The day started at 141 pounds and Luke Pletcher pushed Ohio State ahead for good with a hard-fought 8-6 win. He tallied three takedowns and maintained an unblemished season mark of 9-0.
Sammy Sasso tacked up on three more team points in the subsequent bout, holding on for a 12-9 decision. He carried a 7-3 edge into the third period and fended off a late flurry to come away victorious. Sasso came out on the right end of a wild scramble in the first period.
Following a setback at 157 pounds, Ohio State snatched the next two matches to pull ahead 13-3. Ethan Smith rattled off four first-period takedowns, racing out an 8-3 edge through three minutes. The redshirt sophomore kept it coming and ultimately notched a 12-4 major decision.
Classmate Kaleb Romero entered at 7-0 but several social media doubters pointed to his strength of schedule. Romero put that unsubstantiated knock to rest though, earning a 6-5 decision over 14th-ranked and All-American Brandon Womack.
Ben Darmstadt, slotted seventh nationally at 184 pounds, then got the Big Red back on track with a 5-0 win. The nation's top 197-pounder, Kollin Moore, quickly flipped the momentum back in favor of the Scarlet & Gray, however. True freshman Jonathan Loew packed a 10-1 record in his suitcase and jumped out ahead 2-0 with an early takedown of Moore. The excitement was short-lived though as Moore responded by corralling a half dozen takedowns and turning Loew for two near-fall points en route to an 18-6 major decision. It represents Moore's eighth bonus-point-worthy performance (5 MD, 2 TF, pin) during a 9-0 start to the season. He is averaging 16.75 points per bout (not counting his pin).
No moment was louder than the conclusion at heavyweight. Gary Traub, who electrified the Buckeye faithful with a late win vs. Stanford (Nov. 10), did it again. Trailing by a point, Traub grinded his way to a bout-clinching takedown with just four seconds left on the clock.
The team triumph was now guaranteed as Traub extended Ohio State's lead to 20-6 with just two bouts remaining.
Malik Heinselman surrendered no offensive points at 125 pounds, allowing only four escapes in an 8-4 besting of Dom LaJoie.
Results:
141 lbs | No. 1 Luke Pletcher (OSU) def. Noah Baughman (CU) | D, 8-6; Team Score: 3-0
149 lbs | No. 12 Sammy Sasso (OSU) def. Hunter Richard (CU) | D, 12-9; TS: 6-0
157 lbs | Colton Yapoujian (CU) def. Elijah Cleary (OSU) | TB-1, 3-2; TB: 6-3
165 lbs | No. 12 Ethan Smith (OSU) def. Milik Dawkins (CU) | MD, 12-4; TS: 10-3
174 lbs | No. 19 Kaleb Romero (OSU) def. No. 14 Brandon Womack (CU); D, 6-5; TS: 13-3
184 lbs | No. 7 Ben Darmstadt (CU) def. Gavin Hoffman (OSU) | D, 5-0; TS: 13-6
197 lbs | No. 1 Kollin Moore (OSU) def. Jonathan Loew (CU) | MD, 18-6; TS: 17-6
285 lbs | Gary Traub (OSU) def. Brendan Furman (CU) | D, 4-3; TS: 20-6
125 lbs | Malik Heinselman (OSU) def. Dom LaJoie (CU) | D, 8-4; TS: 23-6
133 lbs | No. 7 Chas Tucker (CU) def. Dylan Koontz (OSU) | D, 12-5; TS: 23-9
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