PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The odds were stacked against No.17 Rutgers before the first match even began earlier today as Ohio State featured seven wrestlers with a national ranking of No.6 or better. The No.2-ranked Buckeyes outmatched Rutgers in route to a 29-11 victory inside The RAC.
However, there were some positives to take away.
“That is a really, really good team,” head coach Scott Goodale said of Ohio State. “I have been watching college wrestling for a long time. I think of the teams from Iowa in the eighties, top to