No. 7 Ohio State has been going through a tough stretch in terms of injuries with multiple wrestlers now out for the season. That hasn’t stopped the Buckeyes from dominating, now with another Big Ten win over No. 25 Maryland 38-4.
They were just one match away from taking all 10 weights with Gavin Bell falling at 197 pounds, but the other nine starters won their individual bouts handily.
Here’s how the Buckeyes did at each weight:
125 pounds: Early in the match, No. 24 Brendan McCrone set the tone with a takedown. He controlled the entire time, other than an early escape in the second period, and almost pinned Tommy Capul late in the third, but there wasn’t enough time remaining. McCrone settled for four team points in an 11-1 win.
133 pounds: No. 12 Nic Bouzakis continued his hot streak he’s been on since the Cliff Keen tournament. He took a 6-2 lead early over No. 21 Braxton Brown which grew to 15-2 after the first period. In the second period he had two more takedowns to secure the technical fall, winning 21-5.
141 pounds: No. 3 Jesse Mendez continued his dominance as well with a major decision of his own over No. 14 Kal Miller. He had a late takedown and was awarded an extra point for riding time to take the bout 10-2.
149 pounds: No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio led just 3-1 after the first period over No. 17 Ethen Miller but added on to that lead in the next four minutes enough to get the team a bonus point in a 14-6 win.
157 pounds: In just his second match since dropping to 157 pounds after Paddy Ghallagher’s season-ending injury, Isaac Wilcox scored three points in the first period, and eight more in the second, ultimately taking the match over Michael North 15-1 to put the Buckeyes up 21-0.
165 pounds: No. 22 Bryce Hepner took a 7-1 lead into the third period but doubled his points in the next two minutes to beat AJ Rodrigues 14-2 and put Ohio State up 25-0 in the dual.
174 pounds: True freshman Rocco Welsh has been very impressive in his limited time, doing enough to get his redshirt pulled after Carson Kharchla’s season-ending injury. He continued to impress with a 14-4 win over Dom Solis.
184 pounds: Gavin Hoffman is another Buckeye who is likely out for the season, and Seth Shumate has been wrestling at 184 pounds. He got a major decision of his own over Chase Mielnik 15-5 to give Ohio State a 33-0 lead and keep the chance of winning every bout alive.
197 pounds: The Terrapins got their only win of the day in the penultimate bout of the dual. No. 5 Jaxon Smith got them four team points with a major decision over Bell who had four points, each from escapes. Smith won 16-4, making the dual score 33-4.
Heavyweight: No. 17 Nick Feldman closed the night in strong fashion with a 17-2 technical fall quickly. He had two takedowns early on with two four-point nearfalls on Sam O’Brian. Ohio State won the dual meet 38-4.
