Archives for March 2015

Buckeyes Storm to Commanding NCAA Wrestling Lead: @wrestlingbucks @buckeye158

March 20, 2015 by 1 Comment

Though danger definitely lurks with a deep Iowa team and top heavy Missouri team, Ohio State busted out to a commanding lead after the third of six rounds at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, MO. Although the Buckeyes are down to five wrestlers who are still alive, all five will be All Americans and are headed to the semifinals, live tonight on ESPN (8 Eastern).

The feel good story of the year really is Kenny Courts. Dogged by inconsistent performance in light of his clear and undeniable talent, the junior 184 pounder is one match away from wrestling on the elevated stage in tomorrow night’s finals. Coach Tom Ryan, while frustrated at times, has never wavered in his belief that Kenny had the goods to break through. Both were rewarded when Kenny hit an overtime takedown to beat Matthew McCutcheon of Penn State. Ryan suggests a gentleman upstairs might be looking out for the unseeded Kenny who, after knocking off a six seed, saw someone else knock off the eleven seed that would have been his next opponent, followed by McCutcheon who beat the third seed. It has happened yet again. His next opponent, Nathaniel Brown of Lehigh upended the two seed. The winner will go to the finals in a bracket buster no one saw coming.

The other amazing thing is this: while you can expect Logan Stieber and his freshmen gang of three (Tomasello, Jordan and Snyder) to make it to the semis, with such a big number something almost always goes wrong. Not today. Tomasello kicked the stuffing out of Corey Mines of Edinboro to earn a tech fall. Stieber did the same to Anthony Abidin of Nebraska. But then Bo Jordan PINS a Cooper Moore who pinned two guys including four seed Nick Sulzer, a guy most predicted would best Jordan.

Right after Courts’ thriller, Kyle Snyder had had a Schiller Thriller, taking down the immovable object in Scott Schiller of Minnesota. Schiller is a very strong wrestler, and a veteran but he has no ability to penetrate Snyder’s defenses. An early Snyder takedown essentially sealed the deal.

So the Buckeyes head to the semis with an astounding five wrestlers, three of whom face number one seeds and two of those, Tomasello and Snyder, face Missouri opponents. The Buckeyes will need to pull off one of those head to heads, and to stay ahead of Iowa they may need both. Of course, if Kenny Courts or Bo Jordan (who faces number one Alex Dieringer of Oklahoma State) can get to the finals, the entire equation changes for the better.

It has been a great year to be a Buckeye and now a first NCAA wrestling title is in sight. Tonight ill reveal much about where that dream stands.

From earlier:

Friday Morning

The Ohio State Wrestling Team suffered some setbacks but had a strong enough day to lead after the first full day of competition at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis’ Scottrade Arena. The story of the tournament so far is unseeded Kenny Courts who will join four others this morning in the championship bracket quarterfinals. In total, the Buckeyes have a tournament leading eight wrestlers still going, and all are going strong. Here is a repeat of the first session and a summary of the second session.

First Session:

The Ohio State Wrestling team had a very pleasant surprise, a close loss to a seeded wrestler and a genuine heartbreak. Badly injured Hunter Stieber gave it a go. Without a single usable arm he nearly missed a dramatic comeback. He looked pretty good on his feet but probably was not healthy enough to escape from the bottom in the second. That led to him getting put on his back. Although he valiantly held off a pin, the period rideout cost him the point he could have used as he gamely came back. A near takedown at the end fell short, sending the hurt fighter to the long wrestle backs, likely against last year’s NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig, who is also hurt.

On the bright side, the Buckeyes send a tournament leading seven wrestlers to the second round as they picked up bonus points on two pins (Tomasello ad Jordan), one tech fall (Logan Stieber) and one major decision (Snyder). Even better, Kenny Courts nailed an overtime takedown to score an upset over a six seed. Kennny’s would be opponent, the eleven seeded Pfarr from Minnesota was also upset, opening the possibility that the very talented but enigmatic Kenny could end up in the quarters with a win tonight.

The Buckeyes did encounter a tough loss at 174, but Mark Martin can redeem himself in the wrestlebacks. He still stands a decent chance of making the All American brackets.

The Buckeyes finished the first session in first place in the team standings. Even better, their main challengers, Iowa and Missouri had significant setbacks. Iowa, in particular lost five (141) and three (285) seeds and have only five wrestlers into the second round. Mizzou fared a little better. Although they scored two minor upsets, they also suffered one minor and one major upset when four seed Eblen lost at 174. Mizzou also sends seven to the second round but will have at least one tough match when three seed Lavion Mayes goes against Dean Heil of Oklahoma State.

The Buckeyes have particularly critical matches at 133 (Johnni DiJulius vs 17-1 thirteen seed Cody Brewrer of Oklahoma), 157, (Josh Demas v. eleven seed Brian Murphy, Michigan) and 184 (Kenny Courts v. unseeded Scott Patrick, Davidson). This is potentially a big night for the Buckeyes, who historically go on a nice run in the first evening session. Buckle up.

Second Session

The Buckeyes continued their roll by picking up a second win by Kenny Courts who dominated Davidson’s Scott Patrick at 184. Coach Ryan said he never gave up on Kenny despite a disappointing effort for much of this season. “Kenny just kept believing and now he has a huge match that he has to win this morning.” Coach Ryan allowed that a higher force is perhaps at work. Not only did Kenny knock off the sixth seed in the first round, but Patrick managed to bump off the eleven seed as well. Now he takes on 14 seed Mathew McCutcheon who beat third seeded Blake Stauffer of Arizona State. A win would put Kenny, incredibly, in the semis, something very few would have predicted.

The Buckeyes lost at 133 and 157. Johnni DiJulius was mauled for a major decision loss to Cody Brewer of Oklahoma. At 157 Josh Demas toyed agonizingly with the winning takedown over Brian Murphy of Michigan but just could not finish it off, suffering a tough one point loss. The good news is that both DiJulius and Demas have a chance to make a strong push through the wrestlebacks later this morning.

