Wrestling Recap: No. 2 Ohio State Defeats Kent State and Cleveland State in the Thanksgiving Throwdown

After a dominant home opener versus then No. 11 Arizona State, the Buckeye wrestling team returned to action at St. John Arena in the second-annual Thanksgiving Throwdown, a unique tri-dual meet featuring in-state foes Kent State and Cleveland State.

For the Golden Flashes and Vikings, the trip back up I-71 was a long one, as Ohio State won both duals in convincing fashion, going 38-9 over Kent State and 43-3 over Cleveland State. The Buckeyes won 17 of 20 matches, including 14 bonus point victories.

The much-hyped Pin Chain, which made its debut at the Arizona State dual, was back again on the Ohio State sideline. Four Buckeyes earned the right to wear the motivational accessory, including reigning Olympic, World and NCAA champion Kyle Snyder, who has scored two victories by fall in as many matches.

In an unusual format, St. John Arena featured two mats with action running simultaneously through three "rounds" of competition.

With Ohio State the consensus No. 2 team in the country facing two unranked opponents, fans expected a show from the home team, and the Buckeyes delivered. Kent State fielded one ranked wrestler to Ohio State's eight; the higher-ranked starters all held serve, with four tech falls and two pins adding bonus points to the Ohio State box score.

Versus Cleveland State, the Buckeyes again had the more talented squad, fielding seven ranked starters - Kyle Snyder watched his younger brother Kevin take the heavyweight match - to the Vikings' one. The result was even more decisive, with four tech falls, two pins and two major decisions in nine victories.

Buckeye Breakdown

125 pounds - Brakan Mead

Mead faced a gargantuan task from the outset this season, stepping into the lineup for the injured Nathan Tomasello. The true freshman went 0-2 on the day, dropping a pair of decisions.

Mead was able to score a pair of takedowns in his first match, but Cleveland State's Cameron Lathem opened the bout with a takedown of his own, and added two more in the third period to seal the deal. In his second match, his points all came from escapes, and they weren't enough to earn the win.

133 pounds - Luke Pletcher

Last week Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan said he wanted to see more shots from his sophomore, and the first match of the night versus Kent State's Anthony Tutolo looked much like Pletcher's previous bouts. He scored the victory on a third-period escape and the riding time bonus, having ridden his opponent for more or less the entire second period.

The second match was a much different affair, however. Pletcher scored a pair of takedowns in the first two periods, and powered Cleveland State's redshirt junior Andrew Coghill to the mat, earning the pin at 4:12.

141 pounds - Clay Ragon and Brandon Fitzgerald

With Joey McKenna in Poland preparing for the U23 Freestyle World Championships this weekend, Ohio State fielded two competitors at 141. Clay Ragon, a redshirt freshman, had an exciting match against Cleveland State's Sam Matzek, as the two traded takedowns and escapes throughout regulation, with the score knotted at seven when time expired.

In Sudden Victory, Ragon scored the quick takedown and the 9-7 win.

Brandon Fitzgerald had a much different match versus Tim Rooney of Kent State. Rooney, the reigning MAC Wrestler of the Week, wasted no time getting Fitzgerald on the mat, and went into the third period up 7-0. It looked like Rooney would earn the decision 7-1, but with mere seconds on the clock, he managed to get his opponent in a compromising position, and earned the only pin of the day for either visiting team.

149 - Ke-Shawn Hayes

Hayes faced one of two ranked opponents not wrestling for the Buckeyes, opening his night versus No. 20 Nick Monico of Kent State. While Monico wrestled a decent defensive match, the scoring was all Hayes, with two takedowns and a pair of escapes giving him the 6-2 win.

In his second match, Hayes teed off on the Vikings' Ryan Ford, coming up just short of a tech fall. Head coach Tom Ryan noted that he was extremely impressed to see Hayes make the effort to score additional points even with the match in hand, given the team's focus on bonus points this season.

157 - Micah Jordan

The Jordan Brothers had a disappointing night in the team's home opener versus Arizona State, walking away winless on the night. They exorcised any lingering demons from that Tuesday night, with both brothers earning bonus point victories.

Micah opened his night with a tech fall over Casey Sparkman of Kent State, 19-4, putting on a virtual takedown clinic, putting Sparkman on the mat five times, and three times adding 2-point near falls for good measure.

In his second bout versus Cleveland State, it looked like more of the same... but six takedowns were a mere prelude to another Buckeye win by fall, and the Pin Chain was out again.

165 - Te'Shan Campbell

Campbell has been a revelation for the Buckeyes, adding some much-needed strength in the middle of the lineup. The reigning ACC Champion appears to be getting better and better the longer he trains at the Steelwood Athletic facility, and there is little question he is one of the stronger wrestlers from the top position in his weight class.

Campbell's first match was a major decision over Kent State's John Vaughn, but his second match really showed the type of grit and top skill he possesses. After some blood time early in the first period, things were looking a bit off, with no scoring at all in the opening frame.

