No. 10 Ohio State Downs No. 15 Virginia Tech, 21-12
Buckeyes improve to 4-0 on the season following season home opener
COLUMBUS,
Ohio – The 10th ranked Ohio State wrestling team improved to 4-0
following a 21-12 victory vs. No. 15 Virginia Tech Sunday afternoon in
St. John Arena. Five Buckeyes scored wins in Ohio State’s season home
opener.
After the Hokies cut the Buckeye lead to
12-6, a trio of wins by freshmen Logan Stieber (133), Hunter Stieber
(141) and Cam Tessari (149) helped clinch the Ohio State win. Last
second takedowns by both H. Stieber and Tessari proved to be a huge
difference maker in a tightly contested match that featured zero bonus
points.
“The matches we won late, we
attacked,” Tom Ryan, head coach, said. “The matches we lost late were
because we didn’t attack. You have to keep attacking to build your
lead. This is an exciting group and they want to win.”
Wrestling
before a St. John Arena home crowd of 2,464, No. 15 H. Stieber (8-1
overall; 3-1 dual) trailed Zach Neibert, 4-2 and 4-3 after the first
and second periods, respectively. An escape by Neibert at the 1:45 mark
in the third left H. Stieber in a 5-3 deficit. However, the Buckeye
from Monroeville, Ohio, countered with a takedown with 1:06 remaining
in the match to tie the score. Twelve seconds later, Neibert answered
with an escape to take a 6-5 lead, but H. Stieber continued to press
and with just seven seconds left, scored a takedown for the 7-6 victory.
With
the Buckeyes up 18-6, the 16th ranked Tessari (7-1 overall; 4-0 dual)
won in dramatic fashion over Nick Brascetta. Also a native of
Monroeville, Ohio, Tessari was down 3-2 early in the match before the
score was even at 3 a piece entering the third. An escape by Brascetta
with 1:41 left gave the Hokie a slim 4-3 lead, but with five seconds
left on the clock, Tessari scored a takedown for the decisive 5-4 lead.
After a Virginia Tech injury timeout, Tessari scored an escape to seal
the individual and team win.
The match began at
174 pounds and 2011 Big Ten runner-up and fourth ranked Nick Heflin
(8-0 overall; 4-0 dual) lifted the Scarlet and Gray to an early 3-0
lead when he beat Chris Moon 6-2. Heflin, a redshirt sophomore never
trailed throughout the match, taking 2-1 and 5-2 leads, respectively,
heading into the third period. There was no scoring in the final
stanza, but Heflin, a native of Massillon, Ohio, did earn 3:31 of
riding time.
An escape and a takedown in the final
minute of his match against John Dickson at 184 pounds helped redshirt
junior C.J. Magrum move to 4-0 in dual matches and 6-1 overall. Leading
by a 8-6 margin, Magrum, who hails from Oak Harbor, Ohio, clinched the
match with those three points, plus a riding time of 1:10.
Freshman
Andrew Campolattano (7-2 overall; 3-1 dual) lost a close 4-3 decision
to Nick Vetterlein in the 197-pound bout. A takedown by Vetterlein with
two seconds left on the clock sealed the Hokie victory.
At
this point, Ohio State owned only a 6-3 advantage, but jumped to a 12-3
lead after 17th ranked David Marone was forced to default his match to
redshirt sophomore Peter Capone (6-2 overall; 4-0 dual) at the 1:41
mark in the second period because of an
injury.
Moving on to the 125-pound class, freshman Johnni
Dijulius suffered a 7-5 setback to Ty Mitch. Back-to-back stalling
warnings on Dijulius tied the score between the pair of Aurora, Ohio,
natives and forced the match into overtime. With four seconds left,
Mitch scored a takedown for the win and cut the Ohio State lead to six
(12-6).
However, fourth-ranked L. Stieber’s (8-0
overall; 4-0 dual) 6-1 win at 133 pounds over No. 5 Devin Carter was
the first of three consecutive to solidify the OSU victory.
Virginia
Tech ended the afternoon with back-to-back wins at 157 and 165 pounds.
In a matchup that pitted former Westerville North High School teammates
against one another, No. 13 Josh Demas (7-1 overall; 3-1 dual) lost,
7-2, to No. 5 Jesse Dong. Hokie Pete Yates, ranked 14th in the nation,
beat Buckeye freshman Derek Garcia (6-4 overall; 2-2 dual), 9-3.
Up
next, Ohio State will travel to the 30th Annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas
Invitational, which will take place Dec. 2-3 at the Las Vegas
Convention Center.
No. 10 Ohio State (4-0) 21, No. 15 Virginia Tech (1-1) 12 Nov. 20, 2011
St. John Arena
Columbus, Ohio
Attendance: 2,474
Match Started at 174
OSU VA TECH
125:
Ty Mitch DEC Johnni Dijulius,
7-5
12
6
133: No. 4 Logan Stieber DEC No. 5 Devin Carter,
6-1
15
6
141: No. 15 Hunter Stieber DEC Zach Neibert,
7-6
18
6
149: No. 16 Cam Tessari DEC Nick Brascetta,
6-4
21
6
157: No. 5 Jesse Dong DEC No. 13 Josh Demas,
7-2
21
9
165: No. 14 Pete Yates DEC Derek Garcia,
9-3
21
12
174: No. 4 Nick Heflin DEC Chris Moon,
6-2
3
0
184: C.J. Magrum DEC John Dickson,
12-6
6
0
197: Nick Vetterlein DEC No. 14 Andrew Campolattano,
4-3
6
3
HWT: Peter Capone wins by injury default No. 17 David
Marone
12
3
Postmatch Quotes Tom Ryan, Ohio State head coach
On the match
“Clearly
this was a new environment for us when you have six freshmen in the
lineup. They are used to big matches, but I don’t think they are used
to this type of environment. They aren’t used to being in matches when
they are up by one or down by one with 10 seconds to go. Normally they
are up by 12 at the end of the match. These guys have won so much.”
Hunter Stieber, freshman 141-pounder
On his match tonight
“The
third period came and I knew I had to score points; I had to get my
offense going. In the first period it wasn’t going too well. I did some
dumb things, but as soon as I started pushing, he (Zach Neibert)
started getting tired. I knew in the third period if I kept pushing, I
could get some more takedowns.”
On the sense of urgency towards the end of the match
“I
looked up at the clock and there were only 40 seconds left. I shot in
and got in a big scramble. I knew I had to win that scramble, I knew I
had to score. I had time to go back out and start back up.”
Cam Tessari, freshman 149-pounder
On his last-second win
“It
felt great. I felt like I was being the aggressor the whole match, but
things weren’t going my way. I knew if I kept it up the whole match, it
would happen and it showed.”
On the step up from high school
“Coming
from high school, we kind of dominated that scene and coming into
college you are facing tougher competition. It was frustrating at
times, but we handled it well and got a few last second wins. It feels
good to get a win, but we have a lot of work to do.”
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