Ohio State Splits Pair of Home Duals
Buckeyes defeat Virginia 36-6 before losing to No. 17 Indiana, 24-9
Columbus, Ohio – The Ohio State wrestling team (7-7, 0-3 Big Ten) wrestled in a pair of dual matches Sunday at St. John Arena. The Buckeyes defeated Virginia (4-6, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) in a non-league match, 36-6, before dropping a 24-9 decision vs. conference foe Indiana (13-2, 2-1 Big Ten). The final match of the day served as the best between Ohio State HWT Kirk Nail, ranked 16th in the nation, and Indiana’s Pat DeGain, rated fourth. Nail extended DeGain into four overtime sessions before falling by an 8-4 count.
The Cavaliers and No. 17-ranked Hoosiers met in the opening match of the day with IU claiming a 28-10 win.
Against Virginia, junior Nathan Costello (Jr., Maple Heights, Ohio) put the Buckeyes ahead 6-0 with his first fall of the season over Virginia’s Anthony Burke at the 1:12 mark of the first period. Freshman T.J. Enright (Fr., Galloway, Ohio), ranked 16th in the nation at 133, helped Ohio State keep the momentum with a major decision win over Cavalier Byron Dunlap. Enright was busy in the second period, scoring a takedown and an ensuing three-point nearfall to take a 7-1 lead heading to the third period. Enright secured the major decision in the third period with a takedown at the 6:49 mark.
With the Buckeyes ahead 10-0, freshman Jason Johnstone (Fr., Massillon, Ohio) scored a third-period takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining to tie his match at 141 pounds, but fell by a 7-6 score after UVA’s Aaron Martin tallied an escape at the 6:40 mark to cut the OSU lead to seven.
At 149, junior Steve Wolery (Jr., Cincinnati, Ohio) gave the Buckeyes their second pin of the day. Wolery scored the fall over UVA’s Paul Dunston at the 2:41 mark of the first period for his second pin of the season and a 16-3 lead. Ohio State freshman Keegan Mueller (Dallas, Texas) faced Virginia’s Paul Bjorlo at 157. After the two wrestlers exchanged reversals in the second period, Mueller knotted the match at 4-4 with an escape to start the third period. The score remained at 4-4 through the end of regulation and into sudden victory, where Bjorlo scored the winning escape in the second tiebreaker period.
After the decision loss at 157, Ohio State held a 16-6 lead, heading into 165 pounds, where freshman Zach Craiglow (Fr., Lancaster, Ohio) was awarded a win by default to set the match score at 22-6 in Ohio State’s favor.
Ohio State junior Nathaniel Augustson (Jr., Rio Rancho, N.M.) started the heavier weight classes with a major decision at 174 pounds over Virginia’s Rocco Caponi. Augustson used two first period takedowns, a takedown in each of the last two periods and a riding time advantage to post the 10-2 major, his sixth of the season. Alex Picazo (So., Grandview, Ohio) followed Augustson at 184 by closing his match with a takedown and a three-point nearfall for a 10-5 decision.
Returning All-American J.D. Bergman (So., Oak Harbor, Ohio) took the mat at 197 with Ohio State leading 29-6 and wasted no time, scoring a takedown on UVA’s Scott Smith just 11 seconds into the match. He followed with a three-point nearfall to close the opening period with a 5-0 lead. Bergman moved ahead 7-0 with another takedown in the second period and, in the third, reached a major decision with another set of takedowns and a riding time advantage for a 13-3 win, upping OSU’s lead to 33-6.
In the finale at HWT, Nail (Fr., Hilliard, Ohio) set the final dual score at 36-6 with a deciding pair of takedowns in the final 40 seconds of the match for a 5-2 decision.
