No. 5 Buckeyes Host No. 1 Penn State, Travel to No. 15 Northwestern

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No. 5 Buckeyes Host No. 1 Penn State, Travel to No. 15 Northwestern

Feb. 1, 2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Wrestling Contact: Dan Wallenberg | wallenberg.1@osu.edu | 614-266-4306

No. 5 Buckeyes Host No. 1 Penn State, Travel to No. 15 Northwestern
Final Big Ten contest for Ohio State follows Feb. 10 vs. Nebraska at home   

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No. 5 Ohio State vs. No. 1 Penn State, at Northwestern
Dates: Feb. 3/5, 2023
Times:  7/3 p.m.
Venues: Covelli Center/Welsh Ryan Arena
Watch: BTN/B1G+
Live Updates: Twitter (@wrestlingbucks)
Match Notes/Lineups: Ohio State |Penn State | Northwestern

COLUMBUS, Ohio – No. 5 Ohio State (11-1, 5-0) takes on No. 1 Penn State (11-0, 4-0) Friday at sold out Covelli Center before traveling to face No. 15 Northwestern (5-3, 3-3) Sunday in Evanston. The match against the Nittany Lions starts at 7 p.m. and will be televised by the Big Ten Network. The bout with the Wildcats has a 3 p.m. start time and will streamed on B1G+.

Tickets for the 2023 Big Ten Championships March 4-5 at the Crisler Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan, are currently on sale at mgoblue.com.
Freshman Jesse Mendez, a 133-pounder from Crown Point, Indiana, was named Co-Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Tuesday after a pair of ranked wins last week against league rivals Michigan and Michigan State. Mendez (11-1 overall, 5-0 vs. Big Ten foes) helped the Buckeyes sweep No. 7 Michigan 23-12 and Michigan State 36-3.
Junior Isaac Wilcox, filling in at 174, won his match against the Terrapins 3-1 in sudden victory over Dominic Solis. Wilcox now has victories at 157, 165 and 174 this year. He won at 174 vs. Michigan State as well.
Sammy Sasso opened the match vs. Maryland with a 12-1 major decision win over No. 18 Ethan Miller. Sasso has won three of the last four matches by major decision with the other coming by fall. He is 29-0 in Big Ten duals heading into the match vs. No. 4 Michigan.
Kaleb Romero defeated Chase Mielnik (UMD) for his 75th career victory. Romero won that match by technical fall, 22-7.
Freshman Jesse Mendez entered the Top 10 in the Intermat rankings Jan. 16 and two days later he was named an Ohio State Black Shirt (1/18/23), the 13th Buckeye to be so honored. Following a vote of the other Buckeye Black Shirts and coaches, Mendez now will have the honor of wearing black at the Jennings Center. For more on the honor see the last two pages of these notes.
Ohio State handled No. 19 Rutgers in the Big Ten Conference home opener 27-12 Jan. 15 behind a pin by Kaleb Romero (184), a technical fall win by Tate Orndorff (HWT) and a major decision victory by Sammy Sasso (149).
The Buckeyes opened the 2023 Big Ten Conference season with a 26-13 win at Indiana. Sammy Sasso (149) and Kaleb Romero (184) both pinned their respective opponents to help secure the win. The Buckeyes improved to 52-34-2 all-time vs. the Hoosiers after winning for the 12th consecutive time in Bloomington.
Redshirt freshmen Andre Gonzales (125) and Mike Misita (HWT) finished second at the 2023 Edinboro-Kaufman Memorial Open Jan. 8 in Edinboro, Pa.
Tom Ryan, head coach of the Buckeyes earned career dual victory No. 300 at the Collegiate Duals Dec. 20, 2022 in New Orleans. Ohio State defeated No. 21 Lehigh 23-12 for the historic win on the final day of the event. The Buckeyes also defeated Lock Haven, 39-3. No. 22 Northern Iowa earned a 19-13 win over Ohio State in the second dual of the competition.
Ryan is 305-146-2 over his career, which includes 11 years at Hofstra (109-82-2) and 17 at Ohio State (196-64).
Against the Nittany Lions, Ohio State is 12-24 all-time. The Buckeyes are 44-29-1 in the series vs. the Wildcats, including wins in nine of the last 10 meetings.

No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes........................................ No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions 
(InterMat Wrestling individual rankings used)
No. 10 Malik Heinselman (Sr.)  ................ 125......................................... Gary Steen (Fr.)
No. 9 Jesse Mendez (Fr.).......................... 133............ No. 1 Roman Bravo-Young (GR) 
No. 19 Dylan D'Emilio (r-Jr.)...................... 141............................ No. 5 Beau Bartlett (Jr.)
No. 3 Sammy Sasso (r-Sr.)....................... 149.............. No. 13 Shayne Van Ness (r-Fr.)
No. 25 Paddy Gallagher (r-Fr.) ................ 157 ............................. No. 9 Levi Haines (Fr.) 
No. 12 Carson Kharchla (r-Jr.) ................. 165 ...................... No. 8 Alex Facundo (r-Fr.)
No. 7 Ethan Smith (r-Sr.)........................... 174........................ No. 1 Carter Starocci (Jr.)
No. 5 Kaleb Romero (r-Sr.)........................ 184.......................... No. 1 Aaron Brooks (Sr.)
No. 17 Gavin Hoffman (r-Sr.).................... 197................................ No. 4 Max Dean (Sr.)
No. 18 Tate Orndorff (r-Sr.) ..................... HWT........................ No. 2 Greg Kerkvliet (Jr.)

No. 5 Ohio State Buckeyes......................................... No. 14 Northwestern Wildcats 
(InterMat Wrestling individual rankings used)
No. 10 Malik Heinselman (Sr.)  ................ 125......... No. 8 Michael DeAugustino (r-Sr.)
No. 9 Jesse Mendez (Fr.).......................... 133..................... No. 13 Chris Cannon (r-Jr.)
No. 19 Dylan D'Emilio (r-Jr.)...................... 141............ No. 8 Frankie Tal-Shahar (r-So.)
No. 3 Sammy Sasso (r-Sr.)....................... 149....................... No. 4 Yahya Thomas (GR)
No. 25 Paddy Gallagher (r-Fr.) ................ 157 .............. No. 11 Trevor Chumbley (r-Jr.) 
No. 12 Carson Kharchla (r-Jr.) ................. 165 ................. No. 18 Maxx Mayfield (r-So.)
No. 7 Ethan Smith (r-Sr.)........................... 174.......................... No. 17 Troy Fisher (r-Jr.)
No. 5 Kaleb Romero (r-Sr.)........................ 184...................................... Evan Bates (r-Fr.)
No. 17 Gavin Hoffman (r-Sr.).................... 197............................... Andrew Davison (Gr.)
No. 18 Tate Orndorff (r-Sr.) ..................... HWT.................... No. 4 Lucas Davison (r-Sr.)

UP NEXT
The Big Ten regular season concludes for the Buckeyes in Columbus Feb. 10 at the Covelli Center against No 10 Nebraska at 7 p.m. Ohio State will celebrate its alumni on senior night in Columbus. Match time is 7 p.m. with the Big Ten Network providing the television coverage.

Dan Wallenberg
Associate Athletics Director-Communications
Department of Athletics