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.
Fencing Teams Take Overall Title at Conference Championships
For the sixth straight year, the Buckeyes have won the overall Midwest Fencing Conference Championship. Ohio State totaled 1,575 points, split between the first-place men's score of 810 points and the women's runner-up finish of 765. Ohio State's fencing team totaled 14 total individual medals on Saturday, including five of the six individual championships.
On the women's side, the Bucks were able to hold a monopoly on the individual events, claiming the champion in all three categories. Italian native Camilla Rivano went unbeaten for the entire weekend, winning the individual title for women's foil. Gabriela Cecchini took second in the same event. Sophomore Alexanne Verret took first in women's epee, her second career conference championship. Junior Sarah Merza (women's sabre) also earned gold on Saturday with teammate Aleksandra Kolmykova finishing just behind her in third.
Scarlet and gray success continued with the men, winning two of the three individual events. Freshman Nathan Wriedt won men's foil with teammates Leon Cao finishing as the runner-up and James Hu tying for third place. Four Buckeyes also claimed the top spots in men's sabre (1 - Benjamin Marcus, 2 - Roscoe Swartz, 3T - Hudson Santana, 3T - Matthew Hayes). In men's epee, Ohio State was well-represented once again with senior Oliver Shindler taking second and sophomore Jack Bradford finishing in third place.
The Buckeyes will attempt to qualify for NCAA Tournament on March 8 in South Bend.
Track and Field
Ohio State's track and field team competed at the indoor Big Ten Championships this weekend in Ann Arbor. The women's team came away with the first-place finish while the men placed in sixth.
On the track, Alexus Pyles finished second in the 60-meter hurdles with a new personal record of 8.35 seconds. Anavia Battle followed suit, taking silver in the 60-meter dash with a blazing time of 7.28 seconds. Battle continued her dominance in the 200, setting a new school record in the event (22.80 seconds) on her way to the gold medal. Karrington Winters took third in the 400-meter. For the men, Nick Gray picked up two gold medals in the 60-meter dash and the 200-meter dash, earning a No. 2 seed for the latter. Frank Hayes won his first career conference championship, winning the 600-meter dash.
In the field, Sade Olatoye continued her brilliance, breaking her own school records in weight throw and shot put. Cole Groski vaulted into third place, finishing at a maximum height of 5.34-meters.
The NCAA Championships will take place on the weekend of March 8. Qualifiers will continue until that date.
Men's Tennis Wraps up Big Week
In a week of full of winners, men's tennis won the most.
The men beat Wake Forest, the team they lost to in the National Championship last year, 4-2 to claim the ITA National Championship. The victory pushed Ohio State to a consensus No. 1 ranking. The Bucks jumped to a 1-0 start after winning the doubles point by a single game as the team of John McNally and Hunter Tubert beat Wake Forest's Siddhant Banthia and Julian Zlobinsky 7-6 in the deciding match. J.J. Wolf, who now has 13 ranked wins on the year, Alex Kobelt, and Martin Joyce earned points to push the scarlet and gray to a 4-2 victory.
The Buckeyes could only celebrate for so long, however, as a bout with Kentucky loomed on Wednesday. Ohio State took care of business, winning 4-0 without dropping a single set. Yesterday, No. 12 Notre Dame came to Columbus for Ohio State's eighth-ranked competition of the season. The home team prevailed 6-1, finishing all but one match.
The Bucks are now undefeated this season, have failed to drop a single doubles point, hold the top-rank in the nation, the best singles player in the nation (J.J. Wolf), and the third-ranked doubles team in the nation (Alex Kobelt/Kyle Seelig).
The scarlet and gray will travel to Penn State this Friday for a Big Ten competition.
