THE SHORT STORY
With Ohio State ahead 19-17 after Jack Rozema lost a 15-6 major decision at 184 pounds, the fate of Sunday's dual came down to Martin vs. Lee at 197 lbs. After a scoreless first quarter, Lee scored the first point of the match on an escape to begin the second period and then held that lead headed into the final two minutes. But as is their mantra, the Buckeyes won the third, as Martin escaped to tie it at 1-1 and then scored the decisive point when Lee was called for locked hands. He made that lead stand up for the rest of the period and improved to 14-4 on the year.
STARS OF THE AFTERNOON
197: Mark Martin decision over Andre Lee, 2-1
165: No. 2 Bo Jordan won by decision over No. 6 Steven Rodriguez, 6-3
174: Myles Martin tech fall over Isaac Reinemann, 22-7
141: No. 9 Micah Jordan decision over Brock Ervin, 6-3
125: No. 1 Nathan Tomasello tech fall over Francis Edelen, 18-3
285: Thomas Haines decision over No. 13 Brooks Black, 3-2
MARTIN MAKES BANG IN DEBUT
Highly-touted freshman Myles Martin, one of the top-ranked pound for pound recruits in the nation, did in his starting debut what he's been all season - scored points and scored them often. Martin earned a 22-7 tech fall at 174 pounds over Isaac Reinemann. He scored two takedowns and a two point near fall in the first period to build a 7-1 lead and then broke it open in the second with four more takedowns and the match eventually ended in the third when Reinemann was called for stalling. It was Martin's 14th win this year via bonus points and gave Ohio State a 19-13 lead.
TOP 10 MATCH-UP AT 165
In one of two matchs on the day that featured a pair of wrestlers ranked in the top 10,No. 2 Bo Jordan stayed unbeaten with a hard-fought 6-3 decision over sixth-ranked Steven Rodrigues. Jordan scored first with a takedown and eventually pushed his head to 5-0 late in the second before Rodrigues scored a reversal to cut the deficit to 5-2. Rodrigues scored the only point of the third period on an escape, but Jordan racked up enough riding time to tack on a bonus point. Jordan improves to 8-0 this year while Rodrigues is 13-1. The win also gave the Buckeyes the lead in the dual for good at 14-13.
HAINES ALSO MAKES DEBUT
The dual started at heavyweight with the starting debut of redshirt freshman Thomas Haines, a four-time Pennsylvania state champion. Haines scored a key 3-2 decision over 13th-ranked Brooks Black, an NCAA qualifier in 2015. Haines took a 1-0 lead into the third period thanks to a second-period escape, and Black tied the match at 2-2 on a reversal late in the third, but Haines escaped and then scored the decisive point via riding time. He's 12-2 on the season.
TOMASELLO EXTENDS THE LEAD
Top-ranked Nathan Tomasello (11-0) extended Ohio State's early lead to 8-0 when he won his 29th straight match dating back to last year, needing just five minutes to tech fall Francis Edelen, 18-3. The key stretch came in the first period when Tomasello scored seven points on a takedown and five-point near fall.
JORDAN PICKS UP WIN NO. 13
Like his brother Bo, Micah Jordan also gritted out a 6-3 decision to improve his 2015-16 mark to 13-1. His win at 141 lbs. over Brock Ervin gave Ohio State an early 11-3 edge after four matches and was triggered by a strong third period. Tied a 3-3 entering the final two minutes, Jordan escaped for a 4-3 and then scored two off a low single for the final 6-3 margin.
ILLINI WINNERS
Illinois won at 133, 149, 157 and 184 pounds. At 157, Jake Ryan suffered his first loss of the year against top-ranked and defending national champion Isaiah Martinez. Third-ranked Zane Richards topped Johnni DiJulius, 8-3, while Kyle Langenderfer won by tech fall at 149 over Matt Davis. Jack Rozema was also beaten by Jeffrey Koepke at 184.
UP NEXT
Ohio State returns home to St. John Arena for the first time in a month and a half when it hosts No. 13 Michigan next Saturday, Jan. 9, at 5 p.m. The match will be broadcast live on BTN and tickets can be purchased by clicking here.
Results:
285: Thomas Haines (OSU) decision over No. 13 Brooks Black 3-2 | OSU 3, ILL 0
125: No. 1 Nathan Tomasello (OSU) tech fall over Francis Edelen (ILL) 18-3 | OSU 8, ILL 0
133: No. 3 Zane Richards (ILL) decision over No. 8 Johnni DiJulius (OSU) 8-3 | OSU 8, ILL 3
141: No. 9 Micah Jordan (OSU) decision over Brock Ervin (ILL) 6-3 | OSU 11, ILL 3
149: Kyle Langenderfer (ILL) tech fall over Matt Davis (OSU) 20-5 | OSU 11, ILL 8
157: No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (ILL) tech fall over No. 13 Jake Ryan (OSU) 24-8 | ILL 13, OSU 11
165: No. 2 Bo Jordan (OSU) decision over No. 6 Steven Rodrigues (ILL) 6-3 | OSU 14, ILL 13
174: Mark Martin (OSU) tech fall over Isaac Reinemann (ILL) 23-7 | OSU 19, ILL 13
184: Jeffrey Koepke (ILL) major decision over Jack Rozema (OSU) 15-6 | OSU 19, ILL 17
197: Mark Martin (OSU) decision over Andrew Lee (ILL) 2-1 | OSU 22, ILL 17
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now