Archives for December 2014

Buckeyes Wrestle With Growing Pains

The Buckeye Wrestling Team tied the University of Missouri Tigers, losing the high powered dual meet on “criteria,” going to the fourth tie breaker. Tie meets are first decided on number of wins (tied at 5-5), then on falls (tied 1-1) and then on the total of individual match points (also tied at 48-48). Thus, they lost the dual 20-19 because the Tigers scored more first match takedowns.

It is beginning to sound like a broken record—this team has tremendous potential—the kind of potential that could easily propel the Buckeyes to their first national title in March, but injuries have to some extent masked that potential. It is becoming increasingly clear however that youth and inexperience are talking a toll. Buckeye fans have only to look at what the football team experienced after a loss to Virginia Tech to understand the hold that youth can put on title aspirations. The good news is that like the football experience, lessons can be learned early on that can erase early disappointments and lead to the ultimate goal.

The Buckeyes saw winners at 133 (decision by junior Johnni DiJulius), 141 (forfeit to senior Logan Stieber—which counts as a fall), 157 (decision by senior Josh Demas), 174 (decision by junior Mark Martin) and 197 (major decision by freshman Kyle Snyder). Freshman Bo Jordan was healthy enough to go at 165 if needed, but the decision has been made to hold him out until January to get him both completely healthy and ready. Junior Kenny Courts was injured in Las Vegas and was held out at 184.

Freshman Nathan Tomasello was again victimized by an early mistake that led to a takedown and three backpoints that put him down early 5-0 to third ranked Alan Waters. He stormed back only to fall short 10-8. Nathan has now faced most of the top wrestlers in his 125 pound weight class, including Waters. He has demonstrated superiority through most of those matches but has had the youthful bad luck of getting caught for back points, largely because of his high motor that experienced wrestlers have used against him. At some point Nathan will start to understand what guys at this level can do if you aren’t careful. When that comes, Nathan will be unstoppable.

Sophomore Justin Kresevic filled in gamely once again at 165, and could have won his match, but also made a mistake to lose a heart-breaker. This underscores the importance that experience plays—like a backup quarterback, a reserve wrestler never knows when he is going to be called on and it is a tough task to keep your head against top flight collegiate wrestlers. His energy, drive and talent were unmistakable. He will have his chances again, and hopefully a lesson was learned against Missouri.

The emotional moment of the match came when junior Hunter Stieber emerged to the center of the mat to go against highly ranked Drake Houdashelt. It was thought Hunter would be held out for injury precaution until the New Year, but after two Buckeye wins, including Missouri’s default to brother Logan, the crowd was stoked to see the highly successful Hunter emerge for this campaign. Hunter clearly was not ready for action yet—he was caught in a crossface cradle after a wild scramble for the takedown and pinned as time wound down in the first period.

Coach Tom Ryan conceded it was probably a mistake to insert Hunter in a surprise move. “It’s a lesson how tough the sport is. The body, mind and spirit must be working in unison. Tonight they weren’t for Hunter. Credit to his opponent as well. He stunned him a little. Hunter is ok from a health standpoint and we will work hard to prepare him for our next dual.” So again, the Buckeyes were hurt by not collectively being ready.

Even the wins had tough lessons to think about. Johnni DiJulius is my dark horse candidate for NCAA champion. At his best he has proven he can beat anyone. He has come out this year much tougher and for the most part noticeably more aggressive–you can start to see the pain he is inflicting on opponents. Yet, Coach Ryan offers, “he has to close out periods.” He zoomed out to a commanding 4-0 lead with over two minutes of riding time, only to get reversed near the end of the match, nearly avoiding backpoints. He likes to wrestle in a way to make opponents uncomfortable, but Coach Ryan concedes that piling up points is what really discourages an opponent. “He has a tendency to just hang on, and that is a recipe for trouble.” If Johnni wants to avoid the simple math of getting upset because occasionally things will go against you in close matches at the end, he has to use his punishing style to start putting distance between him and his opponents early and often.