Mark Martin scored a nice win in his first round in the consolation bracket. He also has an opportunity to advance to the medal rounds as he would likely face no higher than a seven seed for several matches.

Kenny Courts will be joined in the quarters by the usual Buckeye suspects, Nathan Tomasello at 125, Logan Stieber at 141, Bo Jordan at 165 and Kyle Snyder at 197. Tomasello won a major decision in his backyard brawl with Ben Willefort of Cleveland State, while Stieber walked away with a pin and Snyder managed a 14-5 demolition of Shane Woods of Wyoming. Bo Jordan ground out a 6-2 win over Dylan Palacio of Cornell and now finds himself against thirteen seed Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa. Moore knocked off four seed Nick Sulzer of Virginia, who some experts (me not included) projected to knock off the fifth seeded Jordan.

The heartbreak continued for Hunter Stieber who made a go of it with no usable elbow. His coach mercifully threw in the towel in the middle of a match with a gracious Clayton Ream of North Dakota State. As the Ohio State partisans rose to their feet in admiration and tribute, Hunter left the mat knowing double elbow surgery awaits him next week. Hunter gave every ounce of effort his pain wracked body could offer.

At heavy, Nick Tavanello once again gave up a last second takedwon to Brooks Black to become the second Buckeye eliminated from contention.

The team scores show Ohio State in the lead at 23. Iowa trails by two points. Although they also have five wrestlers in the quarters, three of them face long odds: Thomas Gilman goes against third seeded Joey Vance of Virginia Tech at 125; Sam Brooks faces number one seed Gabe Dean of Cornell at 184 and Nathan Burak faces third seeded Kyven Gadsen of Iowa State at 197. What is more, Mike Evans may be third seeded at 174 but he goes against sixth seed Logan Storley of Minnesota who beat Evans for third at the Big Ten two weeks ago. Corey Clark faces a pretty tough sixth seed Earl Hall of Iowa State at 133 as well.

Missouri suffered a number of setbacks but still has all three number one seeds going. Assuming Ohio State can win this morning at 125 and 197, that could set up two titanic matches in the semis tonight as Tomasello would go against Missouri’s one seed Alan Waters and Kyle Snyder would go against Missouri’s defending national champ J’Den Cox. Before that though, Snyder will once again need to beat the very tough fifth seed, Scott Schiller of Minnesota.

Filed Under: College Wrestling, Ohio State Football

Buckeyes Eye National Title After Day One of NCAA Wrestling Championships

March 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The Ohio State Wrestling Team suffered some setbacks but had a strong enough day to lead after the first full day of competition at the NCAA Championships in St. Louis’ Scottrade Arena. The story of the tournament so far is unseeded Kenny Courts who will join four others this morning in the championship bracket quarterfinals. In total, the Buckeyes have a tournament leading eight wrestlers still going, and all are going strong. Here is a repeat of the first session and a summary of the second session.

First Session:

The Ohio State Wrestling team had a very pleasant surprise, a close loss to a seeded wrestler and a genuine heartbreak. Badly injured Hunter Stieber gave it a go. Without a single usable arm he nearly missed a dramatic comeback. He looked pretty good on his feet but probably was not healthy enough to escape from the bottom in the second. That led to him getting put on his back. Although he valiantly held off a pin, the period rideout cost him the point he could have used as he gamely came back. A near takedown at the end fell short, sending the hurt fighter to the long wrestle backs, likely against last year’s NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig, who is also hurt.

On the bright side, the Buckeyes send a tournament leading seven wrestlers to the second round as they picked up bonus points on two pins (Tomasello ad Jordan), one tech fall (Logan Stieber) and one major decision (Snyder). Even better, Kenny Courts nailed an overtime takedown to score an upset over a six seed. Kennny’s would be opponent, the eleven seeded Pfarr from Minnesota was also upset, opening the possibility that the very talented but enigmatic Kenny could end up in the quarters with a win tonight.

The Buckeyes did encounter a tough loss at 174, but Mark Martin can redeem himself in the wrestlebacks. He still stands a decent chance of making the All American brackets.

The Buckeyes finished the first session in first place in the team standings. Even better, their main challengers, Iowa and Missouri had significant setbacks. Iowa, in particular lost five (141) and three (285) seeds and have only five wrestlers into the second round. Mizzou fared a little better. Although they scored two minor upsets, they also suffered one minor and one major upset when four seed Eblen lost at 174. Mizzou also sends seven to the second round but will have at least one tough match when three seed Lavion Mayes goes against Dean Heil of Oklahoma State.

The Buckeyes have particularly critical matches at 133 (Johnni DiJulius vs 17-1 thirteen seed Cody Brewrer of Oklahoma), 157, (Josh Demas v. eleven seed Brian Murphy, Michigan) and 184 (Kenny Courts v. unseeded Scott Patrick, Davidson). This is potentially a big night for the Buckeyes, who historically go on a nice run in the first evening session. Buckle up.

Second Session

The Buckeyes continued their roll by picking up a second win by Kenny Courts who dominated Davidson’s Scott Patrick at 184. Coach Ryan said he never gave up on Kenny despite a disappointing effort for much of this season. “Kenny just kept believing and now he has a huge match that he has to win this morning.” Coach Ryan allowed that a higher force is perhaps at work. Not only did Kenny knock off the sixth seed in the first round, but Patrick managed to bump off the eleven seed as well. Now he takes on 14 seed Mathew McCutcheon who beat third seeded Blake Stauffer of Arizona State. A win would put Kenny, incredibly, in the semis, something very few would have predicted.

