Another week for Ohio State’s Olympic sport athletes, another week for the record books. Numerous Buckeyes made history in the second week of February, continuing an excellent winter for Scarlet and Gray Olympic sports teams.
While the perennial powerhouse Buckeye wrestling team fell to the reigning champs, many athletes and teams flourished, including the men’s tennis and men’s golf teams. What follows are brief recaps of the Olympic sports action of the past week with links to the press releases.
WRESTLING
The No. 6 Ohio State wrestling team fell to No. 1 Penn State, 28-9, in front of a record crowd of 13,276 at St. John Arena. The crowd represented the largest wrestling crowd in the illustrious history of the renowned arena, nearly doubling the dual record and exceeding the size of the 2015 Big Ten Championships attendance by more than 3,000.
Malik Heinselman, Micah Jordan and Myles Martin were winners in their individual bouts.
Heinselman (20-5) earned his team-high 20th win, recording a takedown in all three periods and surrendering zero offensive points in a 7-4 victory.
Jordan (19-1) won a 10-8 decision over Jarod Verkleeren, improving to 19-1 on the year and 7-0 in Big Ten duals.
Martin (14-0) totaled eight takedowns in his 18-8 major decision over Mason Manville, marking Martin’s incredible 35th bonus-point victory since the start of his junior season (15 tech falls, 12 major decisions and eight pins).
MEN’S GOLF
The Ohio State men’s golf team won its first-ever Big Ten Match Play Championship crown, taking down Rutgers, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Maryland.
To start the tourney, the Buckeyes knocked out Rutgers, 3.5-2.5, and Wisconsin, 3-3 by tiebreaker, to advance to the semifinals.
Then the Buckeyes overcame No. 1-seeded Illinois, 3.5-2.5, to make it to the championship round. The Scarlet and Gray dominated Maryland, 4.5-1.5, to win the tournament.
“We really had high hopes and high expectations coming into this weekend because we felt like all of our guys were playing well,” said head coach Jay Moseley. “It was just a matter of going out and executing our game plan and hitting the shots. The guys played really well all weekend and I couldn’t be more proud of them.”
WOMEN’S ICE HOCKEY
The No. 9 Ohio State women’s ice hockey team (17-12-0, 11-10-0 WCHA) fell 3-2 to Bemidji State (11-16-2, 9-9-2 WCHA) at home after jumping out to a 2-0 lead.
Seniors Maddy Field and Lauren Boyle put the Buckeyes ahead 2-0 through the first period, but the Beavers bounced back with three unanswered goals to defeat Ohio State.
Senior Charly Dahlquist helped the Buckeyes (18-12-0, 12-10-0 WCHA) get revenge on senior day with a two-goal effort in a 5-1 win against Bemidji State (11-17-2, 8-10-2 WCHA).
MEN’S TENNIS
The No. 2 Ohio State men’s tennis team defeated Arizona State, 6-1. The Buckeyes had big performances in doubles play by JJ Wolf, Martin Joyce, Alex Kobelt and James Trotter.
Alex Kobelt and Hunter Tubert won 6-3 and 6-2, respectively, in singles play. John McNally won his match, while Kyle Seelig fell short in a tough battle. JJ Wolf finished the night by forcing a third set tiebreaker and evoking roars from the crowd with a dominant 10-0 super set.
In a top-25 showdown on Scarlet and Gray soil, the No. 2 Ohio State men’s tennis team dominated from start to finish, taking down No. 24 Georgia, 4-0.
The victory improved the Buckeyes’ record to 8-0 on the season and avenged a 4-0 loss last year to the Bulldogs in Athens, Ga.
WOMEN’S TENNIS
The No. 16 Ohio State women’s tennis team lost to No. 4 Duke, 4-3, in heartbreaking fashion in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship Round of 16 in Seattle.
The Buckeyes bounced back with a 5-2 victory against No. 10 Syracuse (4-4) in the consolation round of the ITA National Team Indoor Championship. The Buckeyes improve to 4-2 on the season and will host matches against in-state opponents Cleveland State and Akron on Feb. 20.
MEN’S AND WOMEN’S TRACK & FIELD
Both Ohio State track and field teams traveled to Clemson University to compete in the Tiger Paw Invitational, holding their own among the nation’s elite.
Julia Rizk set another personal record, running a blazing 4:42.10-second mile run to claim one of the Buckeyes’ seven gold medals. Luke Landis won the mile run and the 3000-meter race.
Sade Olatoye won gold in shot put with a 17.12-meter throw, and set a meet record in the weight throw at 23.51 meters. Nick Gray took third in the 200-meter dash at 20.82 seconds, setting a school record.
