Ohio State passed its first big challenge of the season, defeating a Top-10 opponent on the road without two returning All Americans in the lineup. The No. 2 Buckeyes won six of 10 matches, four by major decision, to upend No. 10 Arizona State, 22-17 Sunday afternoon in Tempe.
Kollin Moore and Myles Martin spent the weekend 6,440 miles east, in Bucharest, Romania, where they represented the United States at the U23 Freestyle World Championships. Moore walked away a World Silver Medalist, and Martin made his debut on the international stage in what should be the first of many big-time freestyle tournaments.
Even without the services of two multi-year All Americans, the Buckeyes took care of business and improve to 3-0 on the season. The short story is that the higher-ranked wrestlers prevailed in each match, and Kevin Snyder and Chase Singletary sealed the victory for Ohio State.
| Wt | Result | OSU | ASU |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | No. 6 Ryan Millhof, victory by TECH FALL over Brady Koontz (18-1) | 0 | 5 |
| 133 | No. 5 Luke Pletcher, major decision over Josiah Kline (16-6) | 4 | 5 |
| 141 | No. 2 Joey McKenna, major decision over Cory Crooks (13-0) | 8 | 5 |
| 149 | No. 2 Micah Jordan, major decision over No. 11 Josh Maruca (18-8) | 12 | 5 |
| 157 | No. 5 Ke-Shawn Hayes, decision over Christian Pagdilao (4-3) | 15 | 5 |
| 165 | No. 8 Josh Shields, decision over Kaleb Romero (5-0) | 15 | 8 |
| 174 | No. 1 Zahid Valencia, decision over No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell (6-1) | 15 | 11 |
| 184 | Kordell Norfleet, victory by FALL over Ethan Smith (6:15) | 15 | 17 |
| 197 | Kevin Snyder, major decision over Chad Porter (12-3) | 19 | 17 |
| HWT | Chase Singletary, decision over Brady Daniel (3-1) | 22 | 17 |
The victory was much tighter than the lopsided win over California Baptist Friday night in Riverside, but the win over ASU reflects much better on the Buckeyes given the stakes.
Major Decisions
Ohio State's roster features some of the country's top wrestlers, including five returning All Americans and seven starters ranked in the Top 11 of their respective weight classes. With two of those men wrestling abroad, Arizona State had a chance to steal a victory given that they would start four men also ranked in the Top 11 of their weight class.
Buckeye head coach Tom Ryan continues to evaluate his options at 125 pounds. Malik Heinselman should be the team's long-term solution, but is a true freshman and ideally should spend the year getting stronger and more acclimated to collegiate competition.
Heinselman did not start versus ASU, as the staff will preserve his redshirt until they are absolutely certain that he's ready to contend for All-America honors in March. He wasn't idle over the weekend, however: he won the 125-pound class at the Lindenwood Open.
LINDENDWOOD OPEN CHAMPION (125 lbs)
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) November 17, 2018
Malik Heinselsman earns an escape with just two seconds left in the finals to post an 11-10 win over Iowa State's Alex Mackall.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/36fJdxejZX
Brakan Mead got the nod Friday night versus the Lancers, but Brady Koontz started versus ASU. A respected Greco-Roman competitor, Koontz was no match for ASU's No. 6 Ryan Millhof, who sealed the tech fall midway through the second period.
From there, the Buckeye's big names held serve through the meat of the lineup. Luke Pletcher, Joey McKenna and Micah Jordan each notched major decisions, easily handling their opponents and putting the Buckeyes in a relatively comfortable lead through four matches. Jordan's victory at 149 pounds came against another ranked opponent in No. 11 Josh Maruca.
Ke-Shawn Hayes handled a bit of adversity in his match at 157. Still acclimating to moving up another weight class this season - his third different weight in as many years - Hayes gave up an early takedown that looked like it might give ASU the win with less than a minute remaining in the match. Hayes refused to lose, however, and his short-time takedown gave him the 4-3 decision and bumped the Buckeye lead to 10.
Devilish Run for ASU
Ohio State had an impressive three-match run from 133 to 149; Arizona State had an impressive run of their own from 165-186, fielding a pair of Top-10 middle weights.
Kaleb Romero took to the mat at 165 pounds to face No. 8 Josh Shields. Romero, a four-time Ohio high school champ, entered the match 5-0 on the season, but faced his first Top-10 opponent of the season.
For the most part, the young Buck acquitted himself well, and kept the match in reach. He'll need to focus not only on getting his attack rate up, but most importantly on finishing shots moving forward if he's to make any noise in the class this season.
At 174 pounds, the question wasn't so much who would win, but if the match would get out of hand. No. 1 Zahid Valencia went undefeated last season, upsetting Penn State's Mark Hall to win the NCAA Championship last season.
No. 11 Te'Shan Campbell is no slouch himself, but had a pretty rough stretch in the latter half of the season last year; how he performed against the best wrestler in the class might shed some light on his prospects for this season.
Valencia won the match as expected, but Campbell held on long enough to keep the match to a decision, helping preserve the Buckeye lead in the team score.
The biggest frustration of the match is that two of Valencia's 6 points came from stalling penalties against Campbell, the biggest knock on him during that multi-meet slide last season. Moving forward, he must continue to focus on his attack rate, taking and finishing more shots, rather than continually getting himself in trouble for being too passive.
The 174-pound match pulled Arizona State to within four points, with two unranked wrestlers facing off at 184 pounds. Ohio State's Ethan Smith went into the match with a record of 9-1, but came away with his second loss of the season.
Arizona State's Kordell Norfleet earned an escape and a takedown in the second period, leading to a 3-1 score heading into the final frame. Smith cut the deficit to a point with a quick escape, but then the wheels fell of the wagon, as Norfleet not only managed the escape, but put Smith on his back to earn the pin with less than a minute remaining in the match.
His big win put the Sun Devils into the lead for the first time since the opening bout.
Taking Care of Business
Trailing by two points with two matches to go, the Buckeyes needed their upper weights to come up with wins, and win they did.
Kevin Snyder, younger brother of three-time World Champion Kyle Snyder, has proven to be a more-than-capable backup to Kollin Moore at 197 pounds. With Moore wrestling for his third world medal, Snyder has held the starting spot for the Buckeyes in each of the team's three duals thus far this season.
Flashing shades of his elder sibling, Snyder ripped off three takedowns in the first period, adding a fourth in the second. With a reversal, a stalling penalty against ASU and the riding-time bonus, he finished the match with a 12-3 major decision, putting the Buckeyes back in the lead by two points.
With the outcome of the meet on the line, Chase Singletary stepped into the circle for the final match of the afternoon. The young heavyweight is undefeated on the season thus far, and he would leave the Valley of the Sun that way, too.
Singletary, thus far on the season, seems to do what needs to be done when it needs to be done. His victories aren't overly flashy, and it's clear that in some respects he's still finding his way versus Division I competition.
Heading into the final period, he was tied with ASU's Austin Davis at a point apiece. With just under a minute left in the match, however, he summoned up a final burst to get the go-ahead takedown for the 3-1 decision, sealing the team victory in the process.
The Road Ahead
Ohio State will come back to Columbus for the Thanksgiving holiday and the regroup for another trek to the Mountain West. The team will defend its back-to-back titles at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, Nov. 30-Dec. 1.
The team may or may not have Moore and Martin back in the lineup at that point, depending on how they feel after the wear-and-tear of international travel and world-level competition. In any event, the Buckeyes will return to dual-meet action Dec. 9 when they host the Wisconsin Badgers at St. John Arena for the final meet of 2018.