The Buckeyes lost at 133 and 157. Johnni DiJulius was mauled for a major decision loss to Cody Brewer of Oklahoma. At 157 Josh Demas toyed agonizingly with the winning takedown over Brian Murphy of Michigan but just could not finish it off, suffering a tough one point loss. The good news is that both DiJulius and Demas have a chance to make a strong push through the wrestlebacks later this morning.

Mark Martin scored a nice win in his first round in the consolation bracket. He also has an opportunity to advance to the medal rounds as he would likely face no higher than a seven seed for several matches.

Kenny Courts will be joined in the quarters by the usual Buckeye suspects, Nathan Tomasello at 125, Logan Stieber at 141, Bo Jordan at 165 and Kyle Snyder at 197. Tomasello won a major decision in his backyard brawl with Ben Willefort of Cleveland State, while Stieber walked away with a pin and Snyder managed a 14-5 demolition of Shane Woods of Wyoming. Bo Jordan ground out a 6-2 win over Dylan Palacio of Cornell and now finds himself against thirteen seed Cooper Moore of Northern Iowa. Moore knocked off four seed Nick Sulzer of Virginia, who some experts (me not included) projected to knock off the fifth seeded Jordan.

The heartbreak continued for Hunter Stieber who made a go of it with no usable elbow. His coach mercifully threw in the towel in the middle of a match with a gracious Clayton Ream of North Dakota State. As the Ohio State partisans rose to their feet in admiration and tribute, Hunter left the mat knowing double elbow surgery awaits him next week. Hunter gave every ounce of effort his pain wracked body could offer.

At heavy, Nick Tavanello once again gave up a last second takedwon to Brooks Black to become the second Buckeye eliminated from contention.

The team scores show Ohio State in the lead at 23. Iowa trails by two points. Although they also have five wrestlers in the quarters, three of them face long odds: Thomas Gilman goes against third seeded Joey Vance of Virginia Tech at 125; Sam Brooks faces number one seed Gabe Dean of Cornell at 184 and Nathan Burak faces third seeded Kyven Gadsen of Iowa State at 197. What is more, Mike Evans may be third seeded at 174 but he goes against sixth seed Logan Storley of Minnesota who beat Evans for third at the Big Ten two weeks ago. Corey Clark faces a pretty tough sixth seed Earl Hall of Iowa State at 133 as well.

Missouri suffered a number of setbacks but still has all three number one seeds going. Assuming Ohio State can win this morning at 125 and 197, that could set up two titanic matches in the semis tonight as Tomasello would go against Missouri’s one seed Alan Waters and Kyle Snyder would go against Missouri’s defending national champ J’Den Cox. Before that though, Snyder will once again need to beat the very tough fifth seed, Scott Schiller of Minnesota.

Filed Under: College Wrestling

2015 Ohio State Spring Football Questions: Who Will Emerge At Right Offensive Tackle?

March 20, 2015 by Leave a Comment

On March 10th, Ohio State began spring practice, and had fifteen spring football practices available before the conclusion of spring practice on April 18th in Ohio Stadium. Over the next few weeks, I will rank the top ten questions facing Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his coaching staff as the Buckeyes retake the football field after concluding the 2014 season as the national champions.

These articles will be submitted from areas of lowest concern to highest concern. While Ohio State returns the overwhelming majority of its 2014 team, and welcomes in a highly-touted recruiting class, it will be important for Coach Meyer to convey to his team that complacency within the player ranks could derail any hopes of the Buckeyes repeating as national champions in 2015.

Two practices in, with the week of March 15th-March 22nd off as the players can enjoy the Ohio State spring break period. After March 22nd, Ohio State has thirteen remaining practices, including the April 18th spring game, to evaluate where the football program stands before fall camp begins.

Up until this point in the series, my questions and focus has been upon emerging players at backup positions, a clear testament to Ohio State’s depth across the board. From here on out, these questions will focus upon position areas where Ohio State has lost a player(s) to graduation or eligibility, which is why I have ranked these position groups higher in terms of importance.

5. Right Offensive Tackle

Key Players/Contributors Lost: Darryl Baldwin (eligibility); Kyle Dodson (injury); Antonio Underwood (eligibility)

Key Players/Contributors Returning: Chase Farris (Redshirt Senior), Jamarco Jones (Sophomore), Marcelys Jones (Sophomore), Evan Lisle (Redshirt Sophomore), Brady Taylor (Redshirt Freshman), Kyle Trout (Redshirt Freshman), Grant Schmidt (Freshman).

What a difference a year makes. At the conclusion of spring practice in 2014, I had major concerns about the Ohio State offensive line, having replaced four starters. Unfortunately, my concerns were legitimized when Ohio State lost to Virginia Tech in the second game of the 2014 season, casting major questions about Ohio State being able to rally from the loss and still qualify for the College Football Playoff. (I won’t bore you with the rest, because I know you are still basking in the glow of the events of January 12, 2015).

From left to right, Ohio State returns starters in Taylor Decker, Billy Price, Jacoby Boren, and Pat Elflein. The lone starting position that is up for grabs is at right offensive tackle, which has been vacated with the departure of Darryl Baldwin.

Baldwin was a converted defensive lineman who earned the starting right offensive tackle position last fall. It would not be surprising to see Baldwin selected in the later rounds of the upcoming NFL Draft, especially after Ohio State’s offensive line was the primary reason for the dominant offensive performances by the Buckeyes down the stretch run of the season.

With one spot open, and so many players waiting in the wings, how will this all shake out?

After the first two practices, Chase Farris was getting the starting nod at the right offensive tackle spot. Like Baldwin, Farris has been converted from defensive line, and has battled for a starting position along the offensive line over the last three seasons.

The position will not be won without a fight. Jamarco Jones, a heavily recruited offensive lineman from the 2014 recruiting class, has been mentioned as a possible contender. It is entirely possible that this battle will go on beyond spring practice, and into fall camp.

