Wrestling: Kyle Snyder Powers Ohio State to 21-17 Win over Nebraska

The wrestling Buckeyes waited until the last possible moment to steal a victory from the visiting Nebraska Cornhuskers on Sunday, relying upon newly-minted heavyweight Kyle Snyder in a surprising move to earn the 21-17 victory.

The Buckeyes won six of ten matches against Nebraska, who came into St. John Arena ranked No. 7 in the country as a team. A reported 3,300 fans took in the action as the Buckeyes improved to 3-1 in the Big Ten and 6-2 overall in dual meets on the season.

Kicking off the action were the little guys where top-ranked Nathan Tomasello won his 30th consecutive match for the Buckeyes with a 16-5 major decision over No. 9 Tim Lambert. Tomasello scored an impressive seven takedowns in the match and wrestled like he had a chip on his shoulder throughout the match. Tomasello’s major decision gave the Buckeyes a 4-0 lead early in the match.

At 133, Johnni DiJulius bounced back from a disappointing effort against Michigan with an important win over Eric Montoya. JDJ was actually eliminated by Montoya at last year’s NCAA tournament, but the Buckeye senior had the upper hand on Sunday afternoon in a 9-4 decision. As is often the case in Johnni’s matches, he scored the first takedown and eventually won the match. After two matches, the Buckeyes held a 7-0 lead.

Micah Jordan couldn’t let Nathan Tomasello have all of the fun and scored a major decision of his own against Nebraska’s No. 20 Anthony Abidin. Mick used a big 2nd period to extend his lead en route to a 13-4 major decision.

The Buckeye winning streak ended at 149 lbs as No. 5 Jake Sueflohn put the Huskers on the board in a big way. Hunter Stieber was out with the flu, so Sal Marandino filled in against Sueflohn. The Cornhusker senior rolled up 21 points to Marandino’s 5, earning Nebraska a tech fall and 5 team points.

After a full regulation period in which only two points were scored total (1-1), Jake Ryan exploded in the TB1 session and scored five points in his 30 second period on the bottom to win 6-4 against Tyler Berger. Ryan’s decision gave the Buckeyes a lead of 14-5.

Bo Jordan was not in the lineup at 165 lbs, and Tom Ryan opted to forfeit to Nebraska at that weight. Perhaps Ryan and his staff were so excited about the conclusion of the match at 165 that they forgot to send someone out? At any rate, Austin Wilson accepted the forfeit for Nebraska, closing the team score to 14-11 in favor of the Buckeyes. Not much is known as to why Bo was not in the lineup.

After an unsuccessful debut last weekend, Myles Martin bounced back with a nice win over a tough Micah Barnes 7-4. Martin scored a pair of takedowns in the first two periods and scored a pair of escapes in the 3rd period. Myles racked up enough riding time to earn a bonus point, as well as his first varsity win. The decision win gave the Buckeyes a 17-11 lead heading into 184.

Kenny Courts fell to a tough TJ Dudley and only managed to put a single point on the board. There isn’t much to say here that hasn’t been mentioned at great length about Courts’ results this season, so I’ll spare you the gory details.

At 197, Josh Fox stepped in for Mark Martin against a tough Aaron Studebaker, but Fox wasn’t able to pull off the upset. Studebaker rolled to a 3-0 decision and tied the match at 17 apiece heading into the heavyweight match.

Though he wasn’t expected to debut at heavyweight for the Buckeyes until the first week of February, Kyle Snyder took the mat against No. 17 Colin Jensen to seal the deal for the Buckeyes. Jensen surprised many with an early takedown, but the match was all Snyder’s after the opening takedown. Snyder scored an impressive eight takedowns and defeated Jensen 20-9 to win the bout for the Buckeyes. Snyder’s major decision gave the Buckeyes a 21-17 victory

The victory was a milestone in two ways as it was the 750th win in program history and Tom Ryan’s 50th Big Ten victory in his ten seasons at the helm of the Buckeyes.

Ohio State will return to action next Sunday in a travelling home match against Michigan State. It has become an Ohio State tradition to host one dual meet at the high school of a senior Buckeye, and the Michigan State dual will take place at Walsh Jesuit High School (alma mater of Johnni DiJulius) in Cuyahoga Falls.

Check back with Eleven Warriors for a preview of the Michigan State Spartans and what to expect when they come to town on Sunday afternoon.