No. 2 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes wrestling team is set to face Bellarmine University for the first time on Wednesday, December 3, at the Covelli Center in Columbus. The match begins at 7 p.m. and will be streamed live on B1G+.
Ohio State enters the contest with a 6-0 record this season, while Bellarmine stands at 1-1. The Buckeyes are coming off a dominant performance against Kent State, where they won all ten matches and secured bonus points in seven of them.
Earlier in November, Ohio State won the National Duals Invitational by defeating Wyoming, No. 10 Minnesota, No. 2 Nebraska, and No. 3 Iowa to claim the event title and a $200,000 prize. During that tournament, Ohio State went undefeated in five weight classes (125 through 157 pounds) and lost only five matches across two days of competition.
Notable individual victories included Nic Bouzakis’s wins over ranked opponents Jore Volk from Minnesota and Dean Peterson from Iowa; Ben Davino’s win over Drake Ayala of Iowa; Jesse Mendez’s victories against Vance VomBaur (Minnesota), Brock Hardy (Nebraska), and Nasir Bailey (Iowa); Brandon Cannon’s major decision over NCAA Champion Antrell Taylor of Nebraska; Carson Kharchla’s win against Christopher Minto (Nebraska); Dylan Fishback’s victory over Silas Allred (Nebraska); and Nick Feldman’s win against AJ Ferrari (Nebraska).
To open their dual season at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Ohio State recorded nine wins out of ten matches with seven earning bonus points. Redshirt freshman Landon Desselle scored a pin at 157 pounds during that meet.
Jesse Mendez began his season with a victory over Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State at the NWCA All-Star Championships, winning by a score of 7-3.
Heading into the current campaign, Ohio State’s roster features twelve NCAA qualifiers who have collectively made twenty-two appearances at NCAA championships.
The probable lineup for Wednesday includes several highly-ranked wrestlers for Ohio State: Nick Bouzakis (125), Ben Davino (133), Jesse Mendez (141), Ethan Stiles (149), Brandon Cannon (157), Paddy Gallagher (165), Carson Kharchla (174), Dylan Fishback or Cayaen Smith (184), Luke Geog (197), and Nick Feldman at heavyweight.