While Ohio State has an abundance of talent in the wings, and even more reinforcements arriving this summer with recruits from the 2015 class, a word of caution to Ohio State fans. While there are players on the depth chart, and reinforcements on the way with the 2015 recruiting class set to arrive this summer, keep in mind that Ohio State’s offensive line will undergo a metamorphosis next spring in 2016 similar to the beginning of the 2014 season, with multiple starters departing. It will be in the coaching staff’s best interests to play as many offensive linemen as possible during the 2015 season to avoid starting out 2016 like Ohio State did versus Virginia Tech in 2014.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Buckeyes Have Strong Opening Session at NCAA Wrestling

March 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment

The Ohio State Wrestling team had a very pleasant surprise, a close loss to a seeded wrestler and a genuine heartbreak. Badly injured Hunter Stieber gave it a go. Without a single usable arm he nearly missed a dramatic comeback. He looked pretty good on his feet but probably was not healthy enough to escape from the bottom in the second. That led to him getting put on his back. Although he valiantly held off a pin, the period rideout cost him the point he could have used as he gamely came back. A near takedown at the end fell short, sending the hurt fighter to the long wrestle backs, likely against last year’s NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig, who is also hurt.

On the bright side, the Buckeyes send a tournament leading seven wrestlers to the second round as they picked up bonus points on two pins (Tomasello ad Jordan), one tech fall (Logan Stieber) and one major decision (Snyder). Even better, Kenny Courts nailed an overtime takedown to score an upset over a six seed. Kennny’s would be opponent, the eleven seeded Pfarr from Minnesota was also upset, opening the possibility that the very talented but enigmatic Kenny could end up in the quarters with a win tonight.

The Buckeyes did encounter a tough loss at 174, but Mark Martin can redeem himself in the wrestlebacks. He still stands a decent chance of making the All American brackets.

The Buckeyes finished the first session in first place in the team standings. Even better, their main challengers, Iowa and Missouri had significant setbacks. Iowa, in particular lost five (141) and three (285) seeds and have only five wrestlers into the second round. Mizzou fared a little better. Although they scored two minor upsets, they also suffered one minor and one major upset when four seed Eblen lost at 174. Mizzou also sends seven to the second round but will have at least one tough match when three seed Lavion Mayes goes against Dean Heil of Oklahoma State.

The Buckeyes have particularly critical matches at 133 (Johnni DiJulius vs 17-1 thirteen seed Cody Brewrer of Oklahoma), 157, (Josh Demas v. eleven seed Brian Murphy, Michigan) and 184 (Kenny Courts v. unseeded Scott Patrick, Davidson). This is potentially a big night for the Buckeyes, who historically go on a nice run in the first evening session. Buckle up.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football

2015 Ohio State Spring Football Questions: Who Else Besides Nick Vannett At Tight End?

March 19, 2015 by Leave a Comment

On March 10th, Ohio State began spring practice, and had fifteen spring football practices available before the conclusion of spring practice on April 18th in Ohio Stadium. Over the next few weeks, I will rank the top ten questions facing Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his coaching staff as the Buckeyes retake the football field after concluding the 2014 season as the national champions.

These articles will be submitted from areas of lowest concern to highest concern. While Ohio State returns the overwhelming majority of its 2014 team, and welcomes in a highly-touted recruiting class, it will be important for Coach Meyer to convey to his team that complacency within the player ranks could derail any hopes of the Buckeyes repeating as national champions in 2015.

Two practices in, with the week of March 15th-March 22nd off as the players can enjoy the Ohio State spring break period. After March 22nd, Ohio State has thirteen remaining practices, including the April 18th spring game, to evaluate where the football program stands before fall camp begins.

6. Tight End

Key Players/Contributors Lost: Jeff Heuerman

Key Players/Contributors Returning: Nick Vannett (Redshirt Senior), Marcus Baugh (Redshirt Sophomore)

At first glance, it may seem puzzling that I have listed the tight end position group as a concern heading into spring practice. After all, Nick Vannett returns as the starter, and was instrumental in the 2014 season with nineteen catches and five touchdowns.

Where I am concerned is the lack of depth and experience at the position. Jeff Heuerman, a 2014 captain who battled through injuries during the season, leaves behind more than just his seventeen receptions and two touchdowns. Heuerman was a capable and dependable blocker in the Ohio State running game. Losing an experienced and reliable blocker at a key position on offense has to be somewhat disconcerting.

Yes, Marcus Baugh returns at tight end. Let us be honest – do you have any concerns about Baugh staying out of trouble after his first two seasons in the program? I am all for second chances, but it may not be far-fetched to suggest that the next offense could be the one that will result in Baugh being removed from the program.

Baugh did play sparingly in 2014, with his lone reception resulting in a touchdown versus Kent State. Even if Baugh stays out of trouble, is Baugh the type of blocker who can assist with the Ohio State running game as Heuerman or Vannett did in 2014?

Here is an idea that I have read and heard from other Ohio State writers/bloggers/analysts regarding the tight end position ~ Noah Brown.

Brown is listed on the official Ohio State athletic department website as a wide receiver. At 6’1″, Brown would not be in the traditional tight end mold like Vannett or Baugh height-wise, but Brown is a tremendous blocker. Perhaps Brown will be given some repetitions at both positions this spring, and the coaches will make a determination as to which will best help the team.

In the 2015 recruiting class, A.J. Alexander and Rashod Berry were both listed at the tight end position. Both will arrive on campus this summer, and could make an impact upon the depth chart this season.

