Those in attendance in the sold out gymnasium loudly cheered on the Buckeyes and of course Sponseller, who attended West Holmes from 2004-07. During his high school career, Sponseller, who hails from Glenmont, Ohio, was a three-time Ohio High School state champion as a four-time qualifier. Clearly the feature bout following halftime, Sponseller jumped out to a 7-0 lead before Ben Boudro got on the board with an escape. However, Sponseller, one of four team captains, answered with two more takedowns and a riding time of 3:09 for the 12-2 major decision.
After the Spartans took an early 4-0 advantage following the 125-pound bout, sophomore Ian Paddock put the Buckeyes ahead, 6-4, after he pinned Levi Stace in 44 seconds. Paddock, a Warsaw, N.Y., native, was up 2-0 on a takedown before pinning Stace.
A late escape in the third period by freshman Randy Languis vs. Joel Trombly at 141 pounds proved to be the difference maker for the young Buckeye. Up 5-2 entering the third period, Languis, a Central Ohio product out of Dublin Scioto, relinquished an escape and takedown to Trombly. All even at five each, Languis scored an escape with 18 seconds left for the 6-5 win.
Back-to-back Spartan decisions at 149 and 157 pounds propelled Michigan State to a 10-9 lead, but the major decision by Sponseller at 165 pounds pushed Ohio State back into the lead, 13-10.
The Buckeyes and Spartans traded wins in the four remaining matches. First, Ohio State redshirt-freshman Nick Heflin held off Curran Jacobs, 3-2, in overtime. After Jacobs deferred in the second period, Heflin, a Massillon, Ohio, native chose bottom and scored an escape. However, Jacobs recorded an escape of his own at the beginning of the third to force extra time. With no scoring in the one-minute sudden victory, Jacobs chose bottom in the first 30-second tiebreaker and escaped Heflin's clutches for the 2-1 lead. In the following 30-second tiebreaker, Heflin notched a reversal with just three seconds left on the clock.
At 184 pounds, redshirt-sophomore C.J. Magrum dropped a close 3-1 decision in sudden victory to Ian Hinton. A native of Oak Harbor, Ohio, Magrum and Hinton were tied at 1-all before Hinton scored a takedown in extra time.
Classmate, Peter Capone gave the Buckeyes their final win of the afternoon at 197 pounds. In a reversal of fortunes, the Buckeye from Johnson City, N.Y., earned his own 3-1 sudden victory decision over No. 19 Tyler Dickenson when he scored a takedown with 11 seconds left in the period to put Ohio State up 19-13.
Buckeye heavyweight Zach Stolarsky (Solon, Ohio) wrapped up the afternoon vs. Mike McClure, who is 16th in the nation. After a scoreless first period, McClure scored an escape and takedown in the second and third periods, respectively, to close out the match.
Ohio State will travel to Iowa City, Iowa, where it will face the Hawkeyes at 4 p.m. ET Jan. 22 in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The match will air live on the Big Ten Network.
Results:
125 Eric Olanowski (Michigan State) MD Bo Touris (Ohio State), 11 - 2
133 Ian Paddock (Ohio State) FALL Levi Stace (Michigan State), (:44)
141 Randy Languis (Ohio State) DEC Joel Trombly (Michigan State), 6 - 5
149 Dan Osterman (Michigan State) DEC Mike Fee (Ohio State), 11 - 4
157 Sean McMurray (Michigan State)DEC Sean Nemec (Ohio State), 11 - 8
165 Colt Sponseller (Ohio State) MD Ben Boudro (Michigan State), 12 - 2
174 Nick Heflin (Ohio State) DEC Curran Jacobs (Michigan State), 3 - 2
184 Ian Hinton (Michigan State) DEC C.J. Magrum (Ohio State), 3 - 1
197 Peter Capone (Ohio State) DEC Tyler Dickenson (Michigan State),3 - 1
285 Mike McClure (Michigan State) DEC Zach Stolarsky (Ohio State), 3 - 0
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