Wrestling: Seniors look to take team to national heights

Robbie Mackinnon
Wed, 11 Jan 2023 01:00:19 +0000
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Ohio State wrestling will look to reset the standard of the program in the 2023 season. Credit: Katie Good | Asst. Photo Editor

The 2019-20 campaign was a season defined by “what ifs?” for the Ohio State wrestling team. The Buckeyes had a plethora of young talent that had just begun to burst onto the national scene.

Then-redshirt freshman Sammy Sasso was awarded InterMat Freshman of the Year by posting a 24-3 season record. Kaleb Romero, a redshirt sophomore in 2019-20, was crowned the squad’s most improved wrestler. Gavin Hoffman was named the “Kosta Karageorge Battling Buckeye” award for exhibiting selflessness after winning five tournaments during his redshirt freshman year.

The team was set to enter the NCAA Tournament after three-consecutive second-place finishes at the national contest, carrying five All-Americans and two Big Ten title winners. While these Buckeyes were still finding their footing within the program, all signs pointed to the 2019-20 season being an indication of what to expect in the coming years.

However, the remainder of the NCAA wrestling season was canceled March 12, 2020.

Fast forward three seasons, those same Buckeyes whose national championship aspirations got cut short have returned to address unfinished business.

With Hoffman, Sasso and redshirt senior heavyweight Tate Orndorff competing in their fifth seasons, and Romero and redshirt senior 174-pounder Ethan Smith competing in their sixth, the Buckeye lineup would look uncertain after last year. The team finished No. 13 at the national tournament, which head coach Tom Ryan describes as “just not the standard.”

“When they got here, this team was heading to the national championships. We were one of the top-three teams in the country,” Ryan said. “A week before the national tournament, they canceled it.”

While it “didn’t take much convincing” Ryan said, the senior class of Buckeyes — once young talent on a championship-level team — now faced with a decision, and Smith recalled a conversation with Romero.

“We were teetering with, ‘Well what does it look like if we don’t come back?’” Smith said. “The biggest thing was just falling back on those relationships that we have. I want to finish this thing out with those guys.”

Ohio State now sits at No. 7 in the National Wrestling Coaches Association poll, with a roster dynamic similar to the team three seasons ago. However, the young Buckeyes with hopes of a team championship three seasons ago are now the most experienced, hoping to accomplish the same goal they had in 2020.

“These guys have all been here; they’ve all been a part of trophy-winning teams. Now, they want to leave with a trophy,” Ryan said. “They came back for that reason.”

From training on the mat to hanging out in the meeting room to playing Call of Duty: Warzone at night, it is difficult to catch this group of seniors not spending time together at any given moment. Romero said the bonds of the upperclassmen extend off the mat, as they usually stick together and consider each other more than teammates.

“Any time you see one of us, you’re typically going to see the other three,” Romero said.

For Smith, he said the bond and camaraderie this group built has been “a culmination of five years of a lot of work, a lot of highs and a lot of lows.”

“I really appreciate these relationships on and off the mat. The amount of time I spend with these dudes is ridiculous,” Smith said. “It definitely makes having come back for another year very smooth and worth it.”

Although wrestling is widely considered an individual sport due to the individual accolades given at each weight class, the seniors have made sure to instill a team-first mindset in the program.

“I don’t think I’ll ever not have these dudes I’m graduating with in my life,” Smith said. “They’re a second family.”

The friendships this group built over their tenure in Columbus not only benefits them off the mat, but in competition as well, Hoffman said.

“I’ve been wrestling these guys for so long, throughout time you pick up each other’s habits. They know my moves. I know their moves,” Hoffman said. “Every time you get to wrestle someone who you don’t wrestle every day, it’s a good feeling. My moves actually work. It’s awesome to not only see how I do, but them as well. I know how good they are.”

While this may be the final go-around for many members of this senior class, they are hoping the relationships they’ve established will trickle down in the program for years to come. Similar to how they once were, Smith said the Buckeyes have a highly talented freshman class that reignited the competitive fire of the upperclassmen.

“They’re great. I’ve been here for a while. I felt like my fire was kind of dying low,” Smith said. “But seeing those young guys come in here, their energy in the room is absolutely incredible. It made me hungrier than I was. They want it right away so bad. It’s contagious.”