At 197, the anticipated match-up between Snyder and defending national champion J’Den Cox did not materialize as Missouri opted to move Cox up to 285 to win the meet—Cox eked out a win against the always hard working Nick Tavanello. Against the back-up Snyder scored a major 15-5 win, racking up a torrent of takedowns. So far this year Snyder has proven to be as good as expected, which is to say breath-takingly good. Snyder is a world junior freestyle champion who has spent a few years honing his freestyle wrestling. Coach Ryan concedes he needs to advance with his collegiate style (“folkstyle”) by working on his back scoring holds and adding some things from his feet. The complaint, a minor one, is only one of emphasis. “He’s going to be a factor for sure,” Ryan concludes.

Mark Martin ground out a close win but again the feeling was that he was just hanging on, rather than wrestling at his potential. Mark is also one of those guys that you expect has unlimited potential if he went into each match with more determination and fight. He seems at times to get discouraged at points in the match and often leaves you feeling he has more to give than what you see.

Another emotional moment came with Josh Demas’ return to the mat. Demas is naturally traumatized by the death of his close friend, teammate and roommate Kosta Karageorge. “Josh lost last year to injury,“ Ryan notes. “I expected him to come out this year with a youthful passion. We have not seen that yet, though I understand he is having a hard time. He has tremendous talent.”

When asked if there was anything that pleasantly surprised him in the Missouri meet, Coach Ryan responded, “No. [It] was an uninspired performance overall. [I’m] starting to believe this team will have to wrestle above their potential to score the necessary points. We look very average now.” Coach Ryan does not put the responsibility solely on his wrestlers. When asked if his young team mirrored Urban’s football team after that VaTech loss, he volunteered, “Exactly. Hope we can coach them up as well as he and his staff did.”

The wrestling Buckeyes have had to deal with far more than most teams have to fight through in a young season. There is a lot of growth that needs to happen and at the current moment the questions outnumber the answers. But it is a long season. If the coaches can get the young men to come together with a clear common purpose with each doing what he can do with his circumstances, there is every reason to think they will weather the tumult. What this team really needs is for a few of the guys to simply step up from their expectations and have one of those beautifully memorable breakout years. Everyone will enjoy watching Logan Stieber attempt to get a hold on history but if the team wants to be a part of history as a group, others will have to step up and help lead the way.

What Happens On An Official Visit?

Are you one of those recruiting fans that always wondered what happens on an Official Visit? Thanks to 2015 commit Nick Conner we now have an itinerary for his OV that happens this weekend…

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Some highlight thoughts for me…

– It is pretty obvious the school does all they can to separate the parents and recruits in the evening so the recruits host players can take them out and show them a good time.

– Academic Presentations only take 15 mins of 48 hours lol

– A good basketball game can always help in recruiting… Morehead St wont move the needle much.

– They get a nap on Saturday lol

– They eat really well for free all weekend.

– The highlight video inside the ‘Shoe should be awesome

– Kerry Coombs Gameday video will be LOUD.

The Annual Airing Of Grievances (Part 1)

Festivus is one of my favorite Seinfeld episodes, and a holiday we celebrate within our household. The Airing Of Grievances is something we routinely will do, before we commence with The Feats Of Strength.

Anyone who knows my passion for college football is well aware of my long-standing desire to have a college football playoff system. You would think that I would be tremendously satisfied with a 4-team playoff that begins this season, especially as Ohio State was seeded as one of the top four teams?

Wrong.

Yes, I am happy that there is a four team playoff. It certainly beats the old BCS system, and will help to satisfy the idea that college football will settle its champion by results on the field, versus being voted upon. But…

Even with this new system, with four teams better than two, have we truly improved upon the system? After all, the new College Football Playoff determined its four teams via a committee. Co-champions of the Big 12, Texas Christian and Baylor, were left out of the playoff mix. And we have not even addressed the other conferences that are being excluded (Spoiler alert – I will address how to handle those other conferences in part two. I hope that little teaser will bring you back to see how this could be handled.).

Another area that needs to be contemplated with the new playoff system is the financial challenges or difficulties that fans will have in trying to go to multiple bowl locations. This is something that I have addressed in the past, and the families of players are focusing upon this as well…

Here is a tweet from the mother of Ohio State cornerback Eli Apple…

Here is a tweet from the mother of Ohio State linebacker Darron Lee…

Here is a tweet from former Ohio State defensive lineman Matt Finkes…

And thanks to Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer for continually raising this point…

Let me spell it out for you in simple economic terms. Using expedia.com, I looked for flights from Cleveland to New Orleans (home of The Allstate Sugar Bowl on January 1st, 2015), and from Cleveland to Dallas (home of The College Football Playoff National Championship Presented By AT&T on January 12, 2015).

