Ohio State wrestling takes down rival Michigan on the road

Posted by author February 2, 2025 Sports

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While the Ohio State football team seems to have a mental block with Michigan, that doesn’t seem to be the case with the wrestling team. The No. 4 wrestling Bucks traveled to Ann Arbor and took down the rival Wolverines by a dual-meet score of 25-14 Saturday. It was the third-straight win by the OSU wrestling team over the Maize and Blue.

The Buckeyes got off and rolling in front of the away crowd when No. 18 Brenden McCrone beat Michigan’s Christian Tanefeu,12-3, for a major decision in the 125-pound weight class. That was followed by No. 10 Nic Bouzakis keeping things cooking in 133-pound weight class with a 19-3 technical fall of Nolan Wertanen. And just like that, Ohio State was up 9-0 after the first two matches.

Ohio State continued its hot start with a win in the next two matches as well. No. 1 Jesse Mendez got the win in the 141-pound weight class and No. 9 Dylan D’Emilio followed in the 149-pound weight class to put the Scarlet and Gray up 16-0, almost securing the dual-meet win just four wrestlers in.

Michigan cashed in on the next two matches with No. 17 Sammy Sasso falling to No. 15 Chase Saldate in an 8-0 major decision in the 157-pound weight class, followed up by No. 10 Beau Mantanona knocking off Ohio State’s e’Than Birden in the 165-pound weight class to close the gap for the Wolverines. But then, No. 5 Carson Kharchla stopped the momentum with a 5-3 victory over Joseph Walker in the 174-pound weight class to extend the Buckeyes’ lead to 19-7. No. 19 Ryder Rogotzke capped the scoring for Ohio State, winning by fall after pinning No. 23 Jaden Bullock in the first period to put OSU’s lead at 25-7.

From there, Michigan won the next two matches with No. 18 Seth Schumate falling in a major decision to No. 2 Jacob Cardenas in the 197-pound weight class, followed by No. 7 Nick Feldman losing to No. 9 Josh Heindselman in the heavyweight class.

Despite the two losses to end the match, Ohio State improved its record to 12-1 overall, and 3-1 in the Big Ten. It also brought home a pair of gold singlets.

Ohio State will hit the mat again next Friday when it hosts No. 8 Minnesota in Columbus at the Covelli Center.

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