Wrestling: No. 8 Ohio State falls to Iowa before bouncing-back against

Chase Brown
Sun, 07 Feb 2021 23:36:48 +0000
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Ohio State junior Tate Orndorff ties up his opponent during the Ohio State-Rutgers match on Jan. 24. Ohio State won 19-14. Credit: Mackenzie Shanklin | Photo Editor

In the second tri-meet of the season, Ohio State wrestling was unable to upset top-ranked Iowa but found success against Purdue Sunday.

The No. 8 Buckeyes (5-2) traveled to West Lafayette, Indiana, where they had their four-game winning streak snapped against No. 1 Iowa (5-0) and a bounce-back win against No. 27 Purdue (2-5).

Iowa

Ohio State’s first dual of the afternoon was a competitive fight with Iowa, but the Hawkeyes pulled away late to win 33-14.

The first three matches belonged to Iowa.

The dual started at 125 pounds between Ohio State redshirt sophomore Brady Koontz and No. 1 Iowa senior Spencer Lee. The top-ranked Hawkeye wrestler quickly racked up points before pinning Koontz in the first period.

Shortly after, Ohio State redshirt junior Dylan Koontz dropped a 19-4 major decision to Austin DeSanto of Iowa and freshman Anthony Echemendia suffered a fall against No. 1 Iowa Jaydin Eierman.

Ohio State redshirt sophomore Sammy Sasso, the No. 2 wrestler at 149 pounds, put the first points on the board for the Buckeyes.

Sasso cradled No. 5 Iowa junior Max Murin in the second period, earning a takedown and two points. He continued to hold Murin to the mat and earned his team-leading third pin of the season.

The Buckeyes entered the intermission trailing the Hawkeyes 17-9.

Ohio State redshirt junior Ethan Smith was the only Buckeye to win a match in the second half, making the most of his time on the mat with Iowa junior Zach Axmear.

Smith, the No. 6 wrestler at 165 pounds, used nine takedowns to win a technical fall over Axmear. On multiple takedowns, he cradled the Iowa wrestler and came close to pinning him.

Ohio State failed to produce another point in the dual as Iowa secured two decisions, a major decision and a pin in the final four matches.

Purdue

Ohio State won its second dual meet by defeating Purdue 23-12.

Sasso and Smith carried their success against Iowa into the matchup against the Boilermakers.

Although Sasso was unable to get another win by fall, his win over Purdue freshman Trey Kruse was just as impressive. He drilled takedowns on the way to a technical fall and remained unbeaten this season.

Similar to Smith’s earlier performance, he used multiple takedowns to defeat Purdue freshman Gerrit Nijenhuis 15-5 and earn a major decision.

Ohio State redshirt sophomore Rocky Jordan, the No. 17 wrestler at 184 pounds, was first on the board against No. 18 Purdue senior Max Lyon. From there, he didn’t look back and put together a solid 7-2 decision.

To close out the competition, Ohio State redshirt junior Tate Orndorff, the No. 8 heavyweight wrestler, was dominant in a performance against Purdue redshirt junior Jared Florell. He earned points from takedowns and escapes to win a 10-1 major decision.