Is the tight end postion a concerning one for Ohio State in 2015? In the grand scheme of things, no…as long as Nick Vannett stays healthy. Finding players who will be able to spell Vannett, or contribute with Vannett on two tight end set formations, is something Coach Meyer and Ohio State Tight Ends Coach Tim Hinton may want to determine before April 18th.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

Ohio State NCAA Wrestling Math

March 16, 2015 by 1 Comment

INTRODUCTION/SCORING BREAKDOWN
The biggest reason why Ohio State was able to claim a share of its first Big Ten wrestling title in 64 years was the ascension of 125 pounder Nathan Tomasello. It shouldn’t come as a surprise then that the biggest opportunity for OSU to win an NCAA title this week in St. Louis also belongs to Nathan Tomasello. Let’s look at the math bracketology of wrestling to break this down.

Eight place wrestling tournaments award points based on the following placements:
1st place: 16 team points
2nd place: 12 team points
3rd place: 10 team points
4th place: 9 team points
5th place: 7 team points
6th place: 6 team points
7th place: 5 team points
8th place: 3 team points

A full point is also awarded for each advancement in the championship bracket and a half point is awarded for advancement in the consolation bracket. Two “bonus” points are added for each fall or forfeit, 1.5 is awarded for a 15 point tech fall with back points, and 1 point is added for an 8 or more major decision or a tech fall with no back points.

OBSERVATION FROM BIG TEN TOURNAMENT

Ignoring advancement and bonus points, if you add up the placement points that were projected based on the seeding of each wrestler, Iowa was projected to earn 99 points in the Big Ten Tournament, Ohio State was projected to earn 96 and Minnesota was projected to earn 82. Ohio State and Iowa tied at 120, a number which included advancement and bonus points. But if you look just at the placement points you find that while Ohio State fell six short of its projected 96 points, Iowa fell a whopping fourteen points short of projection. It was those eight extra points off the Iowa board that kept them from claiming the outright title.

There are many different changes back and forth between projected and actual, but the most dramatic in terms of the team standings was at 125. By beating number one Thomas Gilman of Iowa, third seeded Tomasello added four team points from the twelve he would have earned for second (which came after his dramatic semi-final win against two time NCAA champ Jesse Delgado of Illinois) and dropped the four extra from Iowa that Gilman was projected to earn. That eight point swing total was exactly the difference that accounted for the team tie.

From the Iowa perspective, it also hurt that they won none of their three projected number one finishes, including at 125. That cost them a total of twelve team points. While Ohio State managed to win only one of its three number one projected finishes, they picked up a title from the third seeded Tomasello. When you take away the difference in points for the two projected winners who finished second (Jordan and Snyder at 165 and 197) but add the difference between the third place Tomasello was projected to earn and the first place points he actually did earn, Ohio State only lost two points in the consideration of projected vs actual first place points.

Two other Ohio State wrestlers scored critical points necessary to pull off the team title. At 157, Josh Demas was seeded sixth but upped his game to finish fourth, losing twice to tough but enigmatic James Green of Nebraska. At 174, Mark Martin bested his sixth place seed and scored the last meet tying point by hitting a dramatic sudden victory overtime takedown to claim fifth place points.

Kenny Courts was seeded fifth but finished eighth—a disappointing finish for sure, but the handful of total points he earned were obviously needed for the team win.

And then of course there was Hunter Stieber. He was assigned a charitable third seed out of respect for a former third place NCAA finisher and Big Ten Champion. With two badly injured elbows it was pretty miraculous he made it to the semifinals, but nothing short of heroic that he even attempted to wrestle in the consolation semis. He was pinned by a mediocre wrestler who gave a super bowl winning exalt over beating the courageous Stieber, but Hunter’s eventual sixth place points were unexpected gold at 149 pounds.

LOOKING FORWARD TO THE NCAAs

In looking at the NCAA seeds, and taking into account the championship bracket placement points the seeding projects, you find that Missouri, without regard to bonus or consolation advancement points, would be the NCAA team champion with 86 projected points. Iowa projects second at 77 points and Ohio State projects three points behind Iowa. It should be noted that Ohio State has all ten wrestlers going whereas Iowa and Missouri have only eight each. And those two extra wrestlers have the potential to rack up points that could close the gap. More on that below.

But once again, the biggest difference is at 125 where Nathan Tomasello is seeded fourth and Alan Waters of Missouri is seeded first. If all goes according to plan, those two would meet in the semifinals. Ah, but will things go according to plan? To get there, Tomasello would have to beat unseeded Joe DeAngelo, North Carolina State, and the winner of unseeded Ethan LIzak, Minnesota and thirteenth seed Ben Willeford. He would then likely meet up with fifth seed Sean Boyle of Chattanooga. Nothing is easy in wrestling, but that would seem manageable.

If you just go by the seeding, you would think Waters would face either the 16th seed or Conor Youtsey of Michigan in his second match, and either a very tough Dylan Peters of Northern Iowa (ninth seed) or eighth seed Tyler Cox of Wyoming. But wait a second—hiding there unseeded is two time defending national champion Jesse Delgado who would face the eight and nine seeds before possibly getting to Waters. True, Delgado has been hurt much of the year, but he has been back six weeks. He looked pretty good against Tomasello. Although he finished fourth in the Big Ten (in a third place match he probably did not care much about), he will have had two extra weeks to get ready.

What I am suggesting is that it is very possible Waters will go against a two time defending champ in his match to get to Tomasello. Waters will have his hands full.

But assuming it does work out for Waters and he gets to Tomasello, if Tomasello can pull the upset, even if Waters goes on to finish third and Tomasello finishes second, Ohio State and Missouri would be tied at 78 points. The two wrestlers met in December. Tomasello had a bad habit then of beating on his higher ranked opponents but getting caught for back points. This was true against Waters and Joey Dance of Virginia Tech. He even was pinned after mauling Dylan Peters for most of the match. But still, Tomasello came storming back against Waters to make it a nailbiter.

Both wrestlers have advanced quite a bit since then, but it is easy to see a Tomasello upset. If Tomasello cannot make the difference, another key Missouri / Ohio State one vs four matchup awaits.

