St. John Arena was packed to the rafters with Buckeye faithful and Iowa hardcores alike as the No. 7 Ohio State Buckeyes welcomed the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes Sunday. A number of high school and youth wrestling teams were in attendance to pay homage to honorary wrestling coach Urban Meyer and were treated to an outstanding afternoon of wrestling as a bonus.
The match started at 125 as Nathan Tomasello and Thomas Gilman, each ranked in the top 10 in the country, locked horns. Gilman was able to stave off a few shot attempts b the Buckeye freshman. Gilman appeared to muscle Tomasello around, keeping the Buckeye with his heels on the edge of the mat for a great amount of time. Gilman was able to get the nod after escaping the TB period and then maintaining control of Tomasello. The Hawkeyes took an early 3-0 lead.
Johnni DiJulius hit the mat against fourth-ranked Cory Clark, and the Buckeye controlled the pace of the match from the get-go. DiJulius was able to get in deep on a fireman’s carry early in the match, but Clark countered the best he could, but utilized a figure four that earned DiJulius a penalty point. The Buckeye junior was able to capitalize on his next fireman’s carry and scored a pair of takedowns to end the first period with a 5-1 advantage. Clark worked JDJ’s shoulder hard for the duration of the match, causing a number of stoppages for potentially dangerous positions. The Buckeyes knotted up the score as DiJulius fended off a late rally by Clark, finishing with a 7-5 decision.
Pro tip: if you’re watching the Buckeyes live or on TV, don’t go to the bathroom or to the fridge when Logan Stieber is about to wrestle. Stieber took on the sixth ranked Josh Dziewa and let everyone know that he is head and shoulders above the rest of the field. Stieber racked up ten points and 2:35 of riding time in the first three minute period. Stieber chose the top position to start the 2nd and turned the Hawkeye twice to earn a 15-0 tech fall. Stieber’s tech fall, worth five team points because he scored back points (as opposed to four points for a match decided by 15 points without backpoints), pushed the team score to 8-3 in favor of the Buckeyes.
After making an unsuccessful season debut against Missouri, Hunter Stieber looked to right the ship against Brandon Sorensen at 149. Hunter looked tough early on, but faltered down the stretch. Sorensen kept the pressure on and capitalized on a late Stieber shot attempt (which was admittedly sloppy and not set up at all) and scored to take the match. Iowa narrowed the Buckeye lead to 8-6.
Buckeye Josh Demas, ranked sixth in the country at 157, took a while to get started but was able to notch a takedown in each of the final two periods against Michael Kelly. Demas capitalized on a standing fight for position and nearly took Kelly to his back, stealing the match and giving the Buckeyes an 11-6 lead at the midway point in the match.
During the brief halftime break, the Ohio State dance team performed to a song by DMX. I found this to be funny because I’m assuming that the dance team has only known a world where DMX is a weirdo jailbird instead of an angry rapper who is only a part time jailbird. (Insert your own DMX-styled dog growl here).
Bo Jordan made his Buckeye debut (he wrestled unattached last season during his redshirt year, so I’m not counting that) and earned a huge ovation from the Buckeye faithful. Jordan didn’t have the luxury of starting the season with some out of conference cupcake (looking at you, SEC football), rather taking on last season’s Big Ten runner-up Nick Moore. Jordan showed that though he was injured to this point in the season, he was still capable of putting points on the board. Jordan took a 9-2 decision, though he claims to have faltered down the stretch. The win for Jordan turned out to be the last time the Buckeyes would put points on the board in the team competition.
| WT | Result | Team |
|---|---|---|
| 125 | Thomas Gillman (Iowa) 2, Nathan Tomasello (OSU) 1 | 0–3 |
| 133 | Johnni DiJulius (OSU) 7, Cory Clark (Iowa) 5 | 3–3 |
| 141 | Logan Stieber (OSU) 15, Josh Dziewa (Iowa) 0 | 8–3 |
| 149 | Brandon Sorensen (Iowa) 9, Hunter Stieber (OSU) 7 | 8–6 |
| 157 | Josh Demas (OSU) 5, Mike Kelly (Iowa) 2 | 11–6 |
| 165 | Bo Jordan (OSU) 9, Nick Moore (Iowa) 2 | 14–6 |
| 174 | Michael Evans (Iowa) 5, Mark Martin (OSU) 2 | 14–9 |
| 184 | Sam Brooks (Iowa) 3, Kenny Courts (OSU) 2 | 14–12 |
| 197 | Nathan Burak (Iowa) 2, Kyle Snyder (OSU) 1 | 14–15 |
| HVY | Bobby Telford (Iowa) 4, Nick Tavenello (OSU) 0 | 14–18 |
At 174 lbs, Mark Martin took on Mike Evans (not the Buccaneers rookie wide receiver) in a battle between alums of nationally-ranked high school programs. Martin, who hails from St. Edward scored first on Evans, who wrestled for New Jersey’s Blair Academy prior to Iowa, but was unable to maintain the lead. Evans notched a takedown of his own, followed by a late reversal to earn the 5-2 decision. Evans’ win drew Iowa closer with a team score of 14-9 in favor of the Buckeyes.
At 184, Kenny Courts continued his slide of late, dropping a slim 3-2 decision to eighth ranked Sammy Brooks. Courts was close to finishing takedowns a number of times, but was unable to seal the deal. In his defense, Brooks showed some impressive takedown defense and was aided by a stalling warning on Courts. With the win, Iowa pulled to within two points of the Buckeyes.
Despite winning last weekend’s Midlands Championship, Iowa’s Nathan Burak had yet to compete officially for the Hawkeyes (he wrestled unattached at the Midlands), keeping the door open for him to take a redshirt. Burak stepped in against Buckeye super freshman Kyle Snyder, ending all rumors that he’d redshirt this season. After a hotly contested opening period, Snyder was injured and required injury time between periods. NCAA rules state that if a wrestler takes injury time between periods, he is given a stalling warning and the opponent has the option to choose his position to start the next two periods. Burak capitalized on the rule, choosing bottom in both the second and third periods and earning an escape point in both. Snyder racked up over a minute of riding time and was pushing to score a takedown throughout the third period, but was unable to secure one. Snyder looked frustrated for the final minute as Burak was hesitant to engage, but the Hawkeye earned the victory and gave his team a 15-14 lead heading into the heavyweight match.
Tenth ranked Nick Tavanello took on third (for now) ranked Bobby Telford at heavyweight in a match to decide the dual. Telford warded off Tavanello’s attacked and notched a takedown of his own to close the book on the dual. The Hawkeyes completed the late charge and were able to come from behind to beat the Buckeyes by the score of 18-14.
The Buckeyes will have a week to regroup before welcoming defending national champs Penn State to St. John Arena on Sunday, January 11.
Be sure to check back with Eleven Warriors from more coverage of this match, including my conversation with Coach Ryan and some of the wrestlers.
