Ohio State
While Ohio State didn’t match its #1 recruiting ranking, finishing 2nd place (96.5 points) for the third year in a row to the Nittany Lion juggernaut is still pretty darn good. The Buckeyes went 12-2 in duals last season with their only losses coming against Penn State and Michigan. The Buckeyes did very well at Cliff Keen, capturing the team title for the third straight year. Ohio State placed 2nd at the Big Ten Championship, qualifying nine of their wrestlers with the 10th getting an at-large bid. They were the only team to bring their whole contingent to the NCAA Championship.
This season, in addition to their nine Big Ten duals, the Buckeyes will be facing Stanford, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Cornell and Arizona State with only Pitt being away from home (well… that probably will still be a home dual for the Buckeyes). Ohio State will also be attending the Michigan State Open and Cliff Keen. The Buckeyes will have at least four new starters this season as they lose three of their five AAs from last season. While Ohio State is losing a lot of top end fire power to graduation, they still have a very good team that should still place in the top five.
125
Malik Heinselman (So) <Castle View, CO>
Last season Heinselman grabbed the last automatic allocation, placing 9th at the Big Ten Championship. He was seeded 25 at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2 (overall 24-11). <Bonus: 17.1%, RPI: .609>
133
Luke Pletcher (Sr) <Greater Latrobe, PA>
Pletcher should be a contender in a somewhat thinned out 133 field. Last season, he became a two-time All-American, placing 4th from the 5 seed. He went 27-7 overall and was the runner-up to Nick Suriano at the Big Ten Championship. <Bonus: 32.4%, RPI: .690>
141
Ke-Shawn Hayes (Sr) <Park Hill, MO>
Quinn Kinner (Fr) <Kingsway Regional, NJ>
It looks like Hayes might be back down to his natural weight class after a couple of seasons of losing the “avoid the Penn State hammer” wrestle-offs. Or he might stay up at 157. We’ll see. Hayes went 21-11 at 157 last season and went 1-2 from the 11 seed at the NCAA Championship. <Bonus: 31.3%, RPI: .643>
Quinn Kinner is coming off a pretty good redshirt season going 16-3. He had two losses to Cole Matthews (Pitt) and was outshot by Vince Turk (Iowa). He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers.
Last season, Joey McKenna fell just short of the title, losing a controversial match to Yianni. McKenna ended his very good career as a three-time All American (3, R12, 3, 2) with a career record of 105-11 split between Stanford and Ohio State.
149
Sammy Sasso (Fr) <Nazareth, PA>
Sasso is coming off a redshirt as an immediate title contender. He went 19-2 last season with close losses to Jacori Teemer (ASU) and Micah Jordan. He had wins against two of last year’s AAs, Pat Lugo (Iowa) and Alec Pantaleo (Mich).
Last season, Micah Jordan also finished his career as a three-time All American losing in the championship match to Anthony Ashnault (Rut). His career record at Tosu was 115-21.
157
Jaden Mattox (Fr) <Central Crossing, OH>
Elijah Cleary (So) <Lake Highland Prep, FL>
Another Tosu wrestler coming off of redshirt, Mattox went 13-3 last season. He didn’t wrestle against any NCAA qualifiers. Cleary went 11-4 last season with his best wins coming against Will Lewan (Mich) and NCAA qualifier, Zac Carson (Ohio).
165
Kaleb Romero (So) <Mechanicsburg, OH>
Fritz Schierl (Jr) <Stevens Point, WI>
Romero went 12-6 last season alternating starts with Te’Shan Campbell. Romero had one win against a NCAA qualifier (who he later lost to), Tanner Skidgel (Navy). Schierl went 18-6 in opens last season. He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers and had a close loss to Romero.
Te’Shan Campbell finished his career as a four-time NCAA qualifier and fell just short of reaching the podium for the first time last season. Campbell placed 6th at the Big 10 Championship and received the 21 seed at the NCAA Championship. He upset two better seeds, 12 – Ebed Jarrel (Drex) and 13 – Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) before losing a close match to 7 – Isaiah White (Neb) in the Round of 12.
174
Ethan Smith (So) <Sparrows Point, MD>
Smith qualified for the NCAA Championship in his first season as a starter last season after taking over for Te’Shan Campbell who moved back down to 165. He went 20-13 overall and 2-2 at the NCAAs from the 19 seed. <Bonus: 21.1%, RPI: .625>
184
Gavin Hoffman (Fr) <Montoursville, PA>
Hoffman is another redshirt freshman is entering Ohio State’s line-up this season. Last season, he went 25-3 with his losses all coming against NCAA qualifiers and a national champ: Drew Foster (UNI), Mason Reinhardt (Wisc) and Emery Parker (Illini).
Myles Martin finished his great career with the Buckeyes as a 4 time AA (1,5,2,3), 1-time NCAA champion and 2-time Big Ten champion. Last season, he unexpectedly finished in 3rd place after getting upset in the semis by Max Dean at the NCAA Championship. Martin’s career record was 121-19.
