The 94-year wait is over. Ohio State, on the strength individual national titles by Logan Stieber and Nathan Tomasello, clinched its first-ever team title on Saturday. The Buckeyes (102 points) topped second-place Iowa by 18 points, third-place Edinboro (75.5 points) and fourth-place Missouri (73.5 points).
Stieber officially took his place in wrestling history with his 11-5 championship-round victory over second-seeded Mitchell Port of Edinboro in the final match of the night. He now joins Cael Sanderson (Iowa State, 1998-2002), Kyle Dake (Cornell, 2010-13) and Pat Smith (Oklahoma State, 1990-1992, 1994) in the elite group of wrestlers to win four NCAA titles. A native of Monroeville, Stieber finished his season 29-0, 119-3 in his career and also earned two major awards – the NCAA Most Dominate Wrestler and the NWCA Most Outstanding Wrestler. His championship match was consistent with most of his victories this season, as he jumped out to a quick lead in the first period thanks to two takedowns and was in control the rest of the way.
Tomasello took a 4-2 lead into the third period of his 125-pound final and quickly scored an escape to make the score 5-2, but Zeke Moisey got Tomasello briefly on his back, cutting the lead to 5-4. The redshirt freshman was able to get up and escape and then score another takedown for an 8-4. Tomasello earned the riding time bonus point, finishing his season as both a Big Ten and NCAA champion. He will also carry an 18-match winning streak into next year.
True freshman Kyle Snyder, seeded fifth at 197, was the first championship-round Buckeye to compete on Saturday night, facing third-seeded Kyven Gadson of Iowa State. The match started with a scoreless first period, and a Snyder escape to start the second gave him a 1-0 lead. He then attempt to come in for a takedown, but Gadson was able to get Snyder on his back and win by fall in 4:24. A native of Woodbine, Maryland, Snyder finishes his season 30-4 overall with a team-high 15 major decisions.
The Buckeyes, which held a 13.5 point lead headed into the session, won three of four matches Saturday morning. Bo Jordan started things off with a 6-2 decision over fourth-seeded Nicholas Sulzer of Virginia, getting key points after Iowa had pulled to within eight in the team race. In Ohio State’s next match, Courts dropped a hard-fought 6-2 decision to Blake Stauffer of Arizona State. That disappointment was short-lived, however, as Jordan came back and pinned Jackson Morse of Illinois in just 1:00 in the third-place match.
Courts, unseeded and a semifinalist at 184 pounds, clinched the team title for Ohio State when he got a third-period takedown to secure a 4-3 decision of Hayden Zilmer of North Dakota State. Courts went 4-2 at the NCAA Championships, including a first round upset of Zilmer and 7-5 sudden victory in the quarterfinals against Matthew McCutcheon of Penn State.
Wrestling began as a varsity sport at Ohio State in 1921. The program has three Big Ten team titles – 1923, 1951, 2015 – and now a national championship. With five All-Americans this year, the program’s total now improves to 87. It also marks the ninth straight year a Big Ten school has won the national championship.
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