. The record is believed to be 47 straight, set by UCLA in 1983-85.

At some point, we will all have to agree that Ohio State is secretly a volleyball school. 

Hockey

No. 12 men's icers took on No. 4/5 Minnesota in a two-game set, and scored five goals in each game. That was enough to capture the first victory on Feb. 11 5-4 over the Golden Gophers, but they dropped the Feb. 12 matchup 6-5.

In the Friday tilt, each of senior Nick Schilkey, junior Matthew Weis and sophomore Mason Jobst tallied a goal and an assist, with Schilkey and Weis scoring in the first period.

On Saturday, five goals turned out not to be enough against the higher-ranked Golden Gophers, but Jobst and Schilkey each added another goal, and sophomore Dakota Joshua added two goals of his own.

With the goals in each game, Jobst extended his point streak to 14, and reached the 40-point mark on the season. Schilkey continues to pace the NCAA with nearly a goal per game.

Women's icers also had a fairly successful weekend, tying Minnesota State on Friday (they lost in a shootout) and then taking down the Mavericks 4-2 Saturday.

The 4-2 victory on senior day featured goals from seniors Katie Matheny and Breanna Grant, as well as a goal apiece from juniors Julianna Iafallo and Jessica Dunne.

The game was the last regular season home matchup for the Buckeyes.

Tennis

No. 7 women's tennis began the weekend strong at the ITA National Indoors tournament with two wins over No. 14 Auburn and No. 5 Oklahoma State before falling 4-3 to No. 2 North Carolina.

No. 3 men's tennis captured two wins over ranked teams as well, winning 4-1 over No. 15 Kentucky and sweeping No. 10 Georgia over the weekend.

Lacrosse

No. 17 men's lacrosse began its season last week with a win over Furman, and continued their winning ways by taking down Detroit Mercy 14-8.

Sophomore attacker Lukas Buckley had three goals and an assist on six shots, and the Buckeyes ended the game on a six-goal run after being tied entering the third period.

Women's lacrosse began the season this week, traveling to take on the Jacksonville Dolphins. Down 6-4 after one period, the Buckeyes battled back to capture a 13-12 victory, scoring 9 goals in the second period. Sophomore Baley Parrott and Liza Hernandez each racked up three goals, and Hernandez was named Big Ten freshman of the week for her performance. 

 Softball

The Buckeyes traveled to College Station, Texas, to participate in the Aggie Classic with Texas A&M, Lamar and Central Michigan to begin the season. On Friday, the Buckeyes opened the event with a huge 10-0 victory over Central Michigan before their doubleheader Saturday.

On Feb. 11, the Buckeyes split their doubleheader, falling to No. 17 Texas A&M 9-1 in five innings before bouncing back with a walk-off 4-3 win over Lamar in eight innings.

The team ended the weekend by beating Central Michigan again on Feb. 12, this time taking down the Chippewas 5-1.

Gymnastics

The Buckeyes were led, once again, by junior Alexis Mattern, who tied for the all-around title in University Park, PA, against Penn State with a score of 39.400. This mark tied Mattern's career high. 

 Mattern posted impressive scores all around the mats, such as a 9.850 in the vault (first place), 9.925 on the floor routine (first) and a 9.775 in uneven bars.

In addition to the stellar performance by Mattern, the No. 18 Buckeyes captured a very close team win, edging out the Nittany Lions 195.950-195.850, fueled by impressive performance from junior Stefanie Merkle (career-high 9.900 on floor routine, 9.775 on uneven bars) and redshirt sophomore Kaitlyn Hofland (9.925 on uneven bars, first in event).

The No. 4 men's team also took home a hard-fought victory over the No. 6 Nittany Lions, 419.150-417.750.

Led by impressive performances from sophomore Alec Yoder (15.300 in pommel horse, second-best in the nation in 2017), redshirt junior Sean Melton (15.050 in floor routine, first in event, fifth-best in OSU history; 14.700 in parallel bars, first in event) and redshirt senior Jake Martin (14.600 on high bar, first in event), the Buckeyes were able to come from behind to defeat an extremely tough Penn State squad.

Other Events

Sophomore Jaclyn Lee shot a two-over 73, including 11 consecutive pars, at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge to earn a spot in the top 20. Her performance was the best by a Buckeye at the event.

Junior Nick Demaline took home his fourth shot put title of the season with a 19.23 meter mark. That throw was a personal best and puts him at sixth in the NCAA this season. Junior Madison Roberts and freshman Megan Hoffman vaulted themselves (pun intended) into Ohio State history books with a 3.88 and 3.82 meter pole vault performances, respectively. Those marks are good for second and third in school history.

Synchronized swimming took home two wins over the weekend. The first was a 79-67 victory over Richmond, the second a 101-64.5 throttling of William & Mary.

Freshman Daniel Gloude was the only Buckeye to win an event at the Winter Invite, posting a 1:48.13 in the 200-meter individual medley.

Upcoming

  • Feb. 13, 14 - Women's Golf, Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge
  • Feb. 15-17 - Women's Swimming Big Ten Championships (West Lafayette, Ind.)
  • Feb. 15 - No. 3 Men's Tennis @ Penn State
  • Feb. 16, 18 - Men's Gymnastics, Winter Cup (Las Vegas, NV)
  • Feb. 17 - Softball, doubleheader vs. Louisville, @ North Carolina
  • Feb. 17 - Baseball vs. Kansas State (Osceola, FL)
  • Feb. 17 - No. 7 Women's Tennis vs. No. 13 Michigan
  • Feb. 17 - No. 1 Men's Volleyball vs. Quincy
  • Feb. 17, 18 - No. 12 Men's Ice Hockey @ Michigan State
  • Feb. 17, 18 - Women's Ice Hockey @ North Dakota 
  • Feb. 17 - Track & Field, Buckeye Tune Up (Columbus, Ohio)
  • Feb. 18 - No. 17 Men's Lacrosse vs. Massachusetts
  • Feb. 18 - Softball @ North Carolina
  • Feb. 18 - Baseball, doubleheader vs. Delaware, vs. Pittsburgh (Osceola, FL)
  • Feb. 18 - No. 18 Women's Gymnastics vs. West Virginia
  • Feb. 18, 19 - Synchronized Swimming @ Stanford
  • Feb. 18 - Rifle, NCAA Qualifier (Columbus, OH)
  • Feb. 19 - Softball vs. Louisville (Chapel Hill, NC)
  • Feb. 19 - Baseball vs. Kansas State (Osceola, FL)
  • Feb. 19 - Women's Tennis vs. Penn State
  • Feb. 19 - No. 4 Wrestling @ No. 8 Cornell (IWCA Duals Championship Series)
  • Feb. 19 - Women's Lacrosse vs. Cincinnati
  • Feb. 19 - Men's Volleyball vs. Lindenwood
  • Feb. 19 - Men's Golf, Puerto Rico Classic (Rio Grande, Puerto Rico)

Go Bucks!

 

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