Sports
Ohio Wrestling gets shutout early, wins three matches late but lose to Wisconsin
By: Austin Yau
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — The most dominant conference in NCAA wrestling is the Big 10. The past 18 NCAA team titles have been won by a Big 10 school. In 2025, seven Big 10 Wrestlers won individual titles.
When any Big 10 team, even one that finished second-to-last in the standings last year like Wisconsin, wrestles at a MAC school, it is a big deal.
The Ohio Bobcats (1-1) hosted the No. 21 ranked Wisconsin Badgers (2-0) of the Big 10. The Bobcats would get shut out early but recover some points late to make the loss a respectable 27-10.
The night would start off in the 125 weight class as junior Ryan Meek of Ohio would take on No. 9 ranked Nicolar Rivera, a redshirt junior from the Badgers. Despite being a large underdog, Meek would keep it close, keeping it within one point through the first two periods. Rivera’s prowess would shine with a takedown to start the third. He would control the third period and take the decision 11-6 over a feisty Meeks. Wisconsin would lead the team scores 3-0.
The 133-pound weight class was an even harder challenge for the Bobcats as freshman Konner Lambers would take on red-shirt sophomore Zan Fuggitt who is ranked number four in the weight class. Fuggitt would come out of the gates hot, getting a takedown and then keeping Lambers on the ground to get two minutes and 25 seconds of ride time in the first period.
Lambers would stay fighting but Fuggitt would dominate the match earning a major decision 15-2 putting the Badgers up 7-0 as a team.
The 141-pound class would be the first time the Bobcats did not face a nationally ranked wrestler. Freshman Abe Hermes would take to the mat against redshirt freshman Carson Exferd. Ohio got their first lead of the night 7-5 at the end of the second period.
Exferd would start in the down position in the third period and would escape. He would then get a late takedown to take a one point lead. He got the decision 9-8 and put Wisconsin up 10-0 on the night.
Another freshman took on a ranked opponent again in the 149-pound weight class. Carson Weber matched up against No. 15 Joseph Zargo, a red-shirt senior. Despite multiple pauses from blood time charged to Weber, Zargo dominated the match winning 17-5 to put Wisconsin up 14-0.
The duel continued on at 157 where redshirt junior Derek Raike would take on No. 29 Luke Mechler, another redshirt senior. Raike would come out of the gates hot, getting a takedown on Mechler 12 seconds into the match. He would seem to run out of steam in the third period as he got taken down and then was unable to escape. This helped Mechler to an 11-7 win with Wisconsin going up 17-0.
In the 165 class redshirt sophomore Max Ray of Ohio would face number No. 21 Cody Goebel, a redshirt junior. The two would be very defensive and neutral in the first two periods with Goebel leading 2-0 at the end of the second. However, Goebel would figure Ray out in the third period, getting three takedowns on the road to a 16-2 major decision as Wisconsin cruised to a 21-0 advantage.
With star Garrett Thompson out in the 174 class, Ohio turned to redshirt sophomore Jeremy Olszko to face Luke Condon, a redshirt sophomore ranked No. 30. Olzko slowly built up points in the first two periods for a 4-0 lead. He then flipped a near takedown into a takedown in his favour in the third period. He did allow a last minute escape for Condon which prevented a major decision. Olzko won 8-1 getting the Bobcats on the board 21-3.
Redshirt senior Sal Perrine wrestled Cale Anderson in the 184 class. Similar to the Olzko in the previous match, Perrine would start off slow in the first two periods with a 7-0 lead. Perrine would win 11-2 after a takedown and a point for Riding Time, scoring the major decision which helped Ohio claw back into the duel 21-7.
The 197-pound weight class was the only matchup where the Bobcats had a ranked wrestler facing an unranked wrestler for the Badgers. Redshirt senior Zayne Lehman faced off against redshirt freshman Wyatt Ingham of Wisconsin. Both wrestlers scored no points in the first period. Lehman would get an escape and a takedown to take a 4-0 lead in the second period. With a takedown in the third period Lehman won 7-0 for a decision putting Ohio at 21-10.
Ohio had one more ranked wrestler ahead of them in the heavyweights. No. 17 Braxton Amos, a redshirt junior, wrestled sophomore Wyatt Schmitt. This match saw the only pin of the night, as with 13 seconds left in the second period, Amos would pin Schmitt. He did try to bridge to the end of the period and was nearly successful, but he did give out. This gave the Badgers six points and won them the duel 27-10.
Despite the loss head coach Joel Greenlee was proud of the team.
“I saw a lot of fight out of our team,” he said. “I told our guys we just want them to go out there and fight as hard as they can for seven minutes and good things will happen.”
Ohio heads to Boone, North Carolina on Nov. 23 for the Mountaineer Open.