Day One of the Big Ten Wrestling Championships did not go according to plan for the Buckeyes, assuming their plan was to repeat as team champions. For one thing, the Buckeyes took some serious lumps in the quarterfinals, going just 4 for 10 in the round. Not only did the Buckeyes falter early on day 1, but Penn State had no slip-ups whatsoever, and the Nittany Lions tore out to a huge lead after two sessions.
On the bright side, Ohio State had three wrestlers advance to the Big Ten Championship finals in their respective weight classes. Nathan Tomasello, Bo Jordan, and Kyle Snyder each breezed through the competition and all three will make their second straight trip to the conference championship. Tomasello is looking for his second title, while Snyder and Jordan will look to earn their first Big Ten crown.
In addition to three finalists, the Buckeyes also have three wrestlers still in the hunt for third place and four wrestlers in the seventh place match.
Nathan Tomasello earned a chance at winning his second consecutive Big Ten title with a pair of tech falls and a decision in the semifinals. Tomasello tech falled Thornton of Purdue and McCabe of Rutgers before a 10-5 decision over Tim Lambert of Nebraska in the semis. Tomasello will face a familiar opponent in tomorrow afternoon’s finals when he takes on Nico Megaludis of Penn State. Megaludis earned a hard-fought 4-3 decision over Thomas Gilman of Iowa in the semifinals. Tomasello is guaranteed a trip to the NCAA tournament in two weeks with his top two placement.
Johnni DiJulius went 2-2, but locked down a trip to the NCAA tournament along the way. DiJulius won his opening round match, but became the first of five Buckeyes to lose to Iowa wrestlers in the quarterfinals, dropping a 7-2 match to Cory Clark. DiJulius even scored the opening takedown, but yielded seven straight and fell into the consolation bracket. Once there, he won a match by major decision over Dom Malone of Northwestern, but once again fell victim to Jordan Conaway of Penn State after scoring first. DiJulius will wrestle for 7th place on Sunday and will face Geoffrey Alexander of Maryland. Clark will face top-seeded Zain Richards of Illinois in the championship bout, which features the two top seeds at 133.
Micah Jordan earned the top seed, but fell in the quarterfinals to Penn State’s Jimmy Gulibon 3-2. After the upset, Jordan scored a pair of major decisions to advance to the consolation semifinals. In the consolation semifinals, he will face Purdue’s Danny Sabatello. Regardless of his results tomorrow, Jordan will earn one of the Big Ten’s 7 automatic bids to the NCAA tournament. Gulibon advanced to the finals and will face Rutgers’ Anthony Ashnault.
Cody Burcher earned the nod at 149 and earned a minor upset of seventh-seed Andrew Crone of Wisconsin in the opening round. Burcher then met an Iowa foe in the quarterfinals and dropped a 12-2 major decision to Iowa’s Brandon Sorensen. Burcher pinned his next opponent, but lost by decision to Tyson Dippery of Rutgers in the consolation quarterfinals, dropping him to the 7th place match. The Big Ten only earned six automatic bids to the NCAA tournament, so Burcher will be unlikely to earn a trip to Madison Square Garden in two weeks. Sorensen will face top-seeded Zain Retherford of Penn State in the championship bout.
Jake Ryan earned a bye to the quarterfinals, but fell to Edwin Cooper of Iowa 2-1. In the consolation bracket, Ryan won two matches to earn a trip to tomorrow’s consolation semifinals, where he’ll face Brian Murphy of Michigan. Ryan is guaranteed to earn one of the Big Ten’s seven allotted automatic qualifiers to the NCAA tournament, finishing no lower than sixth. Penn State’s Jason Nolf and Illinois’ Isaiah Martinez will have their anticipated rematch in the finals on Sunday afternoon. Nolf gave IMar his first varsity loss after an undefeated freshman campaign.
Bo Jordan finds himself in a familiar situation as he made his way to the championship bout, where he will face his cousin, Isaac Jordan of Wisconsin, for the second straight season. Bo earned a tough 3-2 decision over Penn State’s Geno Morelli and rolled over Steven Rodrigues of Illinois in the semifinals to set up a third official match between the two Jordans. Isaac advanced to the championship bout thanks to a pin, tech fall, and an injury default.
Myles Martin opened his Big Ten tournament with a pin and a third win over Nate Jackson of Indiana before losing a third time to Penn State’s Bo Nickal in the semifinals. Nickal scored a pair of takedowns before locking up a cradle and rolling through for a pin in the first period. Martin will face Nebraska’s Micah Barnes in the consolation semifinals. Martin is guaranteed one of the Big Ten’s automatic bids to the NCAA tournament at 174, regardless of his place tomorrow. Nickal will face Illinois junior Zach Brunson for the title.
Kenny Courts did not have the Big Ten tournament he would have liked, and still has some work to do if he is going to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Courts lost to Iowa’s Sammy Brooks in the quarterfinals after dominating Northwestern’s Regis Durbin. Courts won a decision over Tanner Lynde, but then fell to Jeff Koepke of Illinois in the consolation quarterfinals, dropping him into the seventh place match. Courts will have to win against Ryan Christensen of Wisconsin in the seventh place match to earn one of the Big Ten’s seven automatic qualifiers at 184. TJ Dudley of Nebraska upset top-seeded Domenic Abounader (Michigan) and will face Brooks in Sunday’s championship bout.
Like DiJulius (and Burcher and Ryan and Courts), Mark Martin fell in the quarterfinals at the hands of an Iowa opponent. Martin lost 6-2 to Micah Burak. After a win in the consolation bracket, Martin dropped a 1-0 match to Hayden Hrymack (Rutgers), though he was in on several deep shots, but was unable to finish. Martin will face Drake Stein (which may be an incredibly manly alias, I’m not sure) of Purdue for seventh place. Burak will face top-seeded Morgan McIntosh of Penn State on Sunday for the championship at 197.
Kyle Snyder has spent much of the season traveling to and from tournaments around the world, where he often defeats Russians with suspect musculature. With that experience under his belt, the mortals in the Big Ten are no match. Snyder used tech falls over opponents from Illinois and Nebraska (neither of whom are Siberians in disguise) to advance to the championship bout, where he’ll meet Michigan’s Adam Coon. Coon is a nimble big man and is an adept Greco Roman wrestler, as well as a freestyler like Snyder, so Sunday’s championship bout will be something special. Snyder is certain to advance to the NCAA tournament, placing no lower than second.
After the first day, Ohio State sits in third place with 100 points. Ahead of the Buckeyes are Iowa (106) and Penn State (133). If they are going to move up to catch the Hawkeyes and Nittany Lions, the Buckeyes will need some significant help in the consolation brackets, as well as an upset or two. All things considered, the Buckeyes should focus on outpointing Nebraska and improving their respective seeding at the NCAA tournament, because finishing in the top two is unlikely.
Wrestling resumes in Iowa City on Sunday at 1 pm with the finals airing live on Big Ten Network at 4 pm.