Kyle Snyder ended up with a four seed at 197 thanks to his being mildly upset in the Big Ten finals. Assuming he can get past a very tough five seed Scott Schiller of Minnesota, Kyle would meet defending NCAA champ J’Den Cox, of Missouri. It’s a tall order for Snyder to beat Cox, but it is definitely possible—the top handful of guys in this class are all within 2 points of each other. The two have been on apparent collision courses twice this year but the meet-ups never happened. Obviously, this potential head to head is also key for the team race. If Tomasello and Snyder both deliver the upsets, a few other things can go wrong and the Buckeyes could still win the title. But it seems likely the Buckeyes need a win in one of these two matches—if they happen.

What else to watch for from the Buckeyes? At 133 in the Big Ten, Johnni DiJulius held serve with a fourth place finish from his fourth seed. He is also seed fourth at the NCAA. From the beginning of the year, Johnni has been my dark horse candidate to sprint into the NCAA finals. It is an uphill battle. Johnni is on the cusp of breaking through but this is a closely matched weight class. While Johnni could make it to the finals, he could also get knocked out completely. Buckeye fans really need him to finish close to or above his seeding.

As noted, Josh Demas wrestled very well at the Big Ten, losing only to a very good James Green. If Josh wrestles with his late blossoming fury (he has had a long journey back from injury), he should make it to the quarterfinal match against Dylan Ness. Ness is a really tough and explosive wrestler. Although Ness generally bests Green, Demas actually matches up better with Ness. I call it a long shot, but Josh can punch through here—and if he does, I think he is a candidate to make it to the finals. If that happens, all bets are off—this is the kind of gold the Buckeyes can only dream of, but if Josh wrestles like his hair is on fire, this is possible.

Mark Martin goes in as a ten seed, but Mark also wrestled very well in the Big Ten. He had a pretty mediocre season but his fifth place win at the Big Ten revealed an anger and resentment for the lack of respect he has earned. He really had the fierce Logan Storley on the ropes. That would be signature win unraveled with late match carelessness, but the Big Ten leaves you thinking Martin may have found some late season fire.

Kenny Courts is the enigma of the team. His talent at 184 is undeniable but he clearly has an execution and focus problem. He just seems to get lost. He has an incredible ankle pick from neutral. In high school all he had to do was reel in those ankles, but that really isn’t classic technique. To avoid a cross face and pancake, wrestlers are taught to get a leg and then get perpendicular. Kenny gets in like no one else, but then routinely loses the takedown as guys just muscle out of his parallel hold. He has a granby roll that is beautiful to watch but he always seems lost about what to do next. It is a shame. Nice kid, great technique, but it just seems he is overmatched (relative to his ability–he has won 22 matches after all) in the college game. But as only one of three Ohio State non-seeds, if he could somehow rise to his talent, he could also add points that the seeds don’t project.

It only seems like heavy Nick Tavanello hasn’t won since the Kennedy Administration. With a season messed up due to a knee injury, Nick received an at-large NCAA bid, most certainly because of his mad dash through the consolation bracket in last year’s NCAAs. I am guessing the OSU coaches successfully argued Nick is healthy and only needs more conditioning to get to where he was last year. I am sure Nick is tormented by a last second takedown by trip that cost him a place on the Big Ten podium and denied the outright conference crown to the Buckeyes. A run resembling anything like last year’s would also be found gold to the Buckeyes.

At this point, let me note something for the record. The Buckeyes have wrestled all year with the late Kosta Karageorge’s initials sewn into their singlets. It is entirely possible a healthy Karageorge would have wrestled in the Big Ten and this week. I’m not saying anything other than, with Nick’s injury Kosta would have competed, and it is anyone’s guess how that would have played out.

So what about the Big 3 remianing? Logan Stieber is a very big favorite to win his fourth NCAA title, but the journey has two interesting elements to it. Stieber has always delivered huge bonus points. This year should be no different, but it got a little tougher than it should have. Lavion Mayes of Missouri was somewhat inexplicably awarded a third seed—pushing him out of Stieber’s path to the finals, and pushing four seed Devin Carter of Virginia Tech into it. Stieber mauled Cater en route to a December major win in Las Vegas. But Carter is a returning NCAA finalist and is going to be no easy touch for Stieber. (Of course, if Mayes is overseeded, guys like Nick Dardanes potentially await. Thus, there is upset potential with an OSU opportunity to close the gap with MIzzou in the team race—watch that Dardanes match-up.)

No one gives Bo Jordan a chance to get to the finals at 165 but what does no one know, really? Jordan ended up with a fifth seed as fallout from his loss to cousin Jordan in the Big Ten finals. For him to make the NCAA finals he would have to beat four seed Nick Sulzer of Virginia and undefeated one seed Alex Dierenger of Oklahoma State. I’m not sure how you can rule Jordan out of any match. He has only lost once and that was by the narrowest of margins. I’m not sure I would call Sulzer a favorite and it would not shock me at all to see Jordan upend Dierenger. Here is a chance to raise the Buckeye ceiling.

Finally there is Hunter Stieber. After watching how helpless he was last week I don’t see how he can be competitive this week. Elbows take many months to heal. What I will say is he wrestled without tape in the match he lost—it is possible tape and rest could help. But in winning his first two matches in the Big Ten, he looked comfortable and confident. He did seem to tire at the end (though he manged a winning two point reversal at the very end of his quarterfinal match), but he had the smooth look of the champion he has been, not the rusty look you would have expected.

Hunter lands in a bracket against a fourteen seed. If he pulls that off somehow, he will get the winner of third seed David Habat of Edinboro or last year’s NCAA runner-up Josh Kindig of Oklahoma State. Kindig has been injured and did not wrestle in his conference tournament. Either way, if Hunter can cobble a competitive effort, this will be an early chance to strike paydirt. I just don’t think his elbows can handle the long grind of an early trip to the consolation bracket.