197
Kollin Moore (Sr) <Norwayne, OH>
Moore will be trying to break through for his first NCAA title after finishing 3rd, 4th and 2nd the past three seasons. Last season, Moore was the best wrestler by far at 197 not named Bo Nickal. Moore went 23-3 with all of his losses coming to Bo. Fun fact: Moore has only ever been pinned by Penn State wrestlers. <Bonus: 57.7%, RPI: .706>
Heavy
Chase Singletary (So) <Blair Academy, NJ>
Singletary had a tough Big Ten Championship and finished outside the top 8 (7 allocations). He did secure an at-large bid on the strength of a 19-7 record that included several wins over other NCAA qualifiers. He received the 16 seed at the NCAAs and went 2-2. <Bonus: 26.7%, RPI: .638> {Kerkvliet stated that he planned on wrestling but I’m still just listing him under “New Faces” below.}
New Faces
The Buckeyes bring in a loaded recruiting class which includes three #1 in weight class (all in the top 10 P4P for class of 2019) wrestlers. I’m looking forward to Vodka’s investigation as to how Tosu can afford to have so many top ranked wrestlers with several who are willing to sit on the bench rather than start elsewhere.
Jacob Decatur <CVCA, OH>
Jacob is a two-time Ohio DII state champion and a 2018 Ironman champion. Decatur is ranked #18 at 113 by InterMat.
Jordan Decatur <CVCA, OH>
Jordan is a two-time Ohio DII state champion and three-time Fargo freestyle national champion. Decatur is ranked #1 at 132 by InterMat.
Dylan D’Emilio <Genoa, OH>
D’Emilio is a four-time Ohio DIII champion. He was also a Fargo champion and three-time finalist. D’Emilio is ranked #5 at 138 by InterMat.
Isaac Wilcox <Olympus, UT>
Wilcox is ranked #7 at 160 by InterMat. I don’t see him listed on the Ohio State roster and can’t find any recent info. Gray shirting?
Carson Karchla <Olentangy Liberty, OH>
Karchla is a two-time Ohio D1 state champion, 2018 Fargo champion and 2019 Ironman champion. Karchla is ranked #1 at 170 by InterMat.
Greg Kerkvliet <Simley, MN>
Kerkvliet is a four-time Minnesota state champion, Cadet World Champion, USA Junior National Champion and a Junior World silver medalist. Kerkvliet is ranked #1 at 285 by InterMat.
While Ohio State didn’t match its #1 recruiting ranking, finishing 2nd place (96.5 points) for the third year in a row to the Nittany Lion juggernaut is still pretty darn good. The Buckeyes went 12-2 in duals last season with their only losses coming against Penn State and Michigan. The Buckeyes did very well at Cliff Keen, capturing the team title for the third straight year. Ohio State placed 2nd at the Big Ten Championship, qualifying nine of their wrestlers with the 10th getting an at-large bid. They were the only team to bring their whole contingent to the NCAA Championship.
This season, in addition to their nine Big Ten duals, the Buckeyes will be facing Stanford, Pitt, Virginia Tech, Cornell and Arizona State with only Pitt being away from home (well… that probably will still be a home dual for the Buckeyes). Ohio State will also be attending the Michigan State Open and Cliff Keen. The Buckeyes will have at least four new starters this season as they lose three of their five AAs from last season. While Ohio State is losing a lot of top end fire power to graduation, they still have a very good team that should still place in the top five.
125
Malik Heinselman (So) <Castle View, CO>
Last season Heinselman grabbed the last automatic allocation, placing 9th at the Big Ten Championship. He was seeded 25 at the NCAA Championship and went 1-2 (overall 24-11). <Bonus: 17.1%, RPI: .609>
133
Luke Pletcher (Sr) <Greater Latrobe, PA>
Pletcher should be a contender in a somewhat thinned out 133 field. Last season, he became a two-time All-American, placing 4th from the 5 seed. He went 27-7 overall and was the runner-up to Nick Suriano at the Big Ten Championship. <Bonus: 32.4%, RPI: .690>
141
Ke-Shawn Hayes (Sr) <Park Hill, MO>
Quinn Kinner (Fr) <Kingsway Regional, NJ>
It looks like Hayes might be back down to his natural weight class after a couple of seasons of losing the “avoid the Penn State hammer” wrestle-offs. Or he might stay up at 157. We’ll see. Hayes went 21-11 at 157 last season and went 1-2 from the 11 seed at the NCAA Championship. <Bonus: 31.3%, RPI: .643>
Quinn Kinner is coming off a pretty good redshirt season going 16-3. He had two losses to Cole Matthews (Pitt) and was outshot by Vince Turk (Iowa). He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers.
Last season, Joey McKenna fell just short of the title, losing a controversial match to Yianni. McKenna ended his very good career as a three-time All American (3, R12, 3, 2) with a career record of 105-11 split between Stanford and Ohio State.