Here is the price of a flight from Cleveland to New Orleans

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Here is the price of a flight from Cleveland to Dallas

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In case you were wondering about the price of Sugar Bowl tickets…

And I didn’t even bother looking into tickets for the game in Dallas. Please remember that I have not plugged in hotels or food, and I believe you are getting an idea about the financial implications of this new system for college football fans.

Are you starting to understand why I would include this new system under my Airing Of Grievances? Good. Tune in next week, and you will see my ideas on how this system could be improved upon in so many areas. Until then, start practicing for The Feats Of Strength…

MotSaG Chat with 2016 Safety Vincent Calhoun

Vincent Calhoun

Vincent Calhoun is a safety from Middletown, Ohio. He stands at 5-11 and weighs 175 pounds. This past season in his junior year at Middletown High School he was first team All District and had 102 tackles, four pass breakups and three interceptions. In addition, he also played at running back and wide receiver. So far he has visited two schools, Michigan State in October and Ohio State in September. When I asked Calhoun his thoughts on his visit to Columbus, he definitely said the visit was positive.

“It was a good experience, it was my first visit. My tour guide made me feel comfortable and I really liked it there,” said Calhoun.

Calhoun also had an opportunity to talk to the coaches and gain advice from the staff. Calhoun said, “I’ve talked to coach Kerry Coombs and he told me to just keep doing what I’m doing and call to show interest.”

Calhoun currently doesn’t have any offers on the table from any schools, but he remains optimistic. He especially would love to get an offer from Ohio State, who he has been a fan of all of his life. In fact he says it’s his dream school.

“I love Ohio State football. I’ve always wanted to be a Buckeye since I was young and the football team I played on was the lil (sic) Buckeyes,” Calhoun said.

I asked him how the recruiting process has been going for him and he says it’s going quite well. He said currently the schools showing the most interest in him are Illinois, Michigan State and Ohio State. While he just visited Michigan State, he doesn’t plan to visit any other schools soon. Calhoun hopes to commit to a school near the beginning of the next school year or in the summer. As for what Calhoun said you can expect from him:

“You get a great leader and someone who is going to give it their all everything they do anything and some to help teammates. And they get someone who will never back down from anything and is a team player.”

You can follow Vincent Calhoun on Twitter here: @middies_3

Ohio State Lands Their Running Back

The 2015 class is going to be a great class full of star players and one way or another they were destined to get a former Michigan Running Back Commit. The question was which one Mike Weber or Damien Harris? Both are highly ranked RBs both were once committed to Michigan. Both decommitted as things went down the drain for UM. Both had OSU at the top of their lists. It was a race to land the spot and it went back and forth all year who would they land.

Today that question was answered….

MotSaG Chat with 2016 Running Back Brandon Stephens

Nike Football Combine Dallas

Brandon Stephens is a running back from Plano, Texas. He stands at 6-1 and weighs 200 pounds. Over the course of 2014 in his junior season at Plano High School, he rushed 196 times for 1,268 yards and 21 touchdowns. And he’s been getting more attention as of late, visiting Baylor in November and receiving an offer from Tulsa on November 7. When I talked to Stephens I asked him how the recruiting process is going for him.

“It’s been very good, not too stressful just yet but I’ve been building many relationships with coaches, trying to get familiar with them,” said Stephens.

Stephens made his unofficial visit to Ohio State back on July 21 and was offered by Ohio State the very next day. I asked him what he thoughts of the experience and the impression he came away with from the visit.

“It was definitely amazing. Got to meet most of the coaches. The environment on and off campus was just right. It was a good visit all-around.”

Stephens was recruited by running backs coach Stan Drayton and corner backs/special teams coach Kerry Coombs (Stephens also plays corner back). I asked what he thought about the coaches and if they gave him any advice when talking to them. He said they gave him a couple of things to work on in his game and felt like they truly had his back. He really enjoyed talking to them. And when I asked him what his familiarity is with Ohio State football he simply replied: “7 Heisman winners, 7 national champions, 37 conference titles.”

