Buckeye wrestlers are very good at freestyle wrestling. Consider as the most recent evidence that three members of the U.S. Senior World Cup Team came from Ohio State, including starters Kyle Snyder and Logan Stieber.
Nineteen members of the Ohio State wrestling fraternity – including past, present and future members of the roster – will take their first steps toward earning a spot on a world team at this week's 2018 Marine Corps Open Wrestling Championships, commonly known as the U.S. Open, at the South Point Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas.
Joey McKenna is the lone member of the 2018 NCAA finals lineup to enter the arena, as Nathan Tomasello announced this week that he would skip the Open to undergo surgery on the knee he injured during last year's U23 World Team Trials. Kyle Snyder already has a bid in the Final X series as a reigning world champion, in essence getting a bye in this first leg of the world team selection process.
McKenna will compete against 2016 World Champion Logan Stieber at 65 kg in the Senior Freestyle tournament. In addition to being training partners at Ohio State, McKenna served as Stieber's backup on the World Cup Team earlier this month in Iowa City.
Also competing in Senior Freestyle are alumni Johnny DiJulius at 61 kg, Lance Palmer and Hunter Stieber at 70 kg and Kenny Courts at 92 kg. Tomasello would have been the seventh Buckeye in Senior Freestyle had he competed at 57 kg.
Palmer and DiJulius are the only Senior Buckeyes not to earn pre-seeds. Stieber and McKenna are the top two seeds in their class, Courts is the No. 4 seed at 92 kg and Hunter Stieber is the No. 5 seed at 70 kg.
The top seven wrestlers at each weight will advance to the World Team Trials Challenge Tournament in Rochester, Minn., next month.
The winners of the U.S. Open at 61 kg, 65 kg, 79 kg, 86 kg and 92 kg will advance to Final X, a series of qualifying events set for June, and the winners of the remaining weights, where a returning World medalist is present (57 kg, 70 kg, 74 kg, 97 kg and 125 kg), will earn an automatic bid to the best-of-three finals series at the Challenge Tournament.
Logan Stieber is considered a heavy favorite to win at 65 kg, but McKenna and Rutgers' Anthony Ashnault will not make things easy for the former world champ. In addition to going 3-1 at the World Cup earlier this month, Stieber was announced this week as a member of the U.S. team competing at the Pan American Championships in Lima, Peru, May 3-6.
Courts, after being away from action for a bit, turned heads at the Bill Farrell Memorial Invitational in New York earlier this month when he pinned Russia’s Arsen-Ali Musalaliev, a former junior world champ.
While the Senior Freestyle competition gets most of the attention, the Junior Freestyle tournament features a handful of Buckeyes who are expected to contribute significantly to Ohio State's success in the coming years.
The 2018 UWW Men’s Junior Nationals in freestyle and Greco-Roman will qualify athletes for the UWW Junior World Team Trials in each style. The UWW Men’s Freestyle World Team Trials are in Rochester, Minn., May 18-20. The UWW Greco-Roman World Team Trials are in Indianapolis, Ind. on June 8.
Of interest to Ohio State fans:
JUNIOR FREESTYLE
57 kg – Jordan Decatur, Malik Heinselman, Brakan Mead
74 kg – Elijah Cleary, Kaleb Romero
79 kg – Ryan Ferro, Ethan Smith
86 kg – Gavin Hoffman, Zach Steiner
92 kg – Kevin Snyder
97 kg – Gary Traub
JUNIOR GRECO-ROMAN
55 kg – Brady Koontz, Dylan Koontz
Heinselman and Hoffman are both highly-regarded members of the Buckeyes' class of 2018, and both have significant freestyle experience under their belts already. This weekend's tournament gives fans a chance to see why this recruiting class is considered one of the best in program history; Hoffman is among the favorites to win at 86 kg.
Romero, at 74 kg, is almost certain to hold a starting spot on next year's roster, again giving followers of the sport a glimpse into the future. He is considered one of the favorites to win the class this weekend, but unlike several of his teammates competing, doesn't have much freestyle experience on his resume – yet.
Decatur is considered a blue-chip world team prospect given his previous successes, and may have the inside track to win this weekend's tournament. He is a member of the Class of 2019, and committed to wrestle for Tom Ryan way back in November 2016.
When and Where to Watch
Action gets underway Friday, with Session One of men's Senior Freestyle kicking off at noon, with Session Two following at 6 p.m. and the semifinals at 8 p.m. The consolation semis and placement matches are Saturday at noon, followed by the finals at 6 p.m.
Junior Freestyle also starts Friday at noon, with Session Two at 6 p.m., Session Three Saturday at noon, and the finals at 1:30 p.m.
Junior Greco-Roman gets underway Thursday at noon, with Session Two at 6 p.m., and the finals at 7 p.m.
The full schedule of events is available here.
The event will stream live via FloWrestling. Live scoring and brackets can be found here, and the event stream can be found here.
