Sports
Ohio Wrestling announces 2025-26 schedule
By: Marc Goldstein
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — A new season is on the way as Ohio Wrestling has released its schedule for the 2025-26 season. After an overall successful season, Ohio returns eight of its 10 starters from last season and adds two high-level wrestlers who are returning from injury. Moreover, the schedule this season features a Big Ten opponent coming to Athens for a second consecutive season, a number of prestigious invitationals and challenging MAC duals for the burgeoning roster.
The regular season begins in early November with Ohio going to the Southeast Open in Salem, Virginia. Typically, the event includes a mixture of Division I, II and III schools with additional regional training centers entering participants. Regardless of who is on the other side of the mat, it will be a good way for Ohio to see some of its experienced wrestlers get an early test in the Open Division as well as its younger wrestlers to gain valuable experience in the Freshman/Sophomore Division.
Following its trip to the Old Dominion State, Ohio will host the Ohio Showcase, likely an invitational. That being said, the exact details of the event and what it will look like have yet to be released. Ohio will have its only back-to-back events at home when it hosts Wisconsin on Nov. 15. Last season, Ohio got its first Big Ten win since 2015 in its season-opening victory over Wisconsin on the road. This year, Wisconsin will look for revenge on Ohio’s home mats.
The Bobcats will embark on a stretch of one month without a home event. The first two events on the road take the Bobcats to each side of the country. The Mountaineer Invitational, hosted by Appalachian State in Boone, North Carolina, takes the Bobcats to the East Coast. The next event, the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational, is located in Sin City. The extensive travel aside, the two invitationals provide the Bobcats with incredible opportunities to face some ranked opponents on a more prominent national scale.
The final two duals of the 2025 calendar year takes Ohio back to North Carolina with duals against Davidson and Gardner-Webb on Dec. 20 and 21. Ohio has made it a habit of facing Gardner-Webb in recent years, going a perfect 6-0 in as many seasons.
Ohio will host its second MAC dual of the season when SIUE comes to Athens for the annual match between the schools. From there, the Bobcats will be on the road for four straight duals. The first of those are arguably the hardest of the MAC slate with Northern Illinois and Central Michigan on tap. Ohio wrestled a pair of tight duals against the teams that always seem to be difficult on a yearly basis.
The Bobcats will continue their road march with a trip to Kent State for the annual “Grudge Match” dual. In recent years, the Bobcats have dominated the rivalry, winning each of the last five meetings. The road duals will conclude with a visit to Clarion in the first dual between the teams since 2021. To conclude the regular season, the Bobcats will welcome Buffalo to The Convo for Senior Night.
As for postseason action, the MAC Championships will be held in Buffalo, New York, on March 6 and 7. The NCAA Tournament is being hosted by the MAC in Cleveland and will be two weeks from the conference championships.
According to WrestleStat, Ohio is predicted to go 6-4 in duals this season, including a 4-3 mark in the MAC. Algorithms such as the ones used at WrestleStat only use rankings to determine match results, not factoring in things such as injuries that can shift results. However, based on projected rosters as things currently stand, it appears likely that there are more wins than losses on the docket for Ohio in 2025-26.