In its home arena, Ohio (1–1) lost a rather close match to Michigan State (2–0) 22-19 after facing the team in the Michigan State Open Nov. 9.
Ohio looked like it had a chance at coming back and possibly winning after a slow start, but Michigan State took both the advantage and the lead early.
To start, Michigan State bested Ohio in the first three matches. In the 125-pound weight class, sophomore Malachi O’Leary for Ohio faced off against redshirt freshman Caleb Weiand for Michigan State.
O’Leary couldn’t get anything going against Weiand, who overpowered a majority of the bout. The second match saw Ohio’s sophomore Mason Brugh battle it out versus Michigan State’s redshirt senior Tristan Lujan.
Unfortunately for Ohio, Brugh was pinned in the second period by Lujan, resulting in the Spartans gaining an early 10-point lead over the Bobcats. The third match, the 141-pound weight class, featured nothing but total domination from Michigan State’s redshirt freshman Jaden Crumpler versus Ohio’s redshirt sophomore Paul Woo.
Like O’Leary and Brugh, Woo struggled to break free from his opponent’s physical control. At this point in the contest, Michigan State was up 15, with Ohio not scoring a single point.
The contest started to sway in favor of Ohio when sophomore Logan Cravates took the mat to wrestle in the 149-pound weight class. Through sheer patience and excellence during his bout, Cravates scored Ohio’s first four points to make it 15-4 Michigan State.
Representing Ohio’s 157-pound weight class was standout redshirt junior Peyten Kellar. He did his job by adding more to the scoreboard. Kellar was methodical with his approach to the match against Michigan State’s redshirt sophomore Braden Stauffenberg and won in a landslide. The score after Kellar’s win was 15-8 Michigan State.
The Spartans stopped the Bobcats from potentially taking the lead when, in the 165-pound weight class, redshirt senior DJ Shannon completely out-powered Ohio’s redshirt sophomore Jack Lledo to tally up the score to 19-8.
Ohio responded with redshirt junior Garrett Thompson beating Michigan State’s redshirt sophomore Ceasar Garza in the 174-pound weight class. At first, Thompson started a little weak, but he eventually found weaknesses in his opponent’s play which ended up being a crucial bout victory for Ohio to make it 19-12.
The Bobcats looked even better, with redshirt freshman Jeremy Olszko defeating the Spartans’ redshirt junior Luke Daly in the 184-pound weight class to make it 19-15. Unlike the previous matches, this one was by far the closest.
The ninth match between the two teams, in the 197-pound weight class, boiled down to Michigan State’s redshirt freshman Remy Cotton overpowering Ohio’s redshirt sophomore Austin Starr in a bout that could have gone either way.
Entering the afternoon’s final match, Michigan State was up 22-15. Ohio’s wrestler for the 285-pound weight class was redshirt senior Jordan Greer and, despite his best effort, did not score enough against redshirt freshman Max Vanadia to tie Michigan State, let alone win the match.
The Bobcats’ next trip will be to Annapolis, Maryland, to compete Saturday in the Navy Classic, where it will look to bounce back after their loss to Michigan State.
