Ohio State wrestling: Ryan wins 200th as Buckeyes move to 4-0

The Ohio State wrestling team was in action three times this weekend, facing Duke on Saturday  followed by a double-header against Davidson and George Mason on Sunday. The Buckeyes won all three matches, bringing their record to 4-0 on the season and giving head coach Tom Ryan his 200^th win as a head coach.

The Buckeyes won the matchup  against Duke 25-10 with  both Logan Stieber (141 pounds) and Johnni DiJulius (133 pounds) winning by technical fall. Also recording victories for the Buckeyes were Ian Paddock (149 pounds), Mark Martin (174 pounds), Kenny Courts (184 pounds), Nick Tavanello (HWT), and Nick Roberts (125 pounds), who all won via decision (Paddock's win came in sudden victory).

Next up was a match-up against Davidson, which the Buckeyes  dominated, winning by a margin of 40-6. Ohio State won 9 of the 10 individual matchups, with each victory being of the bonus point variety (major decision, pin, or technical fall). Both Stieber and Tavanello recorded pins, with Tavanello's coming over Eddie Isola at 4:57. Dijulius, Roberts, Paddock, Randy Languis, Joe Grandominico, Martin, and Josh Fox all recorded major decisions.

The weekend's final contest against George Mason was closer, but still a decisive victory, as the Buckeyes won 29-6. Leading the way again was Stieber who recorded his second fall of the weekend over Sahid Kargbo. Paddock and Grandominico both recorded major decisions while Josh Whitt, DiJulius, Martin, Courts, and Tavanello won by decision.

QUICK HITS:

• The win against George Mason was Tom Ryan's 200^th as a head coach. It was also his 91^st as the coach of the Buckeyes. In only his eighth season Ryan is fourth all-time in wins at Ohio State. However, he still has quite a way to go to catch Russ Hellickson and his 272 victories.
• In his eight years as Buckeye head coach, Ryan has posted a 72.8 winning percentage, the highest in the program's history.
• Logan Stieber was particularly dominant this weekend, ending all of his matches in less than four minutes. Against Duke's Xaviel Ramos, Stieber was relentless on top, grinding out a 17-1 technical fall in only 3:00. He followed that up by pinning Davidson's Alexander Palinski at the 1:20 mark of the very first period. Steiber then wrapped up his weekend with a pin over Sahid Kargbo at 3:32. His record now stands at 4-0 with all four victories coming by pin or tech fall. These are the kind of performances that can lead to a Hodge Trophy, one of the few accolades that Stieber has yet to claim.
• The Buckeyes next take to the mats December 6 at the CKLV Wrestling Invitational, a tournament in Las Vegas, Nevada.