Bottom line: the Buckeyes need to hold serve on their seeds and have an upset by Tomasello or Snyder in the semis. If they get both, break out whatever college students are allowed to enjoy in celebration. If they fall short in both, the Buckeyes are going to need a couple of shockers like DiJulius and Demas reaching the finals. Anything they get from Courts, Tavanello and Hunter Stieber will relieve pressure, but they are going to need big things to happen at the top of some brackets, both in their favor and against Missouri. I have not forgotten about Iowa but if Ohio State takes care of these kind of things they should get past the Hawkeyes absent an epic run of their own.

Filed Under: College Wrestling

The Best Damn Fan March Madness Giveaway

March 14, 2015 by Leave a Comment

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It’s that time of year again, time to rush out and join as many brackets as you can and see how much money you possibly could win.

This is the time of year where bragging rights amongst co-workers, friends, and family are on the line.

This year, we are doing something special for our readers and Buckeye Nation. You have to admit that having the first College Playoff National Championship is exciting, heck you guys proved it by the making this past year one of our best ever.

And now we want to give back.

As a thank you to our readers, Men of the Scarlet and Gray and The Buckeye Battle Cry have teamed up for a unique March Madness Tournament Giveaway.

The Best Damn Fan March Madness Giveaway!

We will be giving away to the winner of our Tournament Pick’em a pair of Club Seats to The Spring Game at Ohio Stadium on April 18th, which includes the lacrosse matchup against Maryland before The National Champs take the field. Plus, bust the bracket and become our Pick’em champion, we’ll also be sending you “100 Things Buckeye Fans Should Do Before They Die,” by Andrew Buchanan.

We’re also throwing in an amazing two sided Ohio State flag made by the great folks at CVS flags.

Our contest winner will be able to Fly their Ohio State pride while letting the whole neighborhood know which team you support. As you can see, this Flag is top quality. It’s made of the most durable polyester which is built to withstand even the toughest competition.

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The price to enter for something like this you ask? Free, it is our way to give back to The Best Damn Fans In The Land.

All you have to do is add yourself to our Yahoo! Pool and make the proper picks that make you the Best Damn March Madness Pick’em Fan in the land.

It’s easy as 1,2,3!

Head to our Yahoo! Pool by clicking here.
Click Join Group
Sign in to your Yahoo! account

It’s the Best Damn Fan March Madness Giveaway, brought to you by Men of the Scarlet and Gray and The Buckeye Battle Cry

Good Luck, go Buckeyes and we can’t wait to meet the lucky winner at The Spring Game!

Filed Under: College Basketball, Ohio State Basketball, Ohio State Football

2015 Ohio State Spring Football Questions: Linebackers Have Improved, But Depth Is Young

March 13, 2015 by 4 Comments

On March 10th, Ohio State began spring practice and will have fifteen spring football practices before the conclusion of spring practice on April 18th in Ohio Stadium. Over the next few weeks, I will rank the top ten questions facing Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his coaching staff as the Buckeyes retake the football field after concluding the 2014 season as the national champions.

These articles will be submitted from areas of lowest concern to highest concern. While Ohio State returns the overwhelming majority of its 2014 team, and welcomes in a highly-touted recruiting class, it will be important for Coach Meyer to convey to his team that complacency within the player ranks could derail any hopes of the Buckeyes repeating as national champions in 2015.

7. Linebacker

Key Players/Contributors Lost: Curtis Grant (final year of eligibility), Trey Johnson (injury), Devan Bogard (injury)

Key Players/Contributors Returning: Darron Lee (Redshirt Sophomore), Raekwon McMillan (Sophomore), Joshua Perry (Senior), Camren Williams (Senior), Dante Booker (Sophomore), Christopher Worley (Redshirt Sophomore), Kyle Berger (Redshirt Freshman), Nick Conner (Freshman)

Similar to what I wrote about with regards to the running backs and H-Back positions for Ohio State, it seems challenging to call this area of the football team a concern. Darron Lee emerged as one of the most dynamic linebackers in the country, with timely plays against Navy, Maryland, Alabama, and Oregon, among others. Lee has established himself as “exhibit A” of not overemphasizing recruiting rankings, as Lee was a three-star recruit who earned his scholarship with tenacity and determination at Ohio State’s summer recruiting camp. Raekwon McMillan played well and often at the middle linebacker spot, alongside former Buckeye teammate Curtis Grant. McMillan was considered one of the crown jewels of the 2014 recruiting class, and played up to his billing. Lastly, rising senior Joshua Perry has quietly and consistently developed into a steadying presence on the Ohio State defense over his previous three seasons; Perry should emerge as an Ohio State captain for the 2015 season.

Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer stated on National Signing Day 2015 that he is “really excited about” the linebacker position, adding, ” I think that Luke Fickell has really done a very, very good job the last three years of building back up to the Ohio State standards…you’re starting seeing these athletes coming up on all special teams. There was a time a couple of years ago the linebackers weren’t involved in the kicking game. It was because for whatever reason they’re not. Now they’re all over the place…”.

In addition, there will be two more linebackers joining the position group in June, with Justin Hilliard and Jerome Baker both signing with Ohio State. As Coach Meyer said, Coach Fickell has replenished the linebacker position very well, and the results were evident during the 2014 national championship season.

If I had to summarize my concerns over this position group, it would be in the simple fact that the linebackers are very talented, but also very young. With the exceptions of Perry and Camren Williams, there are no upperclassmen. Injuries ended the careers of Trey Johnson and Devan Bogard, and the backup positions have seen minimal game experience outside of special teams duty.

