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Ohio State Wrestling (2015/2017/2018 B1G Champs, 2015 National Champs, 2019 National Runners-up)

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Akron Rick said:
Question on Coach Ryan's match philosophy...
Is there a team rule that noone but Sasso is allowed to ride their opponent?
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I will take that one step further to say that our mat wrestling is just abysmal and even a mediocre wrestler can ride...look at Maryland and Rutgers, bad teams but their guys can wrestle tough on top. We just cut guys if its not Sasso. The only guys I can confidently say can't ride (from a talent and technique perspective) are Ech,Rocky and Orndorff. The rest should be able to at least get some riding time.
 
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RB07OSU said:
I will take that one step further to say that our mat wrestling is just abysmal and even a mediocre wrestler can ride...look at Maryland and Rutgers, bad teams but their guys can wrestle tough on top. We just cut guys if its not Sasso. The only guys I can confidently say can't ride (from a talent and technique perspective) are Ech,Rocky and Orndorff. The rest should be able to at least get some riding time.
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"even a mediocre wrestler can ride"...lol dude I'm living proof of that! Head lever and waist ride with foot in the bucket was my bread & butter. But seriously, I think Ech was screwed by covid keeping him out of the room all summer and will be fine by next year. Rocky is another story. I know he comes from a political family so maybe he's distracted by the DC shenanigans. Big Tater,OTOH, considers falling on the opponent as an effective ride..and in some cases he is correct. Just don't get the instant cut always looking for the next score that may not come unless you're dominant.
 
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Akron Rick said:
"even a mediocre wrestler can ride"...lol dude I'm living proof of that! Head lever and waist ride with foot in the bucket was my bread & butter. But seriously, I think Ech was screwed by covid keeping him out of the room all summer and will be fine by next year. Rocky is another story. I know he comes from a political family so maybe he's distracted by the DC shenanigans. Big Tater,OTOH, considers falling on the opponent as an effective ride..and in some cases he is correct. Just don't get the instant cut always looking for the next score that may not come unless you're dominant.
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Haha I feel you, I was not phenomenal scoring on top minus a couple tilts, but I could usually ride for a while with a combo of a 2 on 1 elbow dump, 2 on 1 leg cut, and some leg rides. And that's at the high school level where it doesn't earn you a point for riding time.

At the college level, riding your opponent is extremely important and we don't seem to emphasize it much. There's been a handful of guys that could ride but by and large, we are not great on top. And the guys that have been good on top mostly came in that way.

Ech is going to be a stud when he gets the chance to work on wrestling in the mat, with you there. On Rocky, no distractions on the political stuff at all and reportedly no injury issues. He's just wrestling completely flat and uninspired. On his feet, he gets to his shots and then just hangs out instead of quickly getting to his finishes... could really learn from Smith in that arena. On bottom, he legit just lays there and gets rode, no effort to even get out. Not sure there's a solution this year, just gotta hope he improves next year.
 
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7pm Friday on BTN. Shaping up to be a pretty competitive dual...

125- Heinselman has his hands full against #10 Ragusin, a long and strong type.
133- our guy will need to really compete to avoid being pinned by #1 Micic.
141-Assuming Ech will sit, making this a NW Ohio war between D'Emilio and Mattin. Toss up.
149-Sammy's in the groove but Storr is tough. Probably a decision.
157- #8 Lewan vs. Cleary. Another one where it's a win just to keep it a dec.
165-Smith vs.Amine . Smith wrestling the best of his career right now. Maybe another major.
174- Kaleb could definitely compete with #2 Massa if his bad wheel responded to therapy this week.
If he can't go, good luck to the replacement.
184- Rocky should be favored against a true freshman named Bullock who has a 1-1 record.
197- Hoffman vs. Davison who is rated #55 with a 1-2 record. Toss up.
Hwt.- #2 Mason Parris vs. Orndorff...won't be pretty.

Should have a shot but most sources I've seen have scUM favored by 5 to 7 points. Bucks need to not get pinned or tech-ed in the underdog
matches and score big in favored ones. And of course win the toss ups!
 
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Sucks to lose to a shorthanded Michigan squad

There were some positives though - was happy to see Cleary put up a great battle

I know he was outmatched but I feel like I need to have one foot out of the Tate train....I likely had too high of hopes for him and the adjustment to B1G ain't easy, but dammit it still bugs me.
 
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I thought for the most part the Bucks did about as well as they could . They were shorthanded but so was Mich. Heinselman I'm sure wasn't ready for that little waterbug but he got the win which is what you do. Decatur was competitive, all I think you can ask of him at this stage. D'Emilio was outstanding,one of the night's best matches. Sasso was Sasso. He really has Storr's number. What can you say about Cleary? The guy expended every bit of his average talent and was done in by 23 seconds of riding time. Great effort. Smith did enough to win but wasn't quite as good as he has been. Schierl was another guy like Cleary that gave everything he had and although he got majored that could've been a factor if the last match ended differently. Rocky came out of hibernation and had almost 6 min.of riding time! Hope they save the tape of his match. Hoff also gave all he had against a highly rated foe, and Tater the same. One more uphill battle against the Nits next Friday then duals are done. Too short a season!
 
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I just got a chance to watch the dual and pretty disappointing loss. No bonus at 165 and giving up a tech at heavy hurts. Could have had a bonus point at 125 as well. Then Decatur at 133 is just not working and I hope we can get someone else in that spot next year unless he drastically improves. Excellent win by D'Emilio, brought it and beat a very good Mattin at 141. Sasso was his normal brilliant self. Cleary hung in tough. Hate losing to the team up north.
 