Along with offers from Ohio State and Tulsa, Stephens also received an offer from Wisconsin back in June. I asked him which schools are currently showing the most interest and he replied: “Ohio State is showing a lot of interest, also LSU and Baylor.” Stephens also said he plans on visiting Wisconsin and possibly “many more,” but he isn’t completely sure. Right now he doesn’t have a list of top schools he’s considering and hopes to commit to a school by the beginning of next season.

The last question I asked Stephens about was what a team gets when they get Brandon Stephens. His response:

“A hard-working, unselfish player. I’m a player that shows resiliency. I’m also a person of leadership and character.”

You can follow Brandon Stephens on Twitter here: @BFame24

To see all of his highlights on Hudl, click here.

JT Barrett involved in a Police Investigation (Per Report)

Update…..

Officers responded early Tuesday morning to a disturbance at Ohio State Quarterback J.T. Barrett’s apartment, according to a report from the Columbus Division of Police.

In the report, Barrett says a woman identified as his girlfriend — Alexandria Barrett-Clark — refused to leave his apartment after he asked her to do so. Barrett says she “ran at him and pushed him.”

Barrett says Barrett-Clark hit him. In the report, he say he pushed her awy in self-defense, which caused her to fall to a bed. Barrett says he again asked her to leave. Agan, he says, she refused.

Barrett-Clark says she told Barrett that she would leave in the morning.

She told police that Barrett confronted her in his bedroom and “choked her on the bed.” She said Barrett used his forearm to apply pressue to her neck before taking her phone away from her.

Barrett-Clark told police she managed to get away from Barrett and call police.

Police say a witness told them that he was upstairs when he heard arguing. But, he says, he did not see any kind of fight between Barrett and Barrett-Clark.

Police said neither Barrett, nor Barrett-Clark, had any visible injuries and refused medical treatment.

Police did not make any arrests and no charges were filed.

The incident has been referred to the Prosecutor’s Office.

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You can see the full report here.

MotSaG Live Episode #17 – Bowl Mania & The Playoffs

It’s time for Bowl Mania! MotSaG writers Josh, Shannon and Chip along with their special returning guest Kevin McGuire broke down and picked the Big Ten bowl games, the New Year’s bowls and of course made their predictions on the first ever FBS college football playoffs. By the way you can check out Kevin’s work at collegefootballtalk.nbcsports.com and follow him on Twitter: @KevinonCFB. They’re a little more optimistic on the Big Ten in their bowl games than Vegas is. Two of the four chose Ohio State as the national champion, while the other two chose Alabama. Also somebody made peace with Tim Beckman. Sort of.

Emotionally Challenged Buckeye Wrestlers Make a Statement of Their Own

This past weekend, the Buckeyes, two years removed from a Cliff Keen Title, went to this year’s event in Las Vegas as a severely wounded team. In addition to several lingering injuries that will mask their potential until January, the team struggled to deal with the tragic death of beloved teammate Kosta Karageorge. Kosta lived with four Buckeye wrestlers and was dear friends to everyone on the team, leaving some too fragile to dive back into competition just yet. Other wrestlers, most notably second seed Kenny Courts, underperformed, perhaps as a result of the turmoil of the past week.

Despite all that, the Buckeyes finished second in the prestigious event, signaling that even with one hand tied behind its back, this team is a powerhouse in waiting.

Logan Stieber won his fourth Cliff Keen title with a dominating performance at 141 pounds against Devin Carter—the phenom who returned early from the most severe of hamstring injuries last year to meet Stieber in the NCAA finals, only to lose decisively. It was thought a completely healthy Carter could be trouble for Stieber but such was not the case. Carter is likely the strongest wrestler Stieber will face, and that showed. Carter deflected several brilliant attacks by Stieber, but in the end, Stieber’s own strength, attacking position, aggressiveness and vastly superior tool box was too much for Carter. Stieber looks unstoppable as he drives to an historic fourth NCAA title.