Abby Nichols competed at the GVSU Big Meet, and ran the 5,000-meter run in 16:14.00, putting her name in the Ohio State record book as the fastest ever.
SYNCHRONIZED SWIMMING
The Ohio State synchronized team hosted the University of Michigan, the University of Incarnate Word and Lindenwood University at the Jessica Beck Memorial Meet. Beck was a former synchronized swimmer who died unexpectedly during her senior year at Ohio State.
The Buckeyes swept the competition with Laila Huric winning the solo competition, Nikki Dzurko and Huric winning duets and the trios of Wenjing Deng, Rachel Jager and Nikki Dzurko and Phoebe Coffin, Stephanie Thielemann and Cassie Neeley taking first and second, respectively.
WOMEN’S GYMNASTICS
The Ohio State women’s gymnastics team fell to Maryland at the Xfinity Center in College Park, Md. The Buckeyes (4-2, 3-1 B1G) posted a solid start, recording a 49.150 on the uneven bars and a season-high 49.025 on beam. However, the team was forced to count falls on both floor and beam, and ended the night with an all-around score of 194.250. Maryland (5-2, 2-1) recorded a season-high score of 195.950 to give Ohio State its first conference loss of the season.
MEN’S VOLLEYBALL
The Ohio State men’s volleyball team fell to No. 15 Purdue Fort Wayne in three sets (34-32, 25-17, 25-23). The Mastodons broke a nine-match winning streak for the Buckeyes against their program, overcoming 23 services errors and attacking at a .333 rate. Ohio State struggled with serves as well, committing 17 errors.
The Buckeyes held leads in the second half in each of the first two sets, but lost to No. 6 Santa Barbara (25-22, 25-22, 25-12).
The Ohio State men’s volleyball team pushed the defending national champion No.1 Long Beach State in the third set, but ended up dropping the match in three sets (25-19, 25-18, 25-21).
SOFTBALL
The No. 24 Ohio State softball team swept its opening day of the 2019 season, blanking George Mason, 7-0, and pulling off a 4-2 comeback victory against Ole Miss, at the Friends of Jaclyn Tournament.
Head coach Kelly Kovach Schoenly recorded her 200th win as the leader of the Buckeyes.
After winning its first two games, the No. 24 Ohio State softball team split on day two of the Friends of Jaclyn Tournament.
The Buckeyes (3-1) pitched another shutout, knocking of North Florida, 3-0. Then the Scarlet and Gray dropped a tight ballgame, 3-2, to the University of Central Florida.
WOMEN’S GOLF
The Ohio State women’s golf team placed 10th at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at the Palos Verdes Golf Club in California on Feb. 5.
“Overall, there were a lot of great takeaways from this week,” Ohio State director of golf and women’s golf head coach Therese Hession said. “We made some mistakes but the conditions and having many of our players learn about this venue made things difficult. I’m really proud of their effort and they can see that they can play with many of these top teams in the country.”
WOMEN’S LACROSSE
The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team dropped Cincinnati, 16-6, to kick off its season at the Gettler Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. Sophomore Sophie Baez and junior Liza Hernandez gave the Scarlet and Gray four-goal efforts, while junior Jill Rizzo stopped 16 shots for the Buckeyes and denied all eight of the Bearcats’ free-position attempts.
The Ohio State women’s lacrosse team (2-0, 0-0 B1G) dominated Detroit Mercy, 19-5, at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. Junior Liza Hernandez scored a career-high 10 points on six goals and four assists, which marks the fourth most in program history.
MEN’S LACROSSE
The Ohio State men’s lacrosse team used seven first-quarter goals to jump out to a 10-3 halftime lead and hold off Boston University, 17-10, at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.
Coming off of a season-opening win against Cleveland State where they combined for six goals, Jack Jasinski and Tre Leclaire filled the stat sheet again. The high-powered duo combined for nine goals, with Jasinski netting a career-high five goals and Leclaire adding four himself.
PISTOL
The Ohio State pistol team hosted the 2019 Collegiate Pistol Sectionals, hosting Akron and Purdue, who both competed with less than a full team, as well as an individual from Ashland.
The Scarlet and Gray won in Open with a score of 6,460 (2234 air; 2087 free; 2148 standard), ahead of Akron [5,547 (2149 air; 1416 free; 1982 standard)] and Purdue [4,696 (2003 air; 890 free; 1803 standard)], while competing individually in Women’s Aggregate with a score of 3,161 (1555 air; 1606 sport).
