Several of the Buckeye wrestlers faced their first stiff tests of the season on Sunday at the 2016 Journeymen Collegiate Classic, and five of the young wrestlers passed with flying colors.
Micah Jordan, Cody Burcher, Justin Kresevic, Myles Martin, and Kollin Moore all went 3-0 on the day, tallying a total of nine wins by bonus points along the way.
In years past, the Journeymen Classic was held in a team dual format, but they opted to try an individual modified round robin event for the 2016 edition. Of the 16 teams competing on Sunday, seven of them were ranking in the latest USA Today/ NWCA Coaches poll, so the competition was certainly a step up from last week's Eastern Michigan Open.
Micah Jordan improved to 8-0 on the young season and added another pin and major decision to his season total by winning the 149 round robin. Jordan tore through the A pool at 149 before defeating Lehigh's Laike Gardner in the championship bout with a 3-1 decision. Gardner is a two-time NCAA qualifier and has been a mainstay in the collegiate rankings, so this will be a great win for Micah as the season progresses.
The Buckeyes won two of the four pool competitions at 165 with Cody Burcher and Justin Kresevic each going 3-0 on the day. Burcher used a pin and a major decision to advance to the championship in the 165 B pool, where he defeated Chase Gallik of Lehigh 12-8. Kresevic earned decisions over opponents from Buffalo and Lock Haven, before earning a title with a major decision against Jason Carr of The Citadel.
Myles Martin participated in his first official matches of the season (the NWCA All-Star Classic loss to Gabe Dean is considered an exhibition match, and therefore doesn't count toward his record) and improved to 3-0 with a major decision, decision, and a tech fall in the championship bout in the 184 A pool.
Kollin Moore also stayed perfect on the season, using a pair of pins to advance to the 197 B pool championship. In the championship bout, Moore edged Wisconsin's Ricky Robertson in a 12-11 shootout for the title.
Jose Rodriguez went 2-1 in his first action of the season at 125, finishing runner-up to former All-American Darian Cruz of Lehigh. Cruz outscored Rodriguez 2-1 in the championship match.
Seth Williams placed 3rd in the 174 C pool with a 1-2 outcome on the day.
Jack Rozema took 4th in the 184 B pool after going 1-2 in the competition.
Josh Fox earned 5th place with a win over West Virginia's Brandon Ngati in the championship round at heavyweight.
Anthony Decarlo took 5th in the 157 C pool with a 2-3 outcome.
Also competing in the tournament was former Buckeye Thomas Haines, who took 4th place in the tough 285 A pool. Haines dropped a pair of matches to excellent heavyweights in Arizona State's Tanner Hall and Minnesota's Michael Kroells.
The Buckeyes will take the mat as a full team for the first time on Saturday as they travel to Tempe to take on No. 21 Arizona State in the first dual of the season for both teams.
Check back with Eleven Warriors for a full preview of the meet later in the week.
