Kollin Moore reached the century mark as a Buckeye, winning his 100th career victory in vintage form, earning a 21-3 tech fall. Luke Pletcher, Sammy Sasso and Rocky Jordan joined him in the bonus category as the Buckeyes rolled through six matches in a 24-13 victory on the road.
Moore's match was everything you expect from the No. 1 wrestler in the country at 197 pounds, with takedowns aplenty and back points that allowed him to race out to an insurmountable lead in the first period and to seal the tech fall in the second. It was a perfect showcase of his skills in his 100th win.
WINS
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) January 18, 2020
Congrats to Kollin Moore on securing his 100th career victory.#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/oueqviDySS
Wisconsin looked very much like they had what it took to pull off the upset in the UW Field House at the top of the evening, winning the first two bouts of the night and racing out to a 7-0 lead. No. 20 Jordan Decatur dropped a major decision to Seth Gross, the No. 1 man in the country at 133 pounds and a likely repeat as NCAA Champion.
From there on out it was almost all Buckeyes, with Pletcher and Sasso scoring back-to-back majors at 141 and 149, both over ranked opponents.
Pletcher, ranked No. 1 in the country in his class, faced a fourth-ranked opponent in Tristan Moran who earned Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors last week after beating No. 3 Mitch McKee of Minnesota in a 7-6 decision and No. 9 Chad Red of Nebraska, 9-4. Pletcher took him to the woodshed in an 11-3 major that showcased what a leap Pletcher has made this season, as it was all offense from the senior captain.
Luke Pletcher is now 9-0 vs top-25 opponents with a +69 point differential. Wild. #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/WkPIVuQqnk
— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) January 18, 2020
Sasso won his bout by major decision on the strength of an 8-point first period in which he planted No. 13 Cole Martin with a nifty inside trip, and proceeded to tack on a half-dozen back points. Sasso faded last week late in a match against Rutgers, but didn't repeat that mistake this time, scoring a takedown with literally two seconds left in the third period to seal the bonus point win for his team.
A last-second takedown gave Sammy Sasso ANOTHER ranked win. The @wrestlingbucks freshman is . #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/oNyNh1cuEp
— Ohio State on BTN (@OhioStateOnBTN) January 18, 2020
Those two wins set the tone for the rest of the meet, and Elijah Cleary rode the momentum to his first dual-meet victory since November, snapping a five-dual losing streak. Although he couldn't get the major, he battled in every position to win a solid 7-3 decision to get himself back in the win column and put Ohio State on track to silence the home team.
No. 9 Kaleb Romero took care of business against a wily unranked opponent, and Rocky Jordan put on a clinic in his first dual meet on the road since moving up to 184 pounds. Jordan looked like Moore in securing a tech fall of his own.
ROCKY! First dual win now were rolling! https://t.co/ya4CK7xzo1
— Logan Stieber (@_LogieBear_) January 18, 2020
No. 13 Ethan Smith wasn't able to pull off the upset against No. 4 Evan Wick, and Gary Traub didn't have quite enough left in the tank to trounce No. 5 Trent Hillger. Both Buckeyes battled through the final bell, but were outgunned by Top-5 talent wrestling on their home mat.
| Wt | Results | OSU | UW |
|---|---|---|---|
| 125 | Eric Barnett, decision over Malik Heinselman (8-6) | 0 | 3 |
| 133 | No. 1 Seth Gross, major decision over No. 20 Jordan Decatur (15-6) | 0 | 7 |
| 141 | No.1 Luke Pletcher, major decision over No. 4 Tristan Moran (11-3) | 4 | 7 |
| 149 | No. 6 Sammy Sasso, major decision over No. 13 Cole Martin (12-3) | 8 | 7 |
| 157 | Elijah Cleary, decision over Drew Scharenbrock (7-3) | 11 | 7 |
| 165 | No. 4 Evan Wick, decision over No. 13 Ethan Smith (7-4) | 11 | 10 |
| 174 | No. 9 Kaleb Romero, decision over Jared Krattiger (7-3) | 14 | 10 |
| 184 | Rocky Jordan, victory by tech fall over Tyler Dow (20-2) | 19 | 10 |
| 197 | No. 1 Kollin Moore, victory by tech fall over Peter Christensen (21-3) | 24 | 10 |
| HWT | No. 5 Trent Hillger, decision over Gary Traub (6-0) | 24 | 13 |
Given that the dual looked like a 5-5 affair on paper, it was a solid win for the Buckeyes. They look to have a pretty consistent ability to win six matches at this stage, usually counting on their ranked guys to hold serve and then count on Traub, or either Cleary or Jordan to pick up one more.
The question will become how deep the lineup can claw into a bracket come March.
Ohio State comes back home Sunday to host Illinois at the Covelli Center. Action kicks off at 1 p.m., and will stream live on BTN Plus.
