Sports
Ohio can’t complete comeback in home-opening loss to Michigan State
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Fanfare or not, wrestling is a brutal sport. It is a sport that requires precision and focus from ten wrestlers in order to get a win on any given day. For Ohio (1-1), that was not the case as Michigan State (2-0) left The Convo victorious.
The beginning of the match was a rather telling one in terms of how much improvement Ohio has made at its lightweights. Last season, it was an obvious Achilles Heel that forced the team to embark on improbable comebacks after early deficits. Today was not different.
In the 125-pound class, Malachi O’Leary, fresh off a solid weekend to open his season, faced one of Michigan State’s best wrestlers, Caleb Weiand. O’Leary appeared poised to get a takedown in the first period, but Weiand defended it perfectly. Weiand took over the match from there on, suffocating O’Leary. Weiand was able to open the match for Michigan State with a 12-0 major decision win.
Mason Brugh made his season debut at 133-pound class. His debut lasted less than a period as he was pinned by Tristan Lujan at the 1:15 mark of the first.
After both teams competed last weekend at the Michigan State Open, Ohio had to wrestle today without some of its starters, notably Kaden Jett (141-pound class) and Derek Raike (149-pound class).
In the 141-pound class, Paul Woo took the place of Jett and faced Jaden Crumpler. Woo, like O’Leary, appeared to have a takedown early in the first period, but Crumpler shielded the referee from seeing it and defended against the points. Like O’Leary, Woo was outclassed for the rest of the match and lost the match via tech fall, 17-0.
The tough start for the lightweights is something that Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee hopes to see improve over the course of the season.
“We need to keep getting better and better,” Greenlee said. “I think we need to find out what mix of guys we can put out there to put our best 10 guys on the mat. It’s early in the year and I think we’re still figuring that stuff out. I think at 125, we saw some good fight, that was maybe a plus. First time (Brugh) was out there this season at 133. We have a long way to go there and keep plugging away and figuring things out.”
At the 149-pound class, the Bobcats were looking for Logan Cravatas to get the ball rolling on the scoreboard. Cravatas faced Brodie Dominique and dominated the match early, jumping out to an early 7-0 lead. Despite the match getting closer toward the middle, Cravatas ended any comeback hopes for Dominique with some takedowns with the time winding down in the third.
“It was nice to see Logan (Cravatas) go out there and get a win,” Greenlee said. “I’m pretty sure that was his first dual win. I think we’re making strides at a lot of weights. We’re a little beat up in the lower weights, but we just can’t give up bonus points like that.”
Peyten Kellar, wrestling at The Convo for the first time since becoming an All American last season, had a whirlwind 24 hours. On Saturday night, Kellar made the trip to State College, Pennsylvania, to participate in the NWCA All-Star Classic. Kellar faced Penn State’s No. 4 Tyler Kasak and lost a 4-2 decision.
Nonetheless, Kellar got back to Athens early in the morning and had to hustle to get ready for his match against Braden Stauffenberg. Kellar took control of the match in the middle of the first period and did not relinquish anything, winning a 13-0 major decision. Kellar talked about the difference in competition between the two bouts.
“Wrestling against the best, it’s definitely challenging,” Kellar said. “There’s a big difference between last night and today.”
After a loss by Jack Lledo in the 165-pound class, the Bobcats were in dire need of a win by Garrett Thompson in the 174-pound class. Thompson delivered just what they needed with an early takedown leading the way against Ceasar Garza. Although Garza made a comeback attempt in the third, Thompson got a takedown and some near-fall points for a 13-2 major decision.
Heading to the 197-pound class, Austin Starr needed to win in order to stay alive in the dual as a team. Facing No. 29 Remy Cotton, Starr floundered offensively against Cotton’s defensive efforts. Cotton got an early takedown and pretty much coasted from there in order to fend off Starr and clinch the dual win for Michigan State.
With the dual lost, Jordan Greer took the mat for the final bout of the day. He faced Max Vanadia and dominated en route to a major decision win, adding to his already-impressive record on the season that reaches 6-1 already.
Despite the loss, Ohio still can hang its hat on the fact that some of its wrestlers performed well. The questions that lingered at the lightweights will remain until a definitive starter is established and a larger sample size is available. The strength of the team remains the middle weights, but consistency will be the biggest factor in how well Ohio will do in duals this season.