One of our sports writers weighs in on Ohio State's prolific wrestler Logan Stieber.
Over the past week, sports fans have helplessly consumed the ever-addicting phenomenon known as March Madness.
Many of those same fans were so consumed with the struggles of the No. 3 seeds last Thursday, they probably failed to realize that college wrestling’s version of March Madness, referred to as “March Matness” was also taking place and NCAA wrestling history was being made from an individual standpoint and a team standpoint.
Last Thursday, 330 NCAA Division I wrestlers from schools around the country arrived in St. Louis, where each hoped he would be crowned a national champion late Saturday night.
For 10 lucky wrestlers, that dream became a reality.
For Ohio State’s redshirt senior 141-pounder Logan Stieber, history was made in more ways than one.
Saturday night he found himself in a familiar position. For the fourth consecutive year, he was in the finals. A win for Stieber over Edinboro’s Mitchell Port in the last match of his collegiate career would earn Logan his fourth NCAA Championship. Such an accomplishment has only occurred three times since 1929, when national championships were officially awarded.
Stieber did not disappoint the more than 18,000 fans in attendance and defeated Port by a score of 11-5.
Now, this win — the 119th of his collegiate career — puts him among an elite group of wrestlers. He joins Oklahoma State’s Pat Smith (1990-92, ‘94), Iowa State’s Cael Sanderson (1999-2002) and Cornell’s Kyle Dake (2010-13) as the only four-time champions in the history of the sport.
Stieber is also the first member Big Ten wrestler to earn such an honor.
Stieber’s own efforts, coupled with those of the other Buckeyes wrestlers allowed the team to capture their first National Championship in school history, which comes just two weeks after the Buckeyes secured their first Big Ten conference title since 1951. Thus, the 2015 season stands as the most successful in history of Ohio State wrestling.
A quick look over Stieber’s wrestling resume raises one question: Is he one of the best wrestlers ever?
While it is hard to answer this question with either a definitive yes or a definitive no, there is no doubt that at this juncture in his career he is worthy of such a question.
During his high school career, Stieber was a four-time Ohio state high school wrestling champion, finishing his career at Monroeville with 179 consecutive wins to bring him to a high school record of (184-1). The one blemish of an otherwise immaculate high school career came in his sixth match. From that point forward, he defined perfection.
At Ohio State, he ended his career with an overall record of (119-3). During this span he was a four-time Big Ten Champion and a four-time National Champion. His career has come to a close with Stieber riding a 50-match win streak.
At just 24 years old, Stieber’s wrestling career is far from over with Olympic competition on his radar. In less than two weeks, he will start freestyle training, hoping to make the World Team, and take a trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, for the 2016 Olympics.
So, although it is probably too early to say that Stieber is the best wrestler ever, there is no doubt that he has the opportunity to have one of the best careers ever. If the past is any indication of how he will fare on the international stage, I’d say he has a bright future. It will be fascinating to watch and see what accolades Stieber can add to an already brilliant résumé.
Christopher Miller is a junior studying broadcast journalism and sport management. Let him know your thoughts on Logan Stieber at cm001111@ohio.edu or @MLLRC93.
