No. 7 Ohio State went on the road to face No. 17 Wisconsin on Sunday, and came back to Columbus with a 27-15 win, its third Big Ten win in as many tries.
The Badgers started off with a quick six team points, but the Buckeyes answered with four individual wins in a row. They won seven bouts in the dual, never leaving a doubt they would get it done.
Here’s how it happened at each weight:
125 pounds: No. 24 Brendan McCrone was pinned quickly, with No. 4 Eric Barnett needing just 32 seconds to end the match. The Badgers took a 6-0 lead.
133 pounds: No. 12 Nic Bouzakis answered for the Buckeyes, taking a 13-2 lead in the second period. Nicolar Rivera was able to hang around for the rest of the match, though and Bouzakis won 19-11 by major decision.
141 pounds: With four takedowns in the first period, No. 3 Jesse Mendez took a 12-3 lead over Felix Lettini. He had two more takedowns in the second period and another one early in the third which ended the match in a 21-5 technical fall.
149 pounds: No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio finished with a major decision win, beating No. 22 Joseph Zargo 12-4 with three takedowns, two escapes and a point for riding time. Ohio State led 13-6 after the win.
157 pounds: Neither wrestler scored in the first period, but Isaac Wilcox got on the board first with an escape to start the second. He got a takedown in the period and Luke Mechler was able to escape. Mechler added another escape to start the third, but there was no more scoring in the bout making it a 4-2 win for Wilcox.
165 pounds: No. 22 Bryce Hepner struggled against No. 5 Dean Hamiti, suffering an early takedown to set the tone for the match. The match ended in the third period with Hepner losing by technical fall 18-3.
174 pounds: No. 30 Rocco Welsh has been very good for the Buckeyes as a true freshman and continued to impress with a 7-3 decision over No. 11 Max Maylor. After a scoreless first period, Maylor had a reversal to start the second before Welsh escaped and got a stalling point. In the third period Welsh escaped and had a takedown. With a point for riding time, Welsh was able to take the win.
184 pounds: Seth Shumate struck first with a takedown against No. 16 Shane Liegel, but he answered with a reversal and a four-point nearfall. Liegel escaped to start the second and had two more takedowns to win the match by major decision 14-3, keeping Wisconsin in the dual down 19-14.
197 pounds: No. 22 Luke Geog was able to secure the win for Ohio State, beating Josh Otto 8-2 with an early takedown in the first period and a double-leg takedown in the third period. With a 22-14 team score, the Buckeyes had the dual won.
Heavyweight: No. 17 Nick Feldman didn’t waste any time finishing the dual. He had four takedowns over Gannon Rosenfeld and a four-point nearfall in the first period to take a 16-3 lead. The match ended early in the second period by technical fall, 19-3. Ohio State won the dual 27-15.