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Steve19 said:
Buckeye wrestlers have been in a zone for several years. Quite disappointing to see the results this year, but no one feels it more than these young men.
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You know eventually there had to be a down year, just didn't think it would be this year...lot of highly ranked recruits underperforming. Sasso and Romero are about the only ones living up to the billing, though Smith is probably overperforming and Malik is getting there it seems. Think I said this earlier, but just gotta try to enjoy the individual performances of those 4 wrestlers.
 
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Since Bucks have just one dual left in this shortened season..Penn St. who just handily defeated UM and will do the same to OSU, I'm starting to look ahead to what I hope is a full 21/22 season and what the lineup may look like. Let me know what you guys think.
125...Andre Gonzalez- #4 rated (by FLO) Malik may indeed stay here but in this projection he moves up
133...Malik Heinselman- Hits the weights hard again this summer and moves up a weight
141...Dylan D'Emilio- Do they make sophs team captains? This guy personifies what I would like to think OSU wrestling is about
149...A.Echemendia-He got down to 141 this year but probably belongs up. Not cutting so much may help him stay healthy.
157...Sammy Sasso- Hope he has a final year like Logan Steiber's.
165...Carson Kharchla or Paddy Gallagher- Depends on if Carson can shake off a year's worth of rust and reach his potential. Actually the best way to go may be Paddy at 65 and Carson at 74 because I think Paddy Gallagher is our next star.
174...Ethan Smith moves up to a more natural weight for him and brings a load of confidence from this year's performance.
185...Kaleb Romero .. see Ethan Smith above
197...Gavin Hoffman or Rocky Jordan. Let 'em battle it out. Every week a wrestle-off. Make Rocky watch D'Emilio tapes all off-season.
Hwt...Whoever between Singletary and Orndorff will just be holding this spot for our next big recruit coming in fall '22 Nick Feldman.
 
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Akron Rick said:
Since Bucks have just one dual left in this shortened season..Penn St. who just handily defeated UM and will do the same to OSU, I'm starting to look ahead to what I hope is a full 21/22 season and what the lineup may look like. Let me know what you guys think.
125...Andre Gonzalez- #4 rated (by FLO) Malik may indeed stay here but in this projection he moves up
133...Malik Heinselman- Hits the weights hard again this summer and moves up a weight
141...Dylan D'Emilio- Do they make sophs team captains? This guy personifies what I would like to think OSU wrestling is about
149...A.Echemendia-He got down to 141 this year but probably belongs up. Not cutting so much may help him stay healthy.
157...Sammy Sasso- Hope he has a final year like Logan Steiber's.
165...Carson Kharchla or Paddy Gallagher- Depends on if Carson can shake off a year's worth of rust and reach his potential. Actually the best way to go may be Paddy at 65 and Carson at 74 because I think Paddy Gallagher is our next star.
174...Ethan Smith moves up to a more natural weight for him and brings a load of confidence from this year's performance.
185...Kaleb Romero .. see Ethan Smith above
197...Gavin Hoffman or Rocky Jordan. Let 'em battle it out. Every week a wrestle-off. Make Rocky watch D'Emilio tapes all off-season.
Hwt...Whoever between Singletary and Orndorff will just be holding this spot for our next big recruit coming in fall '22 Nick Feldman.
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I think that's mostly what I would come up with. Exception being I see Malik starting at 125, he finally got just big enough to be competitive at 125 in the top 10. I think he could even stack on 3-5 pounds more muscle and still make weight at 125 with relative comfort. I could be wrong though, he's got the frame to hit 133 next year if he hits the weights hard. At 133, I wish D'Emilio could get down there but I doubt it... so likely we're hoping Decatur breaks through somehow. In any event, I like D'Emilio at 141 next year and suspect he turns into a very solid wrestler for us there, this year is going to help his development greatly. As you said, Ech should much more comfortably hit 149 and have much improved mat skills if he works on it z which is all he is missing. Sasso should continue his dominance at 157 and fill a big void. The most improvement likely comes with getting Kharchla (hopefully) back at 165, allows Smith and Romero to bump up where I think both can be dominant. Gallagher will be a stud, but I think benefits from a redshirt year. At 197, one of Hoffman or Jordan HAS to step up, we can't have a glaring hole there any more. At heavy, I think Singletary can do well there... he hasn't adjusted to 197 like I thought he would. However it shakes out, next year's team should be much improved, this should really be seen as a rebuilding year.
 
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Penn State dual went about as expected, except Smith coming up with a huge fall and Romero losing to Starocci. Romero needs to stop bailing on finishes when he has a leg shelved up, easy to fix imo... he can just aggressively finish that shot like he does a double leg. Everything else pretty much went the way you'd think. Malik had a nice win over a very good Howard, Howard will be a top talent with time and a close match should be expected. Sasso I would have expected a bigger win, but a win is a win and Bartlett was a highly ranked recruit. Cleary kept it close and had a chance to win, but I think that's about the extent of what to expect with him... he doesn't seem to trust his offense at all when it matters. Rocky got handled, nothing to say there really. 197 is just a disappointment, no way around it. Hoffman beat Beard consistently in high school and got stuck in a dud of a match. There's no excuse to not have one of Hoffman or Singletary performing at a high level at 197... you expect a weight class or two that are a weakness each year. 133, 141 and 157 were all candidates for that distinction this year. But 197 is a complete blindside for me and I think it is for the staff as well.

Nothing we can really do this year though. Just hope for the best performances at the right times for Malik, Sasso, Smith and Romero next month. Then big improvements at the other weights next year and hopefully guys start living up to their recruiting rankings (Decatur brothers, D'Emilio, Ech, Rocky, Hoffman, Singletary, Orndorff...Kharchla would be big too if he's healthy).

Thinking back to last year, really a bummer the championships were cancelled. Really think we'd have a couple banners up in the Covelli for Pletcher and Moore.
 
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