Buckeyes continue to compete on the international stage

Summer break doesn’t mean a break from competition for many Ohio State student athletes, as international competition, from world championships to the Pan-American Games to Olympic qualifiers are heating up along with the weather.

On the wrestling front, rising redshirt sophomore Brady Koontz punched a ticket to the 2019 U23 World Championships in Budapest. With the 3-1 victory over Indiana’s Liam Cronin in North Dakota, Koontz will represent the U.S. U23 Greco-Roman World Team at the 55-kg spot. The championships are scheduled for Oct. 28-Nov. 2. Koontz is joined on Team USA by Buckeye alum Kyle Snyder, who is competing for his country for the fifth-straight year. Last year, Koontz was a member of the Junior World Team.

Speaking of Budapest, that’s where the fencing world championships are happening right now, with competition scheduled to wrap up tomorrow. A contingent of nine current and former Buckeyes are representing three countries in three separate events.

Men’s lacrosse is also building out its roster, with tryouts for the U19 team taking place last week in Maryland. The team is led by none other than Ohio State’s head coach Nick Myers, who took the U19 team to a World Championship in 2016. Meyers will have some familiar faces on the team as well — at least from the recruiting trail — as four incoming Ohio State freshmen made the 32-man roster. Midfielders Grant and Connor Mitchell (yes, they’re brothers), defenseman Jacob Snyder and goalie Christian Tomei are all part of the 2019 recruiting class at Ohio State. As a next step, the quartet is scheduled to train for the final, 23-man roster, which will be announced next year. The squad has a lot to live up to: Team USA has won eight-straight world titles.

Myers isn’t the only Ohio State coach leading on the international stage. Three men’s volleyball coaches are also working with U.S. squads gearing up for international competition. Kevin Burch, Ohio State’s head coach, and Mitch Lush, the Buckeyes’ director of operations, are both training the Boys Youth National Training Team in preparation for the FIVB U19 World Championships, scheduled to take place in Tunisia in August. Assistant coach Luke Wood Maloney is also working with the Boys Select A1 National Training Team.

While this women’s golf competition is a little closer to home, four current Buckeyes have qualified for the U.S. Women’s Amateur, scheduled to take place at Old Waverly Golf Club in West Point, Miss., in August. Aneka Seumanutafa, Skylar Thompson, Alanis Sakuma and Alex Wright all made the 156-woman field, while Adeena Shears earned a spot as an alternate.

Ohio State programs make offseason shifts to their coaching staffs

As many programs prepare for the start of fall practice, several are filling coaching vacancies before competition begins.

• Jen McIntyre, previously head coach of UConn, joined Ohio State softball as associate head coach.
• Dorsey Tierney-Walker, who has held head coaching roles at New Mexico, Auburn and Indiana, joined the swimming and diving staff as associate head coach.
• Volunteer assistant coach Dan DeLucia was promoted to pitching coach for baseball.

Missed the latest podcast?

Going into the weekend, another edition of Outside the Shoe was released into the wild. The latest episode included Geoff Hammersley and me talking about the OSU men’s hockey team, who won the Big Ten regular season last time around.

Additionally, we both look into what happens next for the Buckeyes, and the state of college hockey.

To listen to the podcast episode, you can click here, or click on the embed below.