Freshman Nathan Tomasello was seeded sixth but proved he is among the elite at 125 pounds. He was punishing highly regarded Dylan Peters until he dove in for yet another takedown but was caught off guard and pinned in dramatic fashion. Tomasello bounded through the wrestle-backs in dominating fashion, winning third place by pummeling the four seed from Air Force in a major decision. Peters would actually finish sixth. Tomasello is a force. A mistake here and there in his young collegiate career cannot hide the fact that he is among the very best already, which he had announced with authority. The Cliff Keen runner-up Joey Dance of Virginia Tech was also getting roughed up by Tomasello in an earlier dual meet before coming back with a surprise near fall at the end to beat Tomasello. Once Nathan cleans up the vulnerabilities caused by his aggressiveness, he will be sitting near the top as we had suspected he would.

The story is similar for Kyle Snyder, the rock tough Buckeye freshman at 197. Snyder appeared to be the dominant wrestler in a 3-2 loss to champion Kyven Gadsen of Iowa State, but Gadsen seemed the beneficiary of docile refereeing as he consistently backed down from an attacking Snyder without so much as even a stall warning. Snyder was otherwise overpowering as he claimed third.

Johnni DiJulius also finished third at 133. This is a likable, fun and talented kid. But he is also brash and perhaps a little stubborn. Or maybe he just has multiple personalities because the great and not so great Johhnis were on display in Vegas. He has a deliberate style that often lands him in very close matches. So it should not surprise that the second seeded DiJulius lost a tight quarterfinal match to a competent but unranked wrestler. He also had to pull an overtime rabbit out of his hat to win a consolation semi-final.

But then the great Johnni showed up in the consolation bracket finals as he raced out to a commanding 6-0 lead and had the match put away by the time the third period started. It was a beautiful thing to watch. It would be even more beautiful if Johnni would decide to use his talents to accumulate a lead early more often, and not leave his title hopes to the late match vagaries of chance.

Nick Tavanello pitched in, as he always gamely does, with a fifth place at heavyweight. Nick can still get overpowered by the bigger boys in the weight class. However, if you combine his talent and drive with the weight lifting tutelage of former Buckeye great Nick Heflin, the future looks very bright for this sophomore, who won that fifth place match with a dramatic pin.

At 174, Mark Martin had some tough duty. For the most part he wrestled well, though he was obviously mentally deflated by a loss to eventual champion Robert Kokesh of Nebraska. Mark had wrestled well though and came back nicely against the punishing Kokesh. A pin in the seventh place match did bear witness to Mark’s ability to shake off a tough loss.

I continue to have nothing but praise for Randy Languis and Justin Kresevic, two reserves who pitched in, went out and won a few matches, looking every bit the part of strong collegiate wrestlers.

That the Buckeyes could finish second in such a strong field is a scary thought. Serious title contenders Hunter Stieber, Bo Jordan and Josh Demas did not make the trip and the Buckeyes travelled with only nine wrestlers, leaving for Las Vegas immediately from Kosta Karageorge’s memorial service. Thus they did not even field a wrestler at one of the stronger weights. After the tournament, the team and coaches were able to finally relax and soak up the joy of watching their football brothers destroy Wisconsin in the B1G title game. The solace and sense of brotherhood seemed palpable as the group witnessed the national spectacle with Kosta’s number on the Buckeye helmets, and watched Michael Bennett wreak havoc on the Badger offense wearing Kosta’s number.

People can look and say, “well, they only finished second,” but the truly amazing thing is that they finished at all, let alone second, under such circumstances.

JT Barrett wins Natl Freshman Of The Year Award

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J.T. Barrett has been tabbed as the CFPA National Freshman Performer of the Year, the organization announced today.

Barrett, 11-1 as Ohio State’s starting quarterback before suffering a season-ending injury against Michigan, became a Heisman Trophy candidate after finishing his campaign with school record totals of 3,772 total yards and 45 touchdowns responsible for. His touchdowns total is a Big Ten record. He passed for 2,834 yards and a school-record 34 touchdowns and he rushed for an additional 938 yards and 11 touchdowns.

Barrett etched his name throughout the Ohio State record book in 2014, setting school records in seven different categories, including touchdown passes, touchdowns responsible for, total offense, longest run by a Ohio State quarterback (86 yards), rushing yards by a quarterback (189), touchdown passes in a single game (six) and touchdown passes for a three-game span (14). Additionally, he was the Big Ten Freshman of the Week a conference-record seven times.

See the entire release here from Ohio State Athletics.