The Savage has wrestled his last match for the Buckeyes.
On Thursday, Ohio State coach Tom Ryan announced Sasso's college career is over. The veteran wrestler, who battled back from a gunshot wound he suffered in August 2023 to have a 12-7 record this season, had been scheduled to compete for a spot in the Buckeyes' lineup for the Big Ten Championships but decided to bow out in the best interest of himself and the program.
"Sasso is very direct with his words and his thinking. In the beginning of the year, after he was injured, he said, 'I will do everything in my power to get back to the level of wrestling I know I am capable of. If I can't, I won't wrestle anymore." Ryan said. "Unfortunately, and I don't know if it's so much unfortunately. ... There will be good from it. Living in that world is far better for me. ... There's a lot of learning that's happened from it, so there is good.
"Sammy has decided based on how his body feels – his will is 100 percent there, that has never wavered, he is an ultra competitor," the head coach continued. "As difficult as it was for him to decide to bow out, that, 'My will is there but my body cannot do what it used to be able to do' (made the difference). ... He felt that it was not in his best interest or in the best interest of the program."
Sasso ends his Ohio State career with a 106-19 record across six seasons with the Buckeyes. The four-time All-American won two Big Ten titles in 2021 and 2023. He also finished as an NCAA runner-up in both of those seasons, losing to North Carolina's Austin O'Connor in 2021 and Cornell's Yianni Diakomihalis in 2023.
As Ohio State prepares for the Big Ten Championships in Chicago next weekend, Sasso has done what he can to help his teammates prepare, Ryan said.
"He's been at practice every day helping out everybody. He's pretty amazing," Ryan explained. "He leaves here a two-time Big Ten champ, four-time All-American, two-time national finalist, and for whatever reason, it wasn't in the cards for him to leave here a national champion, but he's a champion."