Of course, former Ohio State Head Coach John Cooper used to say, “If a dog is going to bite, he’s going to bite as a pup.”. I would prefer Ohio State’s coaches let the young linebackers take their bites out on the opposition, especially early in the season, to help provide that necessary maturity and experience emerge.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

2015 Ohio State Spring Football Questions: Options Abound At RB And H-Back For Buckeyes

March 12, 2015 by 1 Comment

On March 10th, Ohio State began spring practice and will have fifteen spring football practices before the conclusion of spring practice on April 18th in Ohio Stadium. Over the next few weeks, I will rank the top ten questions facing Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer and his coaching staff as the Buckeyes retake the football field after concluding the 2014 season as the national champions.

These articles will be submitted from areas of lowest concern to highest concern. While Ohio State returns the overwhelming majority of its 2014 team, and welcomes in a highly-touted recruiting class, it will be important for Coach Meyer to convey to his team that complacency within the player ranks could derail any hopes of the Buckeyes repeating as national champions in 2015.

8. Running Back/Hybrid

Key Players/Contributors Lost: None

Key Players/Contributors Returning For 2015: All. Jalin Marshall (Redshirt Sophomore H-B), Dontre Wilson (Junior H-B); Warren Ball (Redshirt Junior RB), Bri’onte Dunn (Redshirt Junior RB), Ezekiel Elliott (Junior RB), Curtis Samuel (Sophomore RB).

A few things to point out before writing too much further…

Ezekiel Elliott had surgery on his left wrist on February 20th, which will preclude Elliott from participating in any contact drills during spring practice. On March 10th, Ohio State Head Coach Urban Meyer stated that Dontre Wilson was also going to be limited for spring practice, as Wilson is still rehabilitating from his injury that ended Wilson’s 2014 season.

It is truly difficult to list this position group as a concern. After Elliott’s performances versus Wisconsin, Alabama, and Oregon last season, Elliott has been tagged as a preseason Heisman Trophy candidate heading into the 2015 season.

My concerns are more of the variety of what would Ohio State do in the event that Elliott is injured and unable to play?

Rising sophomore Curtis Samuel may get the first opportunity to emerge as the primary running back. With Elliott limited this spring, Samuel may be running with the first team offense during contact drills.

Rising redshirt juniors Bri’onte Dunn and Warren Ball should look at this spring with the theme of an old Elvis Presley song ~ “It’s Now Or Never“. While both Dunn and Ball were heavily recruited players coming out of high school, both players have been supplanted by first Elliott, then Samuel, on the depth chart. If either want to become more involved in the offense, beyond playing on special teams, both need to make their moves this spring to catch the eye of Coach Meyer and new Ohio State running backs coach Tony Alford. With highly-touted recruit Mike Weber arriving this summer, neither can squander these spring practices, or they both run the risk of Weber leapfrogging them on the depth chart. It will not be surprising to see both earn considerable time in the spring game scheduled for April 18th.

At the H-Back position, rising redshirt sophomore Jalin Marshall would be the likely candidate to start. While Marshall had challenging moments during the 2014 season, Marshall also had moments in 2014 that showed why the 2015 season is so eagerly anticipated by Buckeye fans.

Dontre Wilson also had challenging moments at the H-Back position in 2014. In the season opener at Navy, Wilson struggled with blocking assignments. At Michigan State, Wilson had some fumbles and drops, but came up with a big touchdown reception to help seal the victory against the Spartans. The H-Back position allows Wilson an opportunity to get to the perimeter and use his speed and quickness, yet Wilson’s lack of size almost eliminates him from being able to run the ball in the middle of the field effectively. Look for Ohio State’s coaches to take their time with getting Wilson back onto the field this spring, as they will certainly want to have Wilson back at full strength and speed for the fall campaign.

While not listed at either running back or H-Back, I have a suspicion that redshirt freshman Parris Campbell may get some opportunities this spring at the H-Back position. Campbell was a high school running back who was moved to wide receiver. Blessed with blazing speed, and running back experience, Campbell is certainly worth looking into as an H-Back this spring.

The question that others have asked – could Braxton Miller be moved from quarterback to H-Back if Miller does not win the starting quarterback position?

Ohio State is blessed to have so much talent on hand at both the running back and H-Back position groups. The challenge for Coach Meyer, and his offensive coaching staff, will be figuring out how to get as many of these talented players on the field and involved enough to keep everyone satisfied.

Filed Under: Ohio State Football Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,

Catching Up With ’16 WR Ruben Flowers

March 9, 2015 by Leave a Comment

It seems as if the Wide Receiver core for Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes has just improved since Meyer set feet in Columbus. The Buckeyes could improve that group just a little more if they can grab top Receiver Ruben Flowers. Flowers, from Lima Senior in Ohio is rated as the 15th recruit in his class coming out of Ohio. The 6’4 180-pound Ohio native has had a pickup in his recruiting process, despite being occupied with basketball. Flowers does not hold an offer from Ohio State, yet. It is unknown how close OSU is to offering Flowers but he has visited and there is high interest in him. When asked about the recruiting process Flowers said “It’s been good, picking up a lot of interest from a lot of schools.”

Flowers is gaining interest from programs all over the country. But there are select few showing the most interest. “Kentucky, Toledo, OSU, MSU and Illinois.”

Flowers has not been able to make any visits since basketball started, but he has already made visits to Ohio State, Kentucky and Michigan State. After the season Flowers has big plans. “I want to go on visits to Pittsburgh, NC State, Purdue and Illinois. ”

“I talked to Coach Hinton about a month ago. He wants to get me back on campus.” Flowers said. Flowers got to visit for the Virginia Tech game, which was not the best game for the Bucks, but, Flowers still had a good time. “I liked it, a great atmosphere, great people and a great campus.”

There is no favorite schools at the moment, but Flowers plans on committing by the end of this upcoming summer. This is a name Buckeye fans may see in the future, especially if Flowers get the offer he is waiting for from Ohio State. It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Ohio native stay in his hometown state and accept an Ohio State scholarship.

 

Filed Under: Ohio State Football
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