Ohio State 36, Virginia 6 UVA OSU
125 – Nathan Costello (O) fall Anthony Burke (V), 1:12 0 6
133 – No. 16 T.J. Enright (O) dec Byron Dunlap (V), 10-1 0 10
141 – Aaron Martin (V) dec Jason Johnstone (O), 7-6 3 10
149 – Steve Wolery (O) fall Paul Dunstan (V) 2:41 3 16
157 – Paul Bjorko (V) dec Keegan Mueller (O), 5-4 6 16
165 – Zach Craiglow (O) inj def Will Durkee (V), 3:28 6 22
174 – Nate Augustson (O) mdec Rocco Caponi (V), 10-2 6 26
184 – Alex Picazo (O) dec Kyle Narkiewski (V), 10-5 6 29
197 – No. 4 J.D. Bergman (O) mdec Scott Smith (V), 13-2 6 33
HWT – No. 16 Kirk Nail (O) dec Nick Smith (V), 5-2 6 36
In the Big Ten match up vs. Indiana, Ohio State fell behind by a 4-0 score after Costello fell via major decision,14-4, to No. 6-ranked Joe Dubuque of IU. Enright closed the Ohio State deficit to 4-3 after a decision win over IU’s Brian Dyer at 133 pounds. Enright made first and second period takedowns stand with 5-4 decision, claiming his 25th win of the season.
At 141, Johnstone faced another ranked Hoosier in No. 17 Mike Simpson. Johnstone and Simpson wrestled to a 2-2 stalemate midway through the second period before Johnstone grabbed the lead after a stalling penalty on Simpson. In the final period, Simpson executed a reversal with a minute to go for a 4-3 lead, but relinquished an escape by Johnstone as the match headed to overtime tied at 4-4. Simpson scored the deciding takedown with 18 seconds remaining in overtime to set the dual score at 7-3.
Wolery pulled the Buckeyes back within one-point after holding on for a 6-4 decision over Indiana’s Isaac Knable at 149 pounds. In the next bout at 157, Mueller faced 20th-ranked Brandon Becker, who edged Indiana to an 11-6 advantage after a 9-1 major decision.
Indiana moved out to a 14-6 led with an 8-6 decision win by Max Dean over Craiglow, who carried a 6-5 lead into the third period, but lost the lead on a late Dean takedown. At 174, Augustson and Brady Richardson, ranked 17th for Indiana, traded takedowns and ensuing escapes for a 3-3 draw at the end of one period. After Richardson took a 6-4 lead in the second period, he used two third-period takedowns to seal an 11-8 win and a 17-6 IU advantage.
Indiana secured the dual win with a 14-6 major decision by Andy Rios, a Top-20 wrestler at 184 pounds, over Picazo. With Ohio State down 21-6, Bergman scored Ohio State’s last win of the day with a 2-1 decision over Indiana’s Jason Buuck. Bergman scored a takedown in the first period and held Buuck off several times in the final stanza for his 28th win of the season.
In the most contested bout of the day, Nail took on No. 4-ranked Pat DeGain of Indiana in the final match at HWT. Nail claimed a 1-0 lead after a scoreless first period with an escape. Later in the second, Nail threw DeGain near the edge of the mat. He was unable to score, but shook DeGain, who wrestled with an apparent injury the rest of the match.
After the throw, DeGain equaled the score at 1-1 with an escape of his own in the third period. The match extended to overtime with the 1-1 tally. The two heavyweights wrestled through a scoreless first minute of overtime before DeGain took a 2-1 lead after an escape in the second extra session. Nail tied the match again after his own escape in the third overtime period. In the fourth and fifth overtime sessions, DeGain scored a pair of escapes and a three-point nearfall for the deciding points and an 8-4 decision.
No. 17 Indiana 24, Ohio State 9 IU OSU
125 – Joe Dubuque (I) mdec Nathan Costello (O), 14-4 4 0
133 – No. 16 T.J. Enright (O) dec Brian Dyer (I), 5-4 4 3
141 – Mike Simpson (I) dec Jason Johnstone (O), 6-4 (OT) 7 3
149 – Steve Wolery (O) dec Issac Knable (I), 6-4 7 6
157 – Brandon Becker (I) mdec Keegan Mueller (O), 9-1 11 6
165 – Max Dean (I) dec Zach Craiglow (O), 8-6 14 6
174 – Brady Richardson (I) dec Nate Augustson (O), 11-8 17 6
184 – Andy Rios (I) mdec Alex Picazo (O), 14-6 21 6
197 – No. 4 J.D. Bergman dec (O)Josh Buuck (I), 2-1 21 9
HWT – Pat Degain (I) dec No. 16 Kirk Nail (O), 8-4 (4OT) 24 9
Att. 1,115
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