After a quick escape to open the second period, things again appeared to be going sideways, as Campbell spent a good bit of time on the mat, writhing in pain. After some attention from the training staff and a talk with Coach Ryan, he went back to work, scoring a takedown, and a series of near falls to end the second up 9-0.

In the third, it was all strength from Campbell, as he put Isaac Best on the mat again, and earned the 16-0 tech fall with another 4-point near fall. Campbell clearly liked to work from top, and to tilt opponents into back points.

174 pounds - Bo Jordan

As predicted by his coach following the Arizona State dual, the elder Jordan brother rebounded quickly from his narrow loss to No. 1 Zahid Valencia. The pride of St. Paris, Ohio was back true to form Tuesday night, earning a pair of tech falls in the Throwdown.

In both cases, Jordan was aggressive early, notching four takedowns in the opening period of his first match, and scoring 14 points in the first period of the second bout. In all, he scored 38 points and allowed only four.

184 pounds - Myles Martin

While Kyle Snyder and Te'Shan Campbell showcase brute strength, Martin "is more like Muhammad Ali, with that silky smooth action," according to head coach Tom Ryan. Without a doubt, Martin is one of the more electrifying wrestlers in the country, and the crowd is never quiet during his matches.

The first man to wear the Buckeye Pin Chain, at the Arizona State dual, followed up that dominant performance with a pair of tech falls Tuesday, including one over a top-20 opponent in Cleveland State's Nick Corba.

Corba is a solid wrestler, but he looked simply too slow to keep up with the quickness and agility of Martin, who earned four takedowns in the first period along with 1:41 of riding time. He added three more takedowns in the second period, locking in the riding time advantage at 2:57, and finished things quickly in the third, 23-7.

Kent State's Colin McCracken endured a similar fate, 27-12.

197 pounds - No. 1 Kollin Moore

Moore has been out of action for more than three months, since winning the bronze medal at the Jr. World Freestyle Championships in Finland back on Aug. 1. A minor injury held him out of the NWCA All-Star Classic in Princeton opening weekend, and Arizona State forfeited their match against him in the Buckeye home opener.

Despite the long absence from competition, the sophomore showed no rust whatsoever, earning a tech fall in his first match versus Cleveland State, 22-2, and earning his first Pin Chain of the season, with the fall over Kent State's Shane Mast just 1:44 into the match.

After the matches, Moore said he's looking forward to entering the field at the Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas, where he'll look toward a potential match versus Virginia Tech all-star Jared Haught, the opponent he missed at the NWCA event earlier in the month. Moore defeated Haught by fall in the third-place match at the 2017 NCAA Division I wrestling championships in St. Louis.

285 - No. 1 Kyle Snyder and Kevin Snyder

The Snyder brothers are an impressive - and imposing - pair. Most have heard of the elder Snyder, the reigning Olympic, World and NCAA champion, now in his senior campaign for the Buckeyes; freshman brother Kevin, though not a household name yet, is a talented wrestler in his own right, and both men earned bonus points Tuesday.

Kyle earned his second win by fall in as many matches, bringing out the Pin Chain again. Not known for pins in previous seasons, Snyder is a takedown artist who more often than not makes his NCAA opponents look silly, letting them up simply to put them back on the mat again, and again and again.

With the new Pin Chain on the line, it seems, Snyder is going for the fall in every match. After the Arizona State dual, he said that the need for bonus points this postseason is critical, as No. 1 Penn State is known for its five pin-happy national champions. When assistant coach J Jaggers came up with the homage to Miami Football's "turnover chain," Snyder answered the call.

"I wouldn't have gone for the pin if it wasn't for the Pin Chain," Snyder said after his pin versus the Sun Devils. "Penn State is really good, and we are really good, so it's going to come down to bonus points."

He pinned a taller, heavier opponent in Kent State's Devin Nye just 39 seconds into the second period, having scored five of his trademark takedowns in the first.

With Kyle doing color commentary for the BTN Plus live stream, Kevin stepped into the circle for the heavyweight bout versus Cleveland State's Collin Kelly. If you hadn't been paying attention, you might not have realized there were two different Snyders wrestling 285 for the Buckeyes, as Kevin put on a takedown clinic of his own.

In the first period, he added a pair of 4-point near falls to his opening takedown, ending the first period up 10-0. In the second, he added four more takedowns, allowing only escapes. Another takedown to open the final frame finished the match with a 20-5 tech fall, and the Buckeyes added another 5-point win to their total.

The Buckeyes will face tougher competition as the season progresses, but by and large handled their business as expected against solid Ohio-bred and raised competition. Six starters remain undefeated entering next weekend's Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational: Pletcher (7-0), Hayes (8-0), Campbell (7-0), Martin (8-0), Moore (3-0) and Snyder (2-0).

The Buckeyes will travel to Nevada next weekend for the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Dec. 1-2. Ohio State will field seven of its 10 starters, along with Brakan Mead (125), Brandon Fitzgerald (141) and Kevin Snyder (285) in for Nathan Tomasello, Joey McKenna and Kyle Snyder.