Ohio State wrestlers represented the program well on Friday at the 2017 US Open,
Just a month after his true freshman campaign, Luke Pletcher isn't showing signs of slowing down as he advanced to the semifinals of the Junior 63 kg bracket. Pletcher had two tech falls and a 10-4 decision to advance to the semifinals against Kaden Gfeller.
Buckeye commitment Malik Heinselman advanced to the semifinals of the 46-50 kg bracket with a 13-2 victory as the No. 1 seed.
Coveted recruit David Carr advanced to the semis of the 70 kg bracket after putting up 32 points in three matches.
Nathan Tomasello blanked his first two opponents before a last-second victory over Nico Megaludis in the quarterfinals. Once in the semifinals, Tomasello dropped a 2-2 decision to Tony Ramos based on criteria. Despite leaving Iowa for a job on the North Carolina coaching staff, Ramos has not become any more gracious in victory, which is certainly a disappointment. Tomasello will await his opponent in the consolation semifinals later today.
Johnni DiJulius won his opening match and then upset No. 1 seed Jayson Ness 10-7 in the round of 16. JDJ's luck ran out in the quarterfinals where he was downed with a quick tech fall. DiJulius will face Chris Dardanes in the consolation bracket.
Hunter Stieber advanced to the quarterfinals with a forfeit and 10-0 tech fall, but he ran into a buzzsaw in Nazar Kulchytskyy in the quarters. Stieber will face former Northwestern All-American Jason Welch in the consolation bracket.
Though he currently is a member of the Princeton coaching staff, former NCAA runner-up Nick Heflin certainly made the Buckeye faithful proud with his efforts on Friday. Heflin blanked each of his first two opponents 10-0 before defeating Gabe Dean 6-3. Heflin's outstanding run came to an end in the semifinals, where he lost 15-4 to fellow Ohio native David Taylor. Heflin will compete in the consolation semifinals on Saturday.
Session III of the UWW Junior Freestyle tournament and the Senior Men's Freestyle tournament resumes on Saturday at noon. The Juniors will complete the consolation rounds up through the medal matches, while the Seniors will complete the entire consolation bracket including the medal matches.
Session IV for the Juniors will start at 3 PM Eastern where they will wrestle the semifinals and all of the placement matches. The Senior Session IV will start at 9 PM Eastern on Saturday night. All of the action can be seen on FloWrestling.org (subscription required).
