Ohio State's wrestling team spent Friday night dismantling the Spartans in East Lansing, most of Saturday night watching teammate Kyle Snyder and Buckeye alumnus Nick Heflin wrestle their way into the medal round at the Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix, and at some point - one hopes - got some sleep ahead of a Sunday showdown with the Purdue Boilermakers.
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6-5, 0-4 Big Ten Conference ROSTER / SCHEDULE |
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1:00 P.M. – SUNDAY, JAN. 28 ST. PARIS GRAHAM HIGH SCHOOL ST. PARIS, OHIO |
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FACEBOOK LIVE STREAMING |
It's been quite a weekend.
As the team did in December versus the Indiana Hoosiers, Ohio State opted to host a Big Ten foe at the home gym of a highly-decorated senior leader. Then, it was Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, alma mater of former NCAA champ Nathan Tomasello; Sunday it's St. Paris Graham, home of the legendary Jordan family wrestling dynasty and a certified Division I recruiting factory.
The Jordan family, like the Stiebers, are one of Ohio State wrestling's most important families. Brothers Jim and Jeff, Ohio born and raised, were multi-year All Americans at Wisconsin, and Jim a two-time NCAA champion to boot.
While Jim sent his sons Ben and Isaac to Madison, where they would become All Americans themselves, long-time St. Paris Graham coach Jeff sent his sons Bo and Micah to Columbus, with youngest son Rocky on the way as part of a stunningly-good Class of 2018.
To say that Jeff is one helluva coach is understatement bordering on folly. In addition to his own progeny and nephew Isaac, he's coached a number of D1 prospects over the years, including Iowa standout Alex Marinelli, who defeated Te'Shan Campbell last weekend in Columbus, and Penn State star David Taylor, who just won a gold medal at the Yarygin Sunday morning.
So when the Jordan brothers and their teammates lace 'em up in front of a friendly Champaign County crowd, it'll be as much a tribute to the Jordan family and the Graham wrestling dynasty as it is a Big Ten wrestling meet.
Buckeye Breakdown
| Wt | OSU | PUR |
|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 4 Nathan Tomasello (3-1) | No. 13 Luke Welch (22-4) |
| 133 | Brakan Mead (8-11) | Ben Thornton (19-8) |
| 141 | No. 11 Joey McKenna (8-1) | Nate Limmex (18-11) |
| 149 | No. 7 Ke-Shawn Hayes (20-3) | Austin Nash (5-13) |
| 157 | No. 5 Micah Jordan (18-3) | Griffin Parriott (11-9) |
| 165 | Cody Burcher (5-0) | Jacob Morrissey (16-13) |
| 174 | No. 3 Bo Jordan (17-2) | No. 12 Dylan Lydy (24-9) |
| 184 | No. 2 Myles Martin (21-0) |
Max Lyon (11-11) -OR- Jon Morales (8-8) |
| 197 | No. 1 Kollin Moore (16-0) | Christian Brunner (16-5) |
| HWT | Kevin Snyder (16-9) | No. 15 Shawn Streck (22-10) |
Friday night in East Lansing, the Buckeyes delivered an old-fashioned beating to one of the doormats of the conference. Over the past two seasons, Sparty has netted just two conference wins, and the lack of talent on the roster showed against one of the most talented squads in NCAA history.
With three pins and three tech falls out of seven total victories, Ohio State won every match it should have - save one. Te'Shan Campbell dropped one of the most frustrating matches of the season, eating a disqualification after too many staling penalties.
Although Tom Ryan vigorously contested the final stalling call of the match - so much so that he drew a penalty of his own - he has long maintained that his men can't leave the match in the hands of the official. In Campbell's case, that means getting better on his feet, and getting more aggressive taking and finishing shots, something that hasn't happened in a shocking four-match losing streak.
Campbell won't take the mat Sunday, with Ryan saying that the Pitt transfer and 2017 ACC champ "is struggling to compete at high level" after opening the season 14-2.
Considering that the junior earned a pin, four tech falls and seven major decisions in those 14 victories, he's plenty capable of winning, but against three ranked opponents he failed to show the aggression necessary to win against the Big Ten's best, and Friday's stall-fest was salt in an open wound for the Buckeyes.
