Ohio State clinched the team title during Saturday morning's Session V at the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis.
"I'm just so happy," said Ohio State coach Tom Ryan. "All the coaches in the state, all the people in the state, Buckeye nation everywhere, I'm just really proud of the way the guys fought this weekend."
Ohio State's Bo Jordan placed third at 165 pounds (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)"He's just a champion," Ryan said of Bo Jordan. He's devastated. He wanted to win four titles. He won four state titles. He wanted to win four national titles. He was broken last night. But what do we do? It's life. You're broken, you wake up the next morning and you get the job done."
Kenny Courts, an unseeded junior, defeated North Dakota State's Hayden Zillmer to place fifth at 184 pounds, which guaranteed the Buckeyes at least a share of the national championship.
"Kenny Courts was a big difference this weekend," said Ryan.
It was not until after Iowa failed to get a pin at 197 pounds, few minutes before 1 p.m. CT, that it became official that Ohio State was this year's outright national champion.
Ohio State will enter tonight's finals with 94 points, while Iowa has 84 points. The Buckeyes have three wrestlers in the NCAA finals.
"Tonight is about them and putting an exclamation point on a great weekend for our program," said Ryan.
Edinboro's A.J. Schopp bounced back from a first-round loss to to Penn's Caleb Richardson on Thursday morning to win seven straight matches and place third at 133 pounds. It marks the third All-American honor for the Fighting Scot senior.
"I definitely had to change my mindset and attitude, and really had to come up with something to work my way back to third," said Schopp.
Another Edinboro wrestler, Vic Avery, bounced back from a semifinal loss to place third at 184 pounds. Edinboro is third in the team standings with 75.5 points and in position to win a team trophy.
Two No. 1 seeds who fell in the semifinals came back to place third, Alan Waters (Missouri) and Robert Kokesh (Nebraska).
Waters defeated Iowa's Thomas Gilman 8-4 in the third-place match at 125 pounds.
"I just wanted to go have fun," said Waters. "It's the last time to be out there, so enjoy it."
Kokesh claimed third at 174 pounds with a 6-4 win in sudden victory over friend and rival Logan Storley of Minnesota.
Returning NCAA champion Jason Tsirtsis of Northwestern, who lost in the semifinals, won two matches on Saturday to finish third at 149 pounds.
"I've worked extremely hard this year," said Tsirtsis. "To come up short of my goal, it hurts bad. But you've got to do what you can to do the best you can with what you're given."
Minnesota Dylan Ness did not wrestle today and defaulted to sixth place at 157 pounds, but was given a standing ovation by the crowd at the Scottrade Center. Ness finishes his career at Minnesota as a four-time All-American and two NCAA finalist. Ness and the Gophers are currently sitting in eighth place in the team standings.
Paid attendance for Session V was 18,797.
Team Standings (Top 10):
1. Ohio State 94
2. Iowa 84
3. Edinboro 75.5
4. Missouri 69.5
5. Cornell 67.5
6. Penn State 63.5
7. Oklahoma State 61
8. Minnesota 59.5
9. Nebraska 59
10. Virginia Tech 56
Placement Match Results
125:
1st: Nathan Tomasello (Ohio State) vs. Zeke Moisey (West Virginia)
3rd: Alan Waters (Missouri) dec. Thomas Gilman (Iowa), 7-4
5th: Nahshon Garrett (Cornell) dec. Connor Youtsey (Michigan), 9-3
7th: Eddie Klimara (Oklahoma State) dec. Jordan Conaway (Penn State), 5-4
133:
1st: Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) vs. Cory Clark (Iowa)
3rd: A.J. Schopp (Edinboro) dec. Chris Dardanes (Minnesota), 4-3
5th: Jimmy Gulibon (Penn State) dec. Mason Beckman (Lehigh), 9-5
7th: Ryan Taylor (Wisconsin) dec. Rossi Bruno (Michigan), 7-3
141:
1st: Logan Stieber (Ohio State) vs. Mitchell Port (Edinboro)
3rd: Devin Carter (Virginia Tech) dec. Dean Heil (Oklahoma State), 17-8
5th: Kevin Jack (North Carolina State) dec. Chris Mecate (Old Dominion), 3-0
7th: Lavion Mayes (Missouri) wins by medical forfeit over Anthony Ashnault (Rutgers)
149:
1st: Drake Houdashelt (Missouri) vs. David Habat (Edinboro)
3rd: Jason Tsirtsis (Northwestern) dec. Brandon Sorensen (Iowa), 3-1 SV
5th: B.J. Clagon (Rider) dec. Chris Villalonga (Cornell), 6-3
7th: Alexander Richardson (Old Dominion) pinned Daniel Neff (Lock Haven), 2:38
157:
1st: Isaiah Martinez (Illinois) vs. Brian Realbuto (Cornell)
3rd: James Green (Nebraska) dec. Nick Brascetta (Virginia Tech), 3-2
5th: Ian Miller (Kent State) won by medical forfeit over Dylan Ness (Minnesota)
7th: Brian Murphy (Michigan) won by medical forfeit over Mitchell Minotti (Lehigh)
165:
1st: Alex Dieringer (Oklahoma State) vs. Taylor Walsh (Indiana)
3rd: Bo Jordan (Ohio State) pinned Jackson Morse (Illinois), 1:00
5th: Nick Sulzer (Virginia) dec. Ethan Ramos (North Carolina), 12-4
7th: Isaac Jordan (Wisconsin) dec. Jim Wilson (Stanford), 3-2
174:
1st: Tyler Wilps (Pittsburgh) vs. Matt Brown (Penn State)
3rd: Robert Kokesh (Nebraska) dec. Logan Storley (Minnesota), 6-4 SV
5th: Kyle Crutchmer (Oklahoma State) dec. Mike Evans (Iowa), 2-1 TB1
7th: Zach Epperly (Virginia Tech) dec. Kurtis Julson (North Dakota State), 3-2
184:
1st: Gabe Dean (Cornell) vs. Nate Brown (Lehigh)
3rd: Victor Avery (Edinboro) dec. Blake Stauffer (Arizona State), 3-2
5th: Kenny Courts (Ohio State) dec. Hayden Zillmer (North Dakota State), 4-3
7th: Willie Miklus (Missouri) dec. Tim Dudley (Nebraska), 6-5
197:
1st: Kyle Snyder (Ohio State) vs. Kyven Gadson (Iowa State)
3rd: Morgan McIntosh (Penn State) dec. Scott Schiller (Minnesota), 12-7
5th: J’den Cox (Missouri) dec. Conner Hartmann (Duke), 4-2 TB1
7th: Nathan Burak (Iowa) dec. Max Huntley (Michigan), 6-4
285:
1st: Nick Gwiazdowski (North Carolina State) vs. Adam Coon (Michigan)
3rd: Mike McMullan (Northwestern) dec. Connor Medbery (Wisconsin), 3-2
5th: Bobby Telford (Iowa) dec. Jimmy Lawson (Penn State), 6-0
7th: Ty Walz (Virginia Tech) dec. Michael Kroells (Minnesota), 6-2
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