Wrestlers affiliated with Ohio State have done quite well on the international stage in recent memory. From current senior world team members Logan Stieber and reigning world champion Kyle Snyder to junior world bronze medalist Kollin Moore, the Buckeye wrestling room is full of world-class freestyle talent. Three members of the 2017-2018 roster, including two former NCAA champions, will compete this weekend in the inaugural Under-23 World Team Trials in Rochester, Minn.
Myles Martin, Joey McKenna and Nathan Tomasello will hit the mats Sunday, Oct. 8. Preliminary, quarterfinal and semifinal matches are scheduled for 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. CDT. The best-of-three Finals series begin at 3:30 p.m., with live streaming available via Trackwrestling.
Having so many potential world team members is not a small thing for the Buckeyes. On one hand, it speaks to the talent and coaching at the Steelwood training facility that three of 10 starters on the squad could make a world team. On the other hand, it could also mean that 30% of Tom Ryan's starting lineup will spend a good chunk of November working toward the medal stand at the U23 World Championships in Poland.
The creation of the U23 championships is a new wrinkle in the typical NCAA calendar, as noted by Trackwrestling's Andy Hamilton:
United World Wrestling’s introduction of the U23 World Championships this year has put college coaches in a unique position. The first-ever U23 Trials, streamed live this weekend on Trackwrestling, will be followed up next week by the start of college official practices. Some of those who win this weekend’s tournament will likely miss college competitions to compete in November at the U23 World Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland.
But with the reigning, defending, undisputed 97 kg world champion on his roster, the Buckeyes' head coach isn't about to tell his other young superstars they have to sit this one out.
“It’s fair that those guys have the same opportunity that Kyle had to make World teams and Junior World teams," Ryan told Hamilton earlier in the week. "That’s why we’ve moved down this road. Now if the NCAA changes some of their guidelines about dual meets and a dual meet championship, we will assess. But under the current guidelines we’ll do everything we can to put guys on World teams.”
His comments made reference to recent proposals to create a second team national championship in wrestling, reflecting a team's performance in its dual meets, in addition to the current title earned at the NCAA tournament in March. For simplicity's sake, think of it as a regular season championship and a tournament championship.
For the Buckeyes competing this weekend, however, the focus isn't on how a potential world team berth could affect their NCAA season - it's simply on being the best wrestler on the mats when the whistle blows.
Junior Myles Martin is just the 15th true freshman in NCAA history – and first-ever at Ohio State – to win a national championship, taking home the 174-pound title in 2016. He moved up to 184 last year, and battled through five wrestleback matches after an early upset loss in the NCAA tournament, finishing fifth for his second-consecutive All-America placing. The 2017 United World Wrestling University Nationals champion at 86kg will wrestle in the same class in Rochester, and faces what Gary Abbott of USA Wrestling handicapped as the second-toughest weight class of the weekend:
[Martin] will have a tough road to make this team. 2017 NCAA runner-up Brett Pfarr of Minnesota is dropping in weight to 86 kg according to online registration. Pfarr was sixth at this weight class way back in the 2015 University Nationals. Graduated Iowa star Sammy Brooks, who was fourth at the NCAA last year, is starting his post-college career. Brooks was second in the 2016 University Nationals.
Pfarr and Brooks certainly have the experience to make things difficult for Martin, but Martin is more than talented enough to seal the deal. It will be interesting to see how this class is seeded. If Martin and Brooks face off, and it seems highly likely that they will at some point in the tournament, Martin will be eager to avenge last seasons' losses to the Hawkeye.
Recent Stanford transfer Joey McKenna will make his big debut as a Buckeye in the 65kg class, which Abbott called the third-toughest division of the tournament. The 2014 Junior World silver medalist was a 2016 NCAA All-American at Stanford, and already has some Senior level medals in freestyle in the trophy case. Part of what makes this class so tough, Abbott noted in his preview, is that it's full of talent and tough to predict.
Jaydin Eierman of Missouri qualified for the 2017 Senior World Team Trials, and had a great All-American year as a freshman for Mizzou last year. In 2015, Brock Zacherl of Clarion won the UWW Junior World Team Trials, but lost to McKenna in a Special Wrestle-off for the Junior World Team. Zacherl was third in the 2017 University Nationals. Winning a gold at the 2017 University Nationals was Robbie Mathers, who was also eighth in the 2015 U.S. Senior Open.
Having world-class training partners is one of the likely reasons behind McKenna's choosing Ohio State over other Big Ten programs, and this tournament will be a good gauge of what the road ahead may look like for the newest member of the Buckeye starting lineup.
For the man they call NaTo, the Rochester tournament is the next logical step in his progress toward making an Olympic team. The 2015 NCAA champion at 125 spent part of his summer competing abroad, most recently taking silver at the prestigious Medved International in Belarus. Tomasello also made his first United State National Team with a 3-1 showing this summer at the World Team Trials in Lincoln, Neb.
The 57kg class is fairly stacked, featuring reigning Junior World champion Dalton Fix, and former college standouts Tim Lambert of Nebraska and Josh Rodriguez of Penn State. Even so, Tomasello might have the most manageable path to a spot on the world team of the three Ohio State standouts competing.
Interestingly enough, Ohio State could have fielded even more entries at the U23 trials, with Snyder and Moore both young enough to qualify. Ryan said both have wrestled enough on the international stage lately that they're taking some time off the mats to lift and prepare for the upcoming NCAA season. For the Buckeye coaching and training staff, managing the balance between NCAA and international competitions is becoming routine.
"They will not miss any major dual meets that our fans want to see them in," Ryan told Trackwrestling. "And all three of these guys have Olympic aspirations. If we’re going to continue to develop them to that end, then we felt that this is an event they wanted to go, that we should send them to.”
The UWW Senior U23 World Championships are November 21-26 in Bydgoszcz, Poland. Ohio State hosts Cleveland State and Kent State in the Thanksgiving Throwdown at St. John Arena Nov. 21, and will then travel to the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational Dec. 1-2.
