Preview – No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Penn

[TomM]

Preview – No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Penn State
Date:     Wed 02/01/17 02:29 PM
February 1, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Ohio State wrestling contact:
Mike Basford / basford.16@osu.edu  

WR: Preview - No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 2 Penn State
Buckeyes meet Nittany Lions at Value City Arena

RELATED INFO: Online Release | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-wrestl/spec-rel/020117aab.html
Small Video Graphic Watch: Video Preview | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/collegesportslive/?media=547206
Match Notes | http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/osu/sports/m-wrestl/auto_pdf/2016-17/release/release_20170201aaa.pdf
2016-17 Statistics | http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/osu/sports/m-wrestl/auto_pdf/2016-17/stats/season_stats.pdf
2016-17 Team Guide | http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/osu/sports/m-wrestl/auto_pdf/2016-17/misc_non_event/media_guide.pdf
Ticket Information | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/tickets/m-wrestl-information.html
2016-17 Schedule | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-wrestl/sched/osu-m-wrestl-sched.html
2016-17 Roster | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-wrestl/mtt/osu-m-wrestl-mtt.html
Wrestling Homepage | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/sports/m-wrestl/osu-m-wrestl-body.html
Wrestling Camps | http://www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com/camps/m-wrestl-camp-home.html
Follow the Buckeyes on
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COLUMBUS, Ohio – Fourth-ranked Ohio State faces its second top-five opponent in the last seven days when it welcomes No. 2 Penn State to Value City Arena on Friday night for a key Big Ten dual. Action gets underway at 6 p.m. and the match will be carried live on BTN.
THE BASICS
No. 2 Penn State at No. 4 Ohio State | Friday, Feb. 6 | 6 p.m. | Value City Arena
Watch Live |
Live Scoring |
Tickets |
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BUCKEYES IN A NUTSHELL
·         The Buckeyes are 8-1 overall and 4-1 in the Big Ten following last Friday's 21-13 loss to No. 3 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
·         Ohio State boats eight starters who are ranked nationally by InterMat, including a nation-leading three No. 1s: Nathan Tomasello (133 lbs.), Bo Jordan (174 lbs.) and Kyle Snyder (HWT). The trio has a combined record this year of 26-0 with 20 bonus-point wins.
·         Overall, Ohio State has seven ranked wrestlers this week by InterMat. Five of them are in the top eight: Snyder, B. Jordan, Tomasello, Kollin Moore (No. 4, 197 lbs.) and Micah Jordan (No. 5, 149 lbs.).
·         The three newest members of the Buckeyes' lineup – Jose Rodriguez, Luke Pletcher and Moore – have won 52 matches this year. Both Pletcher (21-2) and Moore (20-2) were amongst the Buckeye winners last Friday at Iowa.
·         Head coach Tom Ryan is in his 11th season guiding the Scarlet and Gray and has a 132-46 record, including a 58-29 mark in the Big Ten. His teams have eight top-10 finishes over the last 10 years at the NCAA Championships.
·         The Buckeyes are in the midst of five straight duals vs. ranked opponents. Following Friday's matchup with Penn State, Ohio State hosts No. 11 Rutgers on Monday, Feb. 6 before traveling to No. 5 Nebraska and No. 14 Minnesota the weekend of Feb. 10-12.
·         There is a potential for four matches between top-10 ranked wrestlers on Friday night. The feature matches include 149 (No. 1 Zain Retherford vs. No 5 Micah Jordan), 184 (No. 2 Bo Nickal vs. No. 10 Myles Martin) and HWT (No. 4 Nick Nevills vs. No. 1 Kyle Snyder).

SNYDER: YARYGIN CHAMPION
While the Buckeyes were in Iowa City last weekend, Snyder was in Russia adding more accomplishments to his international resume. He became the 11th United States male and first since 2009 to win the Yarygin Grand Prix, which is considered to be the toughest open tournament in the world. Snyder won his first three matches by a combined score of 33-2 and then added a fall in the gold medal match over Rasul Magomedov of Russia.

SCOUTING PENN STATE
The defending Big Ten and NCAA champions, Penn State brings a 8-0 record to Columbus on Friday along with nine wrestlers who are ranked in this week's InterMat polls. The Nittany Lions are led by the trio of No. 1 Zane Retherford (149 lbs.), No. 1 Jason Nolf (157 lbs.) and No. 2 Bo Nickal (184 lbs.). All three were NCAA finalists last year. Penn State is ranked No. 2 in this week's USA Today/NWCA Coaches Poll.

