Buckeyes over Boilermakers, 35-7, In Top-25 Showdown | Ben Thornton with the win

[TomM]

Buckeyes Blast Boilermakers, 35-7, In Top-25 Showdown (Ben Thornton with the win)
Date:     Sun 1/28/18 06:52 PM
Wrestling contact: Kyle Kuhlman / kuhlman.137@osu.edu / 614-292-0088

Buckeyes Blast Boilermakers, 35-7, In Top-25 Showdown
Ohio State moves to 12-0, 7-0
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ST. PARIS, Ohio – The No. 2 Ohio State University wrestling team (12-0, 7-0 Big Ten) concluded the 'home' portion of its regular season by hosting No. 24 Purdue (6-6, 0-5) at Graham High School in St. Paris, Ohio. The Buckeyes seized eight of 10 bouts and brought a 35-7 victory back with them to Columbus.

Ohio State's dual dominance continued, outscoring its competition by a combined tally of 406-89 in 12 duals. That's good for an averaged ledger of 33.8 to 7.4.

Grappling began in the traditional fashion of starting at 125 pounds when fourth-ranked Nathan Tomasello took the mat pitted against No. 13 Luke Welch. Tomasello disposed of a slow start and turned it on in the middle period, ultimately coming out on top with an 18-5 major decision in hand.

Purdue's Ben Thornton immediately returned the favor at 133 pounds, earning a major decision of his own to even the team tally at 4-all. Then, the Buckeyes captured the next seven bouts to extinguish any chance of a Boilermaker team win.

Joey McKenna started the triumphant streak by controlling Nate Limmex in a 6-0 decision at 141 pounds. Ke-Shawn Hayes and Micah Jordan kept it going with back-to-back dominating performances in the subsequent matches. Hayes garnered four takedowns in the opening period alone and seven in total. He added two escapes and two 4-point nearfalls to end the contest early with a 24-6 tech fall.

Jordan, competing in front of his hometown crowd as a Graham High School graduate, did not disappoint. He racked up eight points in the first period just like Hayes before taking down Cole Wysocki an additional six times before the final whistle. Tack on the riding time bonus, and he walked off the mat to a standing ovation with his 21-9 major decision.

Cody Burcher followed, electrifying the sold-out crowd by sticking Jacob Morrissey in just 34 seconds and unleashing the Pin Chain. The 165-pound Buckeye improves to 6-0 on the year, including wins in both of his Big Ten dual starts.

Graham's second legend of the day, Bo Jordan, had his hands full in a meeting vs. No. 12 Dylan Lydy. Jordan, ranked third nationally at 174 pounds, kept the pressure on his Boiler opposition and eventually emerged as a 9-4 victor. He tallied a takedown in all three periods.

Myles Martin and Kollin Moore came next, both getting off the mat in less than five minutes. Martin punished Jonathan Morales in a 20-4 tech fall while Moore did much the same in an 18-3 tech fall of Christian Brunner.

COMPLETE BOUT RESULTS
125 lbs | No. 4 Nathan Tomasello (OSU) def. No. 13 Luke Welch (PU) | MD, 18-5; Team Score: 4-0
133 lbs | Ben Thornton (PU) def. Brakan Mead (OSU) | MD, 10-2; TS: 4-4
141 lbs | No. 11 Joey McKenna (OSU) def. Nate Limmex (PU) | D, 7-0; TS: 7-4
149 lbs | No. 7 Ke-Shawn Hayes (OSU) def. Austin Nash (PU) | TF, 24-6; TS: 12-4
157 lbs | No. 5 Micah Jordan (OSU) def. Cole Wysocki (PU) | MD, 21-9; TS: 16-4
165 lbs | Cody Burcher (OSU) def. Jacob Morrissey (PU) | PIN, 0:34; TS: 22-4
174 lbs | No. 3 Bo Jordan (OSU) def. No. 12 Dylan Lydy (PU) | D, 9-4; TS: 25-4
184 lbs | No. 2 Myles Martin (OSU) def. Jonathan Morales (PU) | TF, 20-4; TS: 30-4
197 lbs | No. 1 Kollin Moore (OSU) def. Christian Brunner (PU) | TF, 18-3; TS: 35-4
285 lbs | No. 15 Shawn Streck (PU) def. Kevin Snyder (OSU) | D, 5-2; TS: 35-7