Around the Oval: Swim and Dive Makes History in Ann Arbor, Wrestling Continues to Dominate and Women's Ice Hockey Looks Unstoppable

By Chase Brown on January 23, 2023 at 1:05 pm
OSU Swim and Dive
Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
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After a brief hiatus, Around the Oval is back.

Eleven Warriors' one-stop shop for coverage of Ohio State's Olympic sports, we offer a rundown of the top storylines from the non-revenue programs in Buckeye Nation. This week, we talk about men’s and women’s swimming and diving, wrestling, men’s and women’s tennis and men’s and women’s ice hockey.

Let‘s dive in.

Men's and Women's Swim and Dive

Ohio State swimming and diving made history against Michigan on Saturday as the women’s team earned its first-ever victory in Ann Arbor and the men's team claimed its first dual meet victory in Ann Arbor since 1951.

The Buckeye women defeated the Wolverines 186.5-113.5 behind solid performances from their relay team of Nyah Funderburke, Josephine Panitz, Katherine Zenick and Amy Fulmer, who won the 200 medley relay in 1:38.31. Ohio State also saw individual wins from Maya Geringer (1000 free), Gwen Woodbury (500 free), Fulmer (200 free), Felicia Pasadyn (200 fly), Tristan Harrison (100 back), Zenick (100 fly) and Lena Hentschel (1-meter dive, 3-meter dive).

The Ohio State men beat Michigan 151.5-148.5 with the same formula as the women, kicking things off with a relay win before outscoring the competition in their solo swims and dives.

The Buckeyes picked up their first event win in the 200 medley relay with a team of Alex Quach, Pete Krusinski, James Ward and Ruslan Gaziev, who finished in 1:26.04. Ohio State also had six individual winners, including Charlie Clark (1000 free), Gaziev (200 free, 100 free), Chachi Gustafson (200 fly), Watkins (200 back), Quach (100 back) and Clayton Chaplin (3-meter dive).

Ohio State, currently ranked No. 5 in both the men's and women's CSCAA Coaches Poll, will hope to build momentum from its historic win in Ann Arbor when the Buckeyes return to the pool for the Tim Welsh Classic at Notre Dame this weekend, Jan. 27-28.

Wrestling

Ohio State wrestling has been one of the best teams in the nation this season, and the team’s most recent win over Maryland is the latest evidence of that fact.

On Friday, the No. 7 Buckeyes dominated the No. 23 Terrapins, 38-6, in College Park to improve to 3-0 in Big Ten duals in 2022-23. Ohio State also advanced to 9-1 overall, with its only loss to then-No. 22 Northern Iowa during a tri-meet with the Panthers and Lock Haven in mid-December.

Sammy Sasso, the No. 3 wrestler at 149 pounds, kicked off the dominance for Ohio State against Maryland as the All-American made quick work of No. 18 Ethen Miller with a 12-1 major decision.

From there, No. 22 Paddy Gallagher (157 pounds) and No. 5 Kaleb Romero (184) claimed technical falls over their opponents, while Carson Kharchla (165), Isaac Wilcox (174), Gavin Hoffman (197) and Tate Orndorff (HWT) had narrow victories against their Terrapin counterparts.

After the break, Brendan McCrone, who competed in place of Malik Heinselman, suffered Ohio State's only loss from a fall to Maryland's Braxton Brown. However, that didn't slow down the Buckeyes, as Tom Ryan's squad responded with a pin from No. 9 Jesse Mendez (133) and a 6-3 decision from No. 18 Dylan D'Emilio to secure a 38-6 win over the Terps.

Ohio State will return to the mat Friday for a matchup with No. 4 Michigan in Ann Arbor – a dual set to be broadcast at 6 p.m. on the Big Ten Network. The Wolverines are 8-1 this season coming off a Big Ten championship last March, providing a marquee matchup for the Buckeyes against their hated rival.

Men's Tennis

Ohio State men's tennis impressed on Sunday and improved to 5-0 this season with a 6-1 victory over Illinois at the Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

The No. 2 Buckeyes had four players finish with a 2-0 record in the match. Robert Cash, Justin Boulais, Cannon Kingsley and JJ Tracy quickly secured the doubles point and followed those performances up with individual victories against their opponents. James Trotter was the final Ohio State player to claim a singles win and provided his team with their sixth and final point in the 6-1 win.

At the professional level, JJ Wolf's magical run at the Australian Open finally ended on Monday. The former Ohio State All-American fell to fellow American and former Florida Gator Ben Shelton in five sets (7-5, 2-6, 7-4, 4-7, 2-6) in the Round of 16.

In its first match of 2023, Ohio State women's tennis defeated Oklahoma, 5-2, in comeback fashion on Sunday.

The No. 17 Buckeyes dropped the doubles point 3-2 to the No. 4 Sooners. They bounced back with Shelly Bereznyak, Lucia Marzal, Irina Cantos Siemers, Sydni Ratliff and Kolie Allen winning their singles matches to capture the team win.

Ohio State's next opportunity on the courts will come this weekend at the ITA Kickoff Weekend tournament, which the Buckeyes will host in Columbus in what will be a packed weekend as Old Dominion, Wake Forest and No. 24 Tennessee come to town.

Men's Ice Hockey

Ohio State men's ice hockey split its series with Wisconsin over the weekend as the Buckeyes bounced back from a 4-0 loss on Friday with a 2-0 win on Saturday behind a 27-save performance from Jakub Dobes.

Tate Singleton scored Ohio State's first goal with assists from Mason Lohrei and Stephen Halliday to put his team up 1-0. The Buckeyes added an insurance goal via an empty-net strike from Davis Burnside to secure a 2-0 victory for Steve Rohlik's squad, which heads into an off weekend with a 16-9-1 record and a 9-7 mark in the Big Ten.

“This was a great win on the road,” Rohlik told reporters after the game. “The key was killing the early 5-on-3 power play. Jakub played outstanding. Now we will regroup and get better over the next two weeks and be ready to go.”

Ohio State‘s next appearance on the ice won't be until Feb. 3-4, when the Buckeyes host Penn State in Value City Arena. The program has multiple promotions for fans who attend those games, including Buckeye Inclusion Night on Feb. 3 and First Responders and Frontline Workers Night on Feb. 4.

Women's Ice Hockey

Ohio State women's ice hockey, the top-ranked team in the USCHO Coaches Poll, claimed two road victories against St. Cloud State over the weekend to advance to 22-2-2 on the season with a 17-2-1 mark in the WCHA.

The Buckeyes secured a 6-2 win over the Huskies on Friday and squeaked out a 3-2 victory in overtime on Saturday. Head coach Nadine Muzerall said both performances from her team were proof of the WCHA's strength and how her team's toughness and resilience were fully displayed in the games.

That'll do it for this week's Around the Oval. Come back next Monday for another rundown of Ohio State's Olympic sports. Until then, make sure to keep up with all of our comprehensive football and men's basketball coverage with some other lulz along the way.

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