Micah Jordan, Te'Shan Campbell Each Win Best-of-Three Series at Annual Wrestle-offs

Micah Jordan will wrestle at 149 pounds for the Buckeyes this season after earning a pair of victories over teammate Ke-Shawn Hayes at the program's annual wrestle-off event.

Jordan wrestled placed sixth at the NCAA Tournament last season at 157 pounds and was Big Ten Tournament runner-up, but challenged 149-pound starter Hayes for the opportunity to move down. Hayes will most likely wrestle at 147 pounds this season, his third different weight class in as many years at Ohio State.

The first bout of the best-of-three series was a close-fought battle, with Jordan earning a takedown late in the third period to pick up the 2-1 decision. In the second match, the competitors traded shots in the first but failed to finish; Jordan would pick up a pair of takedowns in the second and a third in the final frame, marking an 8-1 decision after accounting for riding time.

Micah Jordan takes match two over Ke-Shawn Hayes, 8-2. pic.twitter.com/hvmJcdUvjR

— FloWrestling (@FloWrestling) October 19, 2018

Ohio State head wrestling coach Tom Ryan told Eleven Warriors in September that he felt either competitor could win an NCAA title at 149, and that the wrestle-off presented a "win-win" for the Buckeyes.

"We saw Micah, who wasn't a huge 157-pounder, place at the NCAA, so as soon as the wrestle-off is over, you go from eating 2,500 calories a day to eating 6,000 calories a day, and you build up to 157," Ryan said. "Ke-Shawn wrestled 154 this summer with a day-before weigh-in, and wrestled really well."

Hayes initially projected to be a 141-pound contender when he arrived at Ohio State, but a season-ending injury derailed his redshirt freshman campaign. Joey McKenna's transfer from Stanford during the subsequent offseason pushed Hayes to 149 pounds, where he drew the toughest bracket of any Buckeye at the NCAA tournament, and fell short of All America status.

Jordan came into the wrestle-offs as the consensus Top 3 contender according to the preseason rankings, and as high as No. 2 according to FloWrestling and TrackWrestling. Hayes is projected as high as No. 6 in the rankings at 157 pounds.

RELATED Buckeyes Open Practice As Preseason No. 2 

Campbell is Moving On Up

The other highlighted contest during the wrestle-offs came at 174 pounds, where last year's 165-pound starter Te'Shan Campbell and highly-touted redshirt freshman Ethan Smith squared off in another best-of-three series. Campbell appears to be a more natural fit at 174 than he was at 165, where Ryan acknowledged he had the toughest weight cut of anyone on last season's roster.

In the first bout, the competitors traded escape points to finish 1-1 at the end of regulation, and Campbell scored the winning takedown off of a blast double in sudden victory. In the second match, Campbell earned a 2-point reversal in the second period, and the go-ahead takedown with short time left on the clock in the third.

The knock on Campbell is that he isn't nearly aggressive enough on his feet. He is a hammer on top, but needs to take more shots to really be a contender nationally. He also needs to improve his game on bottom from last season, but certainly has the raw strength to do so.

Smith acquitted himself well in the match, but just couldn't finish a takedown. 

No Surprises

Returning starters Luke Pletcher, Myles Martin and Kollin Moore took care of business as expected, snuffing out challenges from their younger teammates without any trouble.

Pletcher faced newcomer Alex Felix, and pinned him with just 8 seconds remaining in the first period.

Martin squared off against freshman phenom Gavin Hoffman, and racked up a major decision.

Kollin Moore battled Kevin Snyder, younger brother of three-time world champion Kyle Snyder, and posted the tech fall in a little more than 4 minutes.

Joey McKenna did not wrestle at Thursday evening's event, and will start as expected at 141 pounds where he is the unanimous preseason No. 2 nationally.

Okay... now whos ready for the season?

We are.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/LR9dhFH2UL

— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) October 19, 2018

Young Guns?

Ryan said during the offseason that his ultimate starting lineup could feature as many as four freshmen. Presuming Campbell earns the nod at 174 after Thursday's victories over Smith, three freshman starters is still a possibility.

True freshman Malik Heinselman won a 4-3 decision over sophomore Brakan Mead, who stepped in unexpectedly last season for Nathan Tomasello at 125 when the senior was sidelined by injury. Mead acquitted himself well as the unexpected starter, but Heinselman comes to Ohio State as one of the top recruits in the country.

Still, Ryan has said he won't burn Heinselman's redshirt unless he believes the freshman can place at the NCAA Tournament. With a close decision over Mead, it won't be a surprise if the older of the lightweights starts early in the season while the staff evaluates Heinselman's performance in open tournaments.

Kaleb Romero, at 165 pounds, fought a wily veteran in Fritz Schierl. An accomplished Greco-Roman competitor, Schierl gave Romero all he could handle, and both men looked solid on their feet.

Romero scored early and attempted to lock in the cradle, but couldn't quite pull it off. He would score another takedown before the end of the period, and another double in the third gave him the 7-5 victory.

The biggest question mark of the night came at heavyweight, a weight that has been an automatic victory for Ohio State for the past three years under Kyle Snyder.

Redshirt freshman Chase Singletary came to Ohio State as the top-ranked heavyweight prospect in his recruiting class, but his stock has cooled somewhat over the past year. Only TrackWrestling ranked him in their preseason standings, and his match against redshirt sophomore Gary Traub didn't alleviate anyone's concerns.

Traub had a clear size advantage in the match, looking more like a prototypical heavyweight, while Singletary has a build that is similar to that of Kollin Moore at 197. Although Singletary took his shots, he failed to convert any to points, and Traub picked up the match-winning reversal in the second tiebreaker period.

The Road Ahead

Tom Ryan will speak with the media Friday to discuss the results of the wrestle-off and his plans for the roster in the coming weeks. Ohio State officially opened practice last week, and will open the dual-meet season versus the United States Naval Academy on Nov. 3, at Myles Martin's alma mater in Owings Mills, Md.