Backed by a pair of pins from Hunter Stieber and Nikko Triggas at 141 and 125 pounds, respectively, and a technical fall by Kenny Courts in the 184-pound bout, the Scarlet and Gray defeated their fifth ranked opponent of the season.
Triggas' match vs. Matt Cavallaris concluded the afternoon and the Buckeye's 45-second fall marks his ninth of the season and 46th of his career. Triggas' career count ranks him third all time and now he is one fall shy of a tie for second place. Don Moxley, a Buckeye letterwinner from 1983-85, is the all-time Ohio State career falls leader with 50.
Despite trailing the Badgers early, 4-0, after Kyle Visconti dropped the opening bout at 133 pounds, 25-11, Ohio State soon took a 6-4 lead when Stieber pinned Thomas Kelliher in 1:22 for his 23rd win of the season. The Buckeye advantage was short-lived however after Cam Tessari dropped an 8-7 decision to Cole Schmitt in the 149-pound matchup. Tessari rallied from a 4-1 deficit at the end of the first period when he scored in succession an escape, takedown and 3-point nearfall to take a 7-4 lead. However, towards the end of the period Schmitt recorded a reversal to cut Tessari's lead to one (7-6). Schmitt was able to add a takedown in the third period for the final score.
With Wisconsin holding on to a slim 7-6 lead, Ohio State reeled off five consecutive victories en route to a 23-7 lead. Josh Demas, who has faced the Nos. 1, 2 and 12th-ranked wrestlers in the nation at 157 pounds, earned his first Big Ten win of the season on a 5-3 decision vs. Charles York. Demas used an escape in the third period to increase his lead throughout the close match.
Teammate Mark Martin also won his first league match of the season when decisioned Frank Cousins, 8-3 at 165 pounds. Up, 2-1, at the conclusion of the first period, Martin scored a pair of takedowns and an escape for a 7-3 advantage. A riding time of 1:57 helped the Buckeye to the 8-3 final.
Nick Heflin gave up just an escape to Scott Liegel in his 6-1 victory at 174 pounds, while Courts took an 11-0 lead into the second period vs. Ben Cox before rolling to a 16-0 win in the 184-pound matchup. Facing No. 20 Jackson Hein at 197 pounds, Andrew Campolattano, the Russ Hellickson Wrestler of the Match, held on for the 3-2 win. Campolattano owned a slim 3-1 lead entering the third period and despite an escape by Hein in the final period, the Buckeye sophomore collected his 15th win of the season.
Heavyweight Peter Capone suffered a 5-2 loss to Connor Medbery. The two wrestlers were knotted up at 2-2 at the beginning of the third period, but a 2-point nearfall by Medbery, plus riding time of 1:20 secured the Badgers their third win of the afternoon.
The Buckeyes are back in action Feb. 1 when they host Illinois at 7 p.m. in Oak Harbor, Ohio.
Results:
133: No. 3 Tyler Graff (WIS) maj. dec. Kyle Visconti, 25-11
141: No. 2 Hunter Stieber pinned Thomas Kelliher (WIS), 1:22
149: Cole Schmitt (WIS) dec. No. 14 Cam Tessari, 8-7
157: Josh Demas dec. Charles York, (WIS), 5-3
165: Mark Martin dec. Frank Cousins Jr. (WIS), 8-3
174: No. 7 Nick Heflin dec. Scott Liegel (WIS), 6-1
184: No. 15 Kenny Courts tech. fall Benjamin Cox (WIS), 16-0
197: No. 9 Andrew Campolattano dec. No. 20 Jackson Hein (WIS), 3-2
HWT: No. 11 Connor Medbery (WIS) dec. No. 12 Peter Capone, 5-2
125: No. 12 Nikko Triggas pinned Matthew Cavallaris (WIS), 0:45
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now