Around The Oval: Ohio State Men’s Gymnastics Beats Michigan, 13 Fencers Secure Top-Five Finishes at the NCAA Midwest Regionals and Men’s Volleyball Earns a Season Sweep of USC

By Chase Brown on March 11, 2024 at 1:05 pm
Ohio State men’s gymnastics
Ohio State Dept. of Athletics
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While Ohio State football dominated headlines last week with the start of spring football, the Buckeyes' Olympic sports continued their quests for glory in the regular and postseason.

In this week's edition of ATO, Eleven Warriors' one-stop shop for the Buckeyes' non-revenue programs, we look at the latest news and notes from Ohio State men's gymnastics, fencing and men's volleyball.

Over the weekend, we also had coverage for the following events:

Without further ado, let's take a walk Around The Oval, Ohio State's 11-acre lawn at the heart of its Columbus campus.

Men's Gymnastics

No matter the sport, Ohio State fans can appreciate a win over Michigan. 

That outcome occurred for the Ohio State men’s gymnastics team on Saturday, as the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines, 412.150-407.400, at the Covelli Center in Columbus.

Kameron Nelson earned Ohio State’s first win of the meet with a career-high 14.800 for his floor routine. He followed that up with another personal best on vault, receiving a 15.050 score for his performance. Beyond Nelson, Kristian Grahovski earned a win on the pommel horse with a career-high 14.450, and Tyler Rockwood took the parallel bars title with a career-high 14.400.

“I’m really proud of this team for the last four weeks and what they’ve done in the gym, grinding and working on the little things, and now it’s starting to pay off,” Ohio State head coach Rustam Sharipov said after the meet. “We still believe that this is not the ceiling of what we can do. We can still improve.”

This weekend, Ohio State will travel to Champaign, Illinois, and face the No. 2-ranked Fighting Illini in a dual meet at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The meet will be broadcast on B1G+.

“We have a short week before we travel to Illinois. Our goal remains the same,” Sharipov said. “We are not competing with anybody. We are just doing our job. That’s what I believe, and the guys are starting to believe in themselves. They need to take care of their business for the second half of the season.”

Ohio State has two meets left on its regular-season schedule: Illinois on Saturday and Nebraska on March 26. The Buckeyes will then compete at the Big Ten Championships on April 5 and 6 and will host the NCAA Championships at the Covelli Center on April 19 and 20.

Fencing

On Saturday, Ohio State fencing competed at the NCAA Midwest Regional in Detroit. Thirteen Buckeyes finished in the top five of their events as Edriss Ndiaye won gold (men’s foil), Alina Lee (women’s foil) and Luca Fioretto (men’s saber) won silver and Paul Veltrup won bronze (men’s epee).

Here is a look at Ohio State’s results in each event:

Women’s Epee

  • No. 4 - Montserrat Viveros
  • No. 5 - Karina Dyner
  • No. 7 - Yeva Mazur
  • No. 8 - Julia Semikin

Women’s Foil

  • No. 2 - Alina Lee
  • No. 4 - Dasha Myroniuk
  • No. 11 - Claire Teresa Galavotti
  • No. 14 - Raiyan Moradi-Bidhendi

Women’s Saber

  • No. 5 - Ele Perrier
  • No. 10 - Hamsika Arnipalli
  • No. 11 - Maria Elexe

Men’s Epee

  • No. 3 - Paul Veltrup
  • No. 4 - Miles Weiss
  • No. 5 - Gabriel Feinberg
  • No. 7 - Maxwell Rodney

Men’s Foil

  • No. 1 - Edriss Ndiaye
  • No. 4 - Justin Vogler
  • No. 5 - Illya Ayupov
  • No. 7 - Diego Cervantes

Men’s Saber

  • No. 1 - Luca Fioretto
  • No. 5 - Samuel Rightler
  • No. 6 - Avin Rai
  • No. 9 - Vincent Haney

Ohio State will host the 2024 NCAA Championships from March 21-24 at French Field House and St. John Arena. The NCAA will select athletes to participate in the NCAA Championships on Tuesday. Regular-season results and NCAA Regional finishes determine qualification for the event. No more than two fencers per gender per weapon may be selected from each school.

Men’s Volleyball

Ohio State earned a season sweep of USC over the weekend as the No. 8 Buckeyes defeated the No. 12 Trojans, 3-1 (22-25, 25-11, 25-23, 25-20), on Saturday. The teams met at the start of the 2024 Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge in Los Angeles.

Three Buckeyes recorded double-digit kills in the contest, including Jacob Pasteur (15), Shane Wetzel (11) and Kyle Teune (11). Michael Wright led Ohio State in assists with 35, Justin Howard collected eight blocks and Thomas Poole contributed a team-best seven digs.

Ohio State’s second matchup at the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge was another rematch – this time, against No. 4 UCLA. When the teams met in Austin, Texas, earlier this season, the Buckeyes defeated the Bruins, 3-2. The second meeting went the other direction, however, as UCLA beat Ohio State in straight sets, 3-0 (23-25, 16-25, 20-25).

Pasteur again led the Buckeyes with 13 kills and Wetzel added 10. Wright finished the contest with 29 assists, and Teune led Ohio State with six digs. After the weekend, Pasteur and Wetzel were named to the Big Ten/Pac-12 Challenge All-Tournament Team for their standout performances.

Ohio State has seven games remaining in the regular season: No. 13 Ball State on Thursday, at Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, at No. 13 Ball State on March 21, at McKendree on March 28, at Lindenwood on March 30, McKendree on April 4 and Maryville on April 5. 

Once the regular season ends, Ohio State will compete at the MIVA Tournament from April 13 to April 20. If the Buckeyes qualify for the NCAA Championships, they will travel to Long Beach, California, for the NCAA Quarterfinals on April 30.

Other Results

  • Ohio State men's tennis suffered its first loss of the season on Sunday. The Buckeyes fell 5-2 to No. 12 Texas inside a sold-out Texas Tennis Center in Austin. Ohio State is now 16-1 this season and will face No. 10 Texas A&M on Wednesday.
  • Ohio State baseball trails Cal Poly 2-1 in a four-game series. The fourth game will occur at 9 p.m. Monday. A win would improve the Buckeyes' record to 8-6 to start the regular season, while a loss would drop them to .500 at 7-7.
  • Ohio State softball went 2-2 at the Tennesee Invitational over the weekend. The Buckeyes defeated Missouri State and South Dakota in a Friday doubleheader but fell to the Volunteers on Saturday and Sunday. Tennessee outscored Ohio State 16-0 across both games, and the Buckeyes' record dropped to 11-6 a third of the way through the regular season.
  • Ohio State track and field athletes Hayden Tobias and Leah Bertrand competed at the 2024 NCAA Indoor Championships over the weekend. Tobias finished 11th in the shot put with a best throw of 18.70 meters, while Bertrand took 15th in the 60-meter dash with a 7.37-second sprint. Both Tobias and Harris were named second-team USTFCCCA All-Americans for their performances.
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