Some weight shifting going on in Columbus, Ohio. Some of the lineup will compete at a different weight class than they did last season. From my vantage point, I see as many as 9 NCAA qualifiers and as many as 5 All Americans with 1 that will challenge for an individual NCAA title.
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| 125 Malik Heinselman Junior Record: 53-31 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'NQ BIG 10: 19'WC, 20'7th, 21'4th CKLV: 20'8th |
Heinselman's issues have been the same since day one. His greatest strength is that he is an attacker that can score on just about anyone. His greatest weakness, just about anyone can score on him. He has the tools to be an All American, as well as the results. He owns a first period fall as well as a 14-8 decision of 3rd place Pat Mckee of Minnesota & he owns two victories, 3-2 & 13-5 over 8th place All American Eric Barnett of Wisconsin. Other notable victories include 5-4 over Rayvon Foley of Michigan State & 6-2 over Michael DeAugustino of Northwestern. It's hard to say where to place Heinselman on the award stand, but I can see him on it.
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| 141 Dylan D'Emilio Freshman Record: 16-10 NCAA: 21'NQ BIG 10: 21'7th |
D'Emilio strikes me as a 2-2, possibly R12 wrestler at the NCAA championships. He has some notable wins, that say he should remain ranked somewhere between 15th-20th all season long, but nothing that says at the moment much higher.
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| 149 Sammy Sasso Sophomore Record: 59-6 NCAA: 20'NQ*, 21'2nd BIG 10: 20'2nd, 21'1st MIDLANDS: 19'3rd CKLV: 20'2nd |
I don't see Sasso even remotely being challenged for a BIG 10 title this season. He's the only sure bet BIG 10 champion I would say Ohio State has. As the the NCAA's? Sasso contends for this year's NCAA title, although I don't overlook the plausibility of being upset. Kyle Parco of Fresno State (now of Arizona State) darn near got him last year as Sasso squeaked by 11-10. I'm almost positive that Sasso is in the finals of next year's NCAA championships, but one match at a time.
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| 157 Ryan Thomas Sophomore Record: 20-16 |
I was recently informed that Ryan Thomas who spent a couple of seasons at Minnesota, is now at Ohio State. In that case, I think the Buckeyes have another NCAA qualifier. Thomas owns victories over Jarrett Jacques of Missouri, Jake Tucker of Michigan State and Elijah Cleary of Pittsburgh.
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| 165 Carson Kharchla Freshman Record: 16-0 |
Kharchla went undefeated in his redshirt season and those 16 victories weren't just anybodies either. We're talking a 3-2 victory over 7th place All American Cam Amine of Michigan and sticking 4th place All American Bernie Truax of Cal Poly in the first period. He also tech'd NCAA qualifier Troy Keller of Buffalo and I'd call a 6-0 shutout of Emil Soehnlen of Purdue a worthy win too. I may be premature on this, but I think Kharchla can All American this season in his first varsity role.
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| 174 Ethan Smith Junior Record: 74-37 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'5th BIG 10: 19'6th, 20'4th, 21'2nd CKLV: 20'4th |
To be quite honest, I was rather shocked when I saw that Smith was going up to 174. I thought that Kharchla would go 174 and Smith would stay at 165. After all it seems to me that Smith has adjusted to 165 rather well. A Big 10 runner-up finish & a 5th place All American finish. Now he'll have to readjust to 174 all over again. I still think Smith is All American caliber but I have no quarrel in saying that I think it'll be a tougher road than what 165 was.
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| 184 Kaleb Romero OR Rocky Jordan Junior OR Sophomore Record: 53-20 OR Record: 37-19 NCAA: 20'NQ, 21'R12 OR 20'NQ, 21'R12 BIG 10: 20'4th, 21'5th OR 20'5th, 21'WC |
This is going to be an interesting wrestle-off and I'm not sure who to go with. At this point they seem pretty even. Regardless of who wins this one, I'm thinking about the same results. NQ, R12 or so.
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| 197 Chase Singletary OR Gavin Hoffman Junior OR Sophomore Record: 49-13 OR 58-21 NCAA: 19'NQ OR BIG 10: 19'WC OR CKLV: 19'6th OR MIDLANDS: OR 19'5th |
Another interesting wrestle-off and on this one I give the nod to Singletary. Neither of these guys have seen much action at 197. Hoffman looked good at 184 a couple of years ago, placing 5th at the Midlands, but he went 5-7 at 197 last season, his best win a 3-2 victory over Rutger's Billy Janzer. Singletary has had success at HWT & I would think that would mean success at 197, unless the cut proves to be too much. Hard to say until the season starts rolling. Either should be an NCAA qualifier though.
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| HWT Tate Orndorff Senior Record: 70-30 NCAA: 19'NQ, 20'NQ, 21'8th BIG 12: 19'3rd, 20'5th BIG 10: 21'6th RENO: 18'4th CKLV: 19'2nd, 20'3rd |
Orndorff was an All American with an 8th place finish last season and I see him about the same this year. Two victories, 7-3 & 3-2 over Gannon Gremmel of Iowa State suggest that he could move up the award stand, but for now I see another 7th-8th place finish.
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125 - All American
133 - DNQ
141 - NQ, maybe R12
149 - Champion
157 - NQ
165 - All American
174 - All American
184 - NQ, maybe R12
197 - NQ
HWT - 7th-8th
Pretty respectable year for Ohio State from where I'm sitting.
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