Sports

Ohio prepares for the NCAA Championships with attention to detail and focus on the basics

By: Marc Goldstein
Posted on: Wednesday, March 19, 2025

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — With the bright lights shining down, some athletes can evaporate like a puddle of water in the sun. The one thing that Ohio wants to avoid is having its top two wrestlers this season is for them to shrink when the stage is the grandest. Garrett Thompson and Jordan Greer will make their way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for the NCAA Championships with the hopes of reaching the greatest heights in collegiate wrestling. 

Thompson is coming off one of the most dominant weekends of the season in the MAC Championships. He won the 174-pound class with four bonus-point wins and also was named Most Outstanding Wrestler. Thompson earned the No. 4 seed at the NCAA Championships, giving him a strong chance to place in the top eight and become an All-American. 

Greer narrowly lost the MAC title bout, but still qualified for the NCAA Championships for a second straight season. He is the No. 20 seed where his journey to the podium will be more arduous, but still a possibility. 

The first match of the weekend for Thompson does not come without some level of controversy. His original opponent, Tyler Brennan from Little Rock, was ruled ineligible due to a lack of eligibility. Instead, Thompson will face Jackson Turley from Rutgers in the first round, Turley went 18-10 overall and did not place at the Big Ten Championships, but did put together a strong enough regular season to capture an at-large bid. Regardless, Thompson will be ready for whomever steps across the mat against him. 

“I haven’t really watched too much on (Brennan),” Thompson said. “I’m not really too big on (watching film) because I think it kind of gets into my head to wrestle their style and not mine. I’m just going to approach it the same as any other match this season.”

Conversely, Greer will face a familiar opponent, Seth Nevills from Maryland. The two faced off last season in the NCAA Championships with Nevills winning a tight decision over Greer. This year, Greer is determined to have a new result. 

“A key difference is health,” Greer said. “That was my first year back from my ACL injury, so I feel a lot stronger at the weight class now and have a lot more mobility. So, it should be a different match. And I have a game plan going into it. I’m excited to see if I can execute it.”

With a pair of All-Americans sitting on the bench and a year under the belts at NCAAs for both, there is a lot of confidence in the experience level for both Thompson and Greer. Thompson cites the fact that both head coach Joel Greenlee and assistant coach Cody Walters have been in these situations and will “not make the moments too big.” 

An aspect of the weekend that is vastly different from any other tournament that the pair of wrestled in this season is the grand stage. Wells Fargo Center, home of both the 76ers and Flyers, seats approximately 21,000 spectators, but there will be countless more in attendance for the fan experiences. In addition to having to face the best wrestlers in the country, Thompson and Greer will have to manage their own emotions in front of a large crowd. Moreover, the national television audience at home only amplifies the need for Thompson and Greer to remain centered and listen to their coaches. 

“It’s the biggest stage we’ve ever wrestled on,” Greenlee said. “They are going to go into the arena and there’s going to be 25-30,000 people there and you have to be prepared for that a little bit. We’re going to get to the arena and work as much as we can between when we get there and the time the tournament starts on Thursday.” 

The fact of the matter is, though, Thompson will have a path to become an All-American, adding his name to a plaque in the Ohio locker room where every national placer is immortalized. Thompson understands both the difficulty of this task, but also the opportunity he has been waiting for his entire career. 

This weekend, though, for Greer will be a chance for him to end his Bobcat career on a high note. Whether he becomes an All-American or gets his first win in the NCAA Championships becomes irrelevant for him when he walks off the mat for the final time in the Bobcat singlet. 

“As long as I empty 100% of my tank in terms of what I know I can do,” Greer said. “I’ll want to be able to step off the mat and know that I left it all out there and have no regrets.” 

The pedigree of talent will be a part of the tournament that will surely challenge Thompson and Greer. Last season, Peyten Kellar was a surprise All-American due to the fact that he flew under the radar at a smaller school in a conference that is not typically a powerhouse. The vast majority of All-Americans will come from Big Ten or Big 12 schools, but that leaves those from smaller schools with a chip on their shoulder. 

“I think, for me, that’s the exciting part,” Thompson said. “Obviously, a lot of MAC schools are overlooked and people don’t think that we can compete with wrestlers from the Big 10 and Big 12. That’s exciting to prove that it’s not the case and that even though I’m from a smaller school I could wrestle with anybody.”

Regardless of who is across the mat from either Thompson or Greer this weekend, the road through all the matches this season, all the hardships, will end in the City of Brotherly Love. All it will take is a couple of wins for a lifelong dream to be realized.