In his place, Ryan will send out Cody Burcher, a redshirt junior who is 5-0 in tournament action this season. Ryan said he is eager to see Burcher compete against a good opponent in Jacob Morrissey.
Also on the sidelines Sunday will be Luke Pletcher, who has earned an impressive 20-0 record this season en route to a unanimous No. 2 ranking. Pletcher is "a little dinged up," and will recover a bit ahead of a brutal final stretch of the season on the road at Penn State, at Michigan and at North Carolina State ahead of the Big Ten tournament.
Brakan Mead will step in for Pletcher at 133. The true freshman has earned his stripes this season, wrestling 17 matches in relief for an injured Nathan Tomasello.
Kevin Snyder will once again stand in for his globe-trotting elder brother, who Sunday morning became the first American male to win a second Ivan Yarygin Grand Prix championship.
The Purdue Boilermakers
Head Coach: Tony Ersland
Purdue has managed six dual-meet wins this season, including a victory Friday night over North Dakota State. What the Boilers haven't managed, however, is to win a meet in conference action, something that doesn't look probable Sunday, either.
Ersland, a Dan Gable protege like Tom Ryan, is in his third year at the helm in West Lafayette and is working to make the Boilermakers a respectable program in the deepest conference in the sport. He engineered back-to-back top-25 recruiting classes the past two years, with the class of 2016 ranked No. 6 by FloWrestling, followed by the No. 13 class in 2017.
The 2017-18 roster features seven top 100 recruits, though only three starters are currently ranked in their respective weight class. The team wrestled well in close losses to Michigan, Nebraska and Illinois, a trio of highly-ranked teams... but were decimated by Cael Sanderson's Penn State death machine, 43-6.
With three starters out of action Sunday, Ohio State will likely finish the match somewhere in between, though the outcome of the meet is mostly a foregone conclusion given Ohio State's seven wrestlers ranked in the Top 11 - versus Purdue's three ranked 12-15.
Notable Purdue Wrestlers
No. 13 Luke Welch - 125 pounds
Since returning to action earlier this month, Nathan Tomasello has faced two of the toughest competitors in the class in Ethan Lizak and Spencer Lee. He'll face another ranked foe Sunday in Welch, a redshirt senior and the 2017 University Nationals freestyle champion at 57 kg.
The Indiana native is 22-4 on the season, so he's fairly well battle-tested at this point relative to Tomasello, who is wrestling in just his fifth match of the year after missing 12 weeks due to an injury sustained at the U23 World Team Trials in October.
No. 12 Dylan Lydy - 174 pounds
Bo Jordan gets a ranked opponent for his senior sendoff in front of his hometown crowd. Lydy, an Indianapolis native and redshirt sophomore, is 24-9 on the season and has a fair bit of freestyle experience under his belt, to boot.
Jordan, of course, is one of the best wrestlers in the sport, and will want to put on a show for his friends and family. Don't be surprised if this is the last match of the afternoon.
No. 15 Shawn Streck - Heavyweight
Streck has one of Purdue's better chances at picking up a win Sunday, as he'll wrestle the younger of the Snyder brothers. The redshirt freshman from Merrilville, Ind., comes to St. Paris with a 22-10 record on the season to Kevin Snyder's 16-8 showing.
Snyder has performed ably in relief of his elder sibling, nearly picking up win number 17 Friday night. Michigan State's Christian Rebottaro earned a late-match takedown to get the go-ahead points and seal the match, however.
Match Outlook
It seems doubtful that Purdue scores more than a dozen points on the Buckeyes, the season-high output for an Ohio State opponent. The Buckeyes, meanwhile, should see bonus points in at least five matches, and after netting six total falls - three pins and three techs - Friday night, the team will be hungry for more.
Expect Tomasello to be aggressive, as he'd like to tech a ranked opponent to add to his resume in a shortened season. Likewise, the Jordan Brothers will want to show out for their local fans.
Burcher is something of an unknown quantity in this match in the sense that this is only his sixth match of the season, but he certainly has the tools to get the job done, as does Snyder at heavyweight.
If Purdue picks up wins at 133 and 285, a final score of 35-6 seems reasonable.