PROBABLE MATCHUPS
125: #18 Jose Rodriguez (11-5) vs. #2 Nick Suriano (13-1)
133: #1 Nathan Tomasello (11-0) vs. George Carpenter (1-8) OR Trison Law (0-1)
141: #15 Luke Pletcher (21-2) vs. #11 Jimmy Guilibon (10-6)
149: #5 Micah Jordan (21-1) vs. #1 Zain Retherford (15-0)
157: Jake Ryan (10-8) OR Anthony DeCarlo (2-6) vs. #1 Jason Nolf (15-0)
165: Cody Burcher (14-8) vs. #4 Vincenzo Joseph (11-2)
174: #1 Bo Jordan (9-0) vs. #7 Mark Hall (20-2)
184: #10 Myles Martin (20-4) vs. #2 Bo Nickal (14-0)
197: #4 Kollin Moore (20-2) vs. #9 Matt McCutcheon (12-2)
HWT: #1 Kyle Snyder (6-0) vs. #3 Nick Nevills (13-1)

WEIGHT CLASSES TO WATCH
Jordan vs. Retherford | 149 lbs.
One week after facing No. 3 Brandon Sorensen of Iowa, Jordan gets a shot at the defending NCAA champion at 149 lbs. in Zane Retherford. Jordan owns a 4-1 record this year against ranked opponents and 15-0 career mark against common opponents with Retherford. This will be the first meeting ever between the two.
Martin vs. Nickal | 184 lbs.
The 184-pound bout features a rematch of last year's 174 lb. NCAA final, in which Martin erased an early deficit with a six-point swing in the second period on his way to an 11-9 upset over the top-seeded Nickal. This will be the fourth meeting between the two in the last two seasons.
Snyder vs. Nevills | HWT
Fresh off his gold medal performance at the Yarygin Grand Prix, Snyder will face his second top-five ranked opponent of the season and looks to continue his streak of six consecutive matches with bonus point wins (one tech fall, one major decision, four falls).
HOME SWEET HOME
Ohio State is 22-6 in home duals over the last four seasons, including a 22-15 win over Penn State in 2015, the last time the two teams met in Columbus.
ALL-TIME VS. PENN STATE
Friday will be the 31st all-time meeting between the Buckeyes and Nittany Lions, a series that dates back to 1956. Ohio State won four straight from 2008-2010 and then broke a four-match losing streak with a win at St. John Arena in 2015. Tom Ryan-led teams are 5-6 all-time versus Penn State.
WRESTLING AT VALUE CITY ARENA
Friday marks the second time that the Buckeyes will wrestle inside of Value City Arena. In 2015, Ohio State defeated No. 4 Minnesota 22-13 in front of 5,642 fans.
THE ATTENDENCE GAME
Ohio State has ranked No. 4 overall in average attendance in each of the last two years, bringing in well over 4,000 fans per dual. The top five dual attendances on record:
1.       Jan. 4, 2015: 6,558 vs. Iowa
2.       Jan. 11, 2015: 6,109 vs. Penn State
3.       Jan. 20, 2012: 5,684 vs. Iowa
4.       Feb. 12, 2016: 5,650 vs. Wisconsin
5.       Feb. 6, 2015: 5,642 vs. Minnesota

STATISCALLY SPEAKING
·         Ohio State has at least four bonus point wins in eight of nine duals this year.
·         Seven starters are averaging better than 10.0 points per match, led by Snyder (13.6 points/match). The Jordan brothers are each averaging 12.5 points/match. Snyder also leads the team with an average of 6.3 takedowns per match.
·         Top-10 ranked Buckeyes are 14-6 vs. ranked opponents with seven major decisions.
·         Tomasello, M. Jordan, Martin and Snyder are yet to give up a first-period dual takedown this season. Only twice has a member of the foursome been taken down at all in a dual.
·         Buckeye wrestlers are averaging nearly 18 first-period takedowns in nine duals thus far and 28.8 takedowns overall. They've scored bonus points in 52 percent of dual matches.
·         Tomasello is Ohio State's active career wins leader with 91 and has won 56 of his last 57 matches. He owns three separate double-digit winning streaks in his career, including 43 straight between January 2015 and March 2016.
A PROUD TRADITION
In its 96th season, Ohio State owns a 762-513-1 all-time record with three Big Ten championships, the most recent coming in 2015. The program has produced 21 individual national champions, 10 under the guidance of head coach Tom Ryan. He's also mentored 34 All-Americans, an average of over three per season.
BACKPOINTS
·         In seven postseason matches last March, Kyle Snyder averaged 16.5 points and finished with four technical falls.
·         With a 132-46 overall record in 10 seasons, Tom Ryan has the highest winning percentage (.742) of any head coach in program history.
·         The Buckeyes have multiple Big Ten champions in each of the last four seasons, the longest stretch in program history.
·         Over the last 10 years, Ohio State has finished in the top-three at the NCAA Championships four times and in the top 10 nine times.

#GoBucks#
MIKE BASFORD
Assistant Director | Ohio State Athletics Communications
Fawcett Center 6th floor | 2400 Olentangy River Rd. | Columbus, OH 43210
O 614.292.0134
C 908.892.8951
F 614.292.8547
basford.16@osu.edu
@MikeBasford_OSU
OhioStateBuckeyes.com
THE PEOPLE. THE TRADITION. THE EXCELLENCE.

[TomM]

Is Penn State-Ohio State just another college wrestling match? It all depends on the perspective

http://www.pennlive.com/sports/index.ssf/2017/02/is_penn_state-ohio_state_just.html