“The Big Ten can really attack the self confidence of a younger wrestler”
Those were the words of Ohio State head coach, Tom Ryan, earlier this week when referring to the week to week grind of the Big 10 conference. And what looked to be a great way to end an already tough month for his Buckeyes turned into a bad dream within three sudden victory overtime losses in a row.
St. John’s Arena in Columbus, Ohio was alive for the Buckeyes alumni night mixed with the anticipation of the always heated rivalry with the University of Michigan.
On paper the night was set up in the favor of the Buckeyes and one of its seniors, Ian Paddock, as the dual meet would end with Paddock taking on #7, Eric Grajales, who Paddock has beaten in their last two meetings. It was Paddock that struck first, scoring on a quick single leg, but Grajales battled back, riding out the second period before throwing the Buckeye senior for four points in the closing seconds of the bout.
But that was the final nail.
The night started out with back to back victories for Ohio native and U of M coach, Joe McFarland’s team.
Wolverine’s, Brian Murphy and Dan Yates, did exactly what they were suppose to by scoring solid decisions over the Buckeyes two less established weight classes. Which gave the Michigan a 6-0 lead and from there they never trailed again.
The two ‘swing’ matches were now up and if Ryan’s team had any vision of taking the dual they needed to take either 174 or 184.
Mark Martin(OSU) has been really turning it on in January and continued with his winning way as he took a 4-3 decision over Collin Zeerip. The match was tied, 2-2, heading into the third period, when Martin scored a takedown in the final period and held Zeerip to only an escape to secure the victory.
Ohio State’s Kenny Courts was looking to pull his team back to a tie by taking on excelling freshman, Domenic Abounadar. But the gutsy freshman felt at home, seeing that just less than one year ago he was winning another high school state championship in Columbus, while wrestling for Lakewood St. Edward. Abounadar scrambled out of a deep single early in the opening period and caught Courts in a scissors for a takedown and three back points. Courts scored on a low single leg late in the 1st, but couldn't do much else as Abounader sealed another big win with a late takedown in the third.
"He's just a tough kid. He wrestles hard, trains hard, wants to win, and he's just a great all-around kid. He's got a great attitude and personality,” said McFarland. “You want to see those kids do well, because they put in the work and deserve it. I think he's really growing his confidence; he's starting to realize how good he can be. He can be on the podium this year."
Senior All-American, Nick Heflin, did what was expected of him, as he went out and dominated scoring a 16-4 major decision over Chris Heald. Heflin got out to a 5-0 advantage with a takedown and 3-point near fall and nearly recorded the fall in the first period. However, Heald managed to get out and forced the match into the second period. Heflin tacked on four more takedowns and points as he pulled his team within a 9-7 deficit heading into the intermission.
The next three matches are what coaches have bad dreams about.
Three bouts – Three sudden victories – Three tough losses.
Heavyweight freshman, Nick Tavanello was up against #2 ranked freshman sensation Adam Coon. Coon has spent much of January defeating the likes of the returning National Champion, Tony Nelson (Minnesota) and countless other All-Americans. The two traded escapes in the second and third periods en route to sudden victory. After a scoreless overtime period, Coon recorded a reversal after choosing bottom and took a 3-1 lead in the first tiebreaker. In the second tiebreaker, Tavanello scored an escape, but could not notch a takedown in his attempt at victory.
The 125lbers followed suite to the big guys. Buckeye freshman Nick Roberts and Conor Youtsey exchanged escapes before heading into overtime. Youtsey held the #15 ranked Roberts the entire 30 seconds in the first tiebreaker. Youtsey escaped Roberts in the second tiebreaker for the 2-1 win.
The Buckeyes had just what they needed coming to the mat in #5 Johnni DiJulius (133), who has been the portrait of consistency this season for Coach Ryan. After all, his last defeat was nearly three months ago in the season’s opener at Clarion. Rossi Bruno of Michigan has made a living out of being a ‘pesky’ wrestler in the Big 10 conference. The two sophomores also went into sudden victory and needed four tiebreakers before Bruno finally edged DiJulius and handed him only his second defeat on the season.
"He's kind of hard to figure out how to wrestle for the first time. But once you figure him out, you can wrestle the way you want to wrestle but be aware of the positions he's good in and try to advantage of scoring opportunities,” Bruno said. “We've been working the game plan all week, and it really paid off tonight."
After it seemed like nothing else could go right for the Buckeyes, their defending National Champion, Logan Stieber, did what Logan does. DOMINATE. Since his only loss in early December, he has sent the nation a message that it is still his title to defend as he has scored a major decision, two falls, and technical falls over ranked opponents in his last five bouts. Stieber made it look easy as he posted a 16-1 technical fall over #13 Steve Dutton. Stieber rolled out to an 8-0 lead entering the second period and went on to record three more takedowns, an escape and riding time.
The Buckeyes only took 3 of the 10 matches on their alumni night and essentially let the dual slip away from them in the three consecutive sudden victory bouts, which equated to an 18 point swing.
The loss drops Ohio State to 2-4 in the brutal Big 10 conference. They compete next weekend against Purdue and Michigan State, the only two Big 10 teams who are not ranked in the top 25. The University of Michigan brings their undefeated Big 10 record home to Cliff Keen arena as they try to create some magic again #1 Penn State.
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