149
Sammy Sasso (Fr) <Nazareth, PA>
Sasso is coming off a redshirt as an immediate title contender. He went 19-2 last season with close losses to Jacori Teemer (ASU) and Micah Jordan. He had wins against two of last year’s AAs, Pat Lugo (Iowa) and Alec Pantaleo (Mich).
Last season, Micah Jordan also finished his career as a three-time All American losing in the championship match to Anthony Ashnault (Rut). His career record at Tosu was 115-21.
157
Jaden Mattox (Fr) <Central Crossing, OH>
Elijah Cleary (So) <Lake Highland Prep, FL>
Another Tosu wrestler coming off of redshirt, Mattox went 13-3 last season. He didn’t wrestle against any NCAA qualifiers. Cleary went 11-4 last season with his best wins coming against Will Lewan (Mich) and NCAA qualifier, Zac Carson (Ohio).
165
Kaleb Romero (So) <Mechanicsburg, OH>
Fritz Schierl (Jr) <Stevens Point, WI>
Romero went 12-6 last season alternating starts with Te’Shan Campbell. Romero had one win against a NCAA qualifier (who he later lost to), Tanner Skidgel (Navy). Schierl went 18-6 in opens last season. He didn’t wrestle any NCAA qualifiers and had a close loss to Romero.
Te’Shan Campbell finished his career as a four-time NCAA qualifier and fell just short of reaching the podium for the first time last season. Campbell placed 6th at the Big 10 Championship and received the 21 seed at the NCAA Championship. He upset two better seeds, 12 – Ebed Jarrel (Drex) and 13 – Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) before losing a close match to 7 – Isaiah White (Neb) in the Round of 12.
174
Ethan Smith (So) <Sparrows Point, MD>
Smith qualified for the NCAA Championship in his first season as a starter last season after taking over for Te’Shan Campbell who moved back down to 165. He went 20-13 overall and 2-2 at the NCAAs from the 19 seed. <Bonus: 21.1%, RPI: .625>
184
Gavin Hoffman (Fr) <Montoursville, PA>
Hoffman is another redshirt freshman is entering Ohio State’s line-up this season. Last season, he went 25-3 with his losses all coming against NCAA qualifiers and a national champ: Drew Foster (UNI), Mason Reinhardt (Wisc) and Emery Parker (Illini).
Myles Martin finished his great career with the Buckeyes as a 4 time AA (1,5,2,3), 1-time NCAA champion and 2-time Big Ten champion. Last season, he unexpectedly finished in 3rd place after getting upset in the semis by Max Dean at the NCAA Championship. Martin’s career record was 121-19.
197
Kollin Moore (Sr) <Norwayne, OH>
Moore will be trying to break through for his first NCAA title after finishing 3rd, 4th and 2nd the past three seasons. Last season, Moore was the best wrestler by far at 197 not named Bo Nickal. Moore went 23-3 with all of his losses coming to Bo. Fun fact: Moore has only ever been pinned by Penn State wrestlers. <Bonus: 57.7%, RPI: .706>
Heavy
Chase Singletary (So) <Blair Academy, NJ>
Singletary had a tough Big Ten Championship and finished outside the top 8 (7 allocations). He did secure an at-large bid on the strength of a 19-7 record that included several wins over other NCAA qualifiers. He received the 16 seed at the NCAAs and went 2-2. <Bonus: 26.7%, RPI: .638> {Kerkvliet stated that he planned on wrestling but I’m still just listing him under “New Faces” below.}
New Faces
The Buckeyes bring in a loaded recruiting class which includes three #1 in weight class (all in the top 10 P4P for class of 2019) wrestlers. I’m looking forward to Vodka’s investigation as to how Tosu can afford to have so many top ranked wrestlers with several who are willing to sit on the bench rather than start elsewhere.
Jacob Decatur <CVCA, OH>
Jacob is a two-time Ohio DII state champion and a 2018 Ironman champion. Decatur is ranked #18 at 113 by InterMat.
Jordan Decatur <CVCA, OH>
Jordan is a two-time Ohio DII state champion and three-time Fargo freestyle national champion. Decatur is ranked #1 at 132 by InterMat.
Dylan D’Emilio <Genoa, OH>
D’Emilio is a four-time Ohio DIII champion. He was also a Fargo champion and three-time finalist. D’Emilio is ranked #5 at 138 by InterMat.
Isaac Wilcox <Olympus, UT>
Wilcox is ranked #7 at 160 by InterMat. I don’t see him listed on the Ohio State roster and can’t find any recent info. Gray shirting?
Carson Karchla <Olentangy Liberty, OH>
Karchla is a two-time Ohio D1 state champion, 2018 Fargo champion and 2019 Ironman champion. Karchla is ranked #1 at 170 by InterMat.
Greg Kerkvliet <Simley, MN>
Kerkvliet is a four-time Minnesota state champion, Cadet World Champion, USA Junior National Champion and a Junior World silver medalist. Kerkvliet is ranked #1 at 285 by InterMat.