Wrestling Recap: No. 2 Ohio State Mauls Princeton, 39-0

With just two matches left in 2017, the Buckeyes rolled into Delaware looking to rack up the bonus points and earn a decisive victory over Princeton. They did just that, winning six of 10 matches by bonus point and all 10 overall en route to a 39-0 win over the Tigers.

The night was the first of two weekend tilts for the Ohio State wrestling team. With the match starting a little later than anticipated, that didn't deter the second-ranked team in the nation from rolling Friday night. In a prelude to Beast From the East, a national high school tournament featuring some of the best talent in the nation — including 2018 signees Sammy Sasso and Quinn Kinner — the Buckeyes rolled.

Buckeye Breakdown

Bo Jordan and Te'Shan Campbell both returned to the lineup after a one-week hiatus to heal up from the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational and finals week in Columbus. The team didn't need Nathan Tomasello, still rehabbing from an October knee injury, or Kyle Snyder, training with Team USA in Colorado, to tame the Tigers.

125 Pounds - Brakan Mead

Coming into the match, Brakan Mead had done a very formidable job in the absence of Nathan Tomasello. The true freshman from Powell, OH got things started off on the right foot for the Buckeyes with a win at 125 pounds.

The first period saw Mead defend an early swing single attempt by Jonathan Gomez. He later scored a takedown and parlayed the points into four more with a near-fall and back points for an upstart first period for Mead.

Gomez brought things closer in the second with a closed-hands call on Mead and an escape from bottom. Gomez coupled that with a takedown to bring things to 6-4 headed into the third. He scored a two-point near-fall to get things back to a 6-6 advantage.

The last minute of things were a rollercoaster. Mead escaped for a 7-6 lead followed by a takedown by Gomez with :10 remaining to have the 8-7 advantage. Out of the neutral break, Mead and Gomez shot, locked up and Mead was able to turn a one-point deficit with under ten to go into a four-point move at the buzzer for an 11-8 win. 

133 Pounds - No. 4 Luke Pletcher

Facing Ty Agaisse, recent CKLV Invitational winner Luke Pletcher started off the first with a double-leg to hold a 2-0 lead after one.

Pletcher was down to start the second and gained the escape point in all of six seconds to make it 3-0. Another takedown halfway through the first minute made it 5-0. Agaisse would get an escape point at the end of the first period for a 5-1 advantage headed into the third.

The final stanza was an alternation of takedowns and escape points. Pletcher would further his lead to 9-3 by the end of the match, not allowing an offensive point throughout the entire bout.

Agaisse gave some valiant effort throughout the match, but continual footwork, awareness and positioning of Pletcher effectively eliminated any offensive chance from Agaisse. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 6-0 lead.

141 Pounds - No. 6 Joey McKenna

Fresh off his first return to collegiate competition after winning the U23 World Bronze and then defeating No. 13 Cole Weaver of Indiana, Joey McKenna got to work against Pat D'Arcy to give the Buckeyes three straight wins to open the dual.

McKenna got a takedown at 1:51 to get the lead to 2-0 before McKenna worked a four-point nearfall to make it 6-0 quickly and 6-1 after one. McKenna would roll the rest of the way, getting another takedown and an escape point while not allowing any offensive points. Add in 2:46 of riding time, and McKenna secured the major decision victory to give Ohio State a 10-0 advantage.

149 Pounds - No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes

Ke-Shawn Hayes had the most highly anticipated match of the evening, as he competed against No. 7 Matthew Kolodzik. The redshirt sophomore dispatched Kolodzik, an All-American last May, 2-0.

The first two periods were a chess match, with the score remaining scoreless. Hayes started the third down and after 35 seconds was able to get the escape point for the narrow 1-0 advantage.

There was no more scoring, but add in 1:25 of riding time Hayes had accumulated after a couple solid periods of mat wrestling and Hayes secured his fifth top-20 win of the season.

157 Pounds - No. 5 Micah Jordan

Micah Jordan kept the winning ways going in the fifth bout of the dual. 

Three quick takedowns in the first 1:30 of the first period brought Jordan out to a 6-3 advantage. Add another off a swing single and Jordan took an 8-3 advantage headed into the second. 

The second and third periods were no let up on the relentless attack from the younger Jordan, as he was able to accumulate nearly three minutes of riding time for a 16-6 major decision victory for the Buckeyes.

165 Pounds - No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell

Battling a leg injury that definitely effected his performance, Te'Shan Campbell gutted out a major decision against Jonathan Schliefer. 

Schliefer took advantage of the left leg injury, attempting a number of single-legs on Campbell but to no avail early in the match. Campbell took the lead finally with under a minute on an escape to make it 1-0. A huge takedown furthered the lead to 3-0 headed into the third, and Campbell was able to record a four-point nearfall to end the match. With riding time, an 8-0 victory and a 21-0 advantage marked six straight wins to start the dual for the scarlet and gray. 

174 Pounds - No. 3 Bo Jordan

BoJo became the first member of the Buckeyes to get the illustrious #PinChain, turning a takedown and a near-fall at first into an eventual fall at 1:03 of the first for Ohio State in what became a dominating performance for the Buckeyes. 

Ohio State has large goals in the 2017-18 season. They're looking to accomplish those by bonus point wins. Jordan's fall was Ohio State's fourth bonus point win of the night.

184 Pounds - No. 2 Myles Martin

The finishers of the Ohio State lineup continued to do their work after Jordan got it started with the pin and Myles Martin rolled to a another bonus-point win over Kevin Parker.

10 first period points off takedowns led the way for the junior from McDonough, MD. He accumulated more than 2:00 minutes of riding time in the first period along with those takedowns.

After making it 18-4 and making riding time 3:23 after two, it was an uneventful finish for Martin, as a locking hands call on Parker gave Martin the 19-4 tech-fall. Martin had a fair amount of family and friends at the meet as the University of Delaware sits a little more than an hour away from Martin's hometown.

197 Pounds - No. 1 Kollin Moore

Creston's very own Kollin Moore continued the trend of the entire night, as he too got a victory, against Patrick Brucki, to give Ohio State a 36-0 lead and a 9-0 record advantage headed into the heavyweight bout of the dual. 

Brucki gave Moore a bit of a tough time during the bout, though Moore did not give up an offensive point the entire bout. He carried a 9-3 advantage headed into the final period where he made the final 14-5 for a major decision victory. 

The top-ranked wrestler Moore's major decision was Ohio State's sixth of the night. 

285 Pounds - Kevin Snyder

Stepping into the lineup while his older brother was away training at the Olympic Training Center, Kevin Snyder finished the night with a hard-fought win for the Buckeyes.

The redshirt freshman battled Michael Markulec to complete the neutral sweep for the Buckeyes. The younger Snyder got a low single for two at just under two minutes to begin the scoring in the first, and an escape by Markulec made it 2-1 after one.

The chess match between the two heavyweights started to distance itself when Snyder was able to get an escape point out of a break to get it to 3-1, Ke. Snyder. 

It came down to the wire in the third period, as another escape point by Markulec to make it 3-2 brought it done to an exciting finish. In the end, Kevin Snyder was able to outlast and Ohio State locked up a 39-0 shutout of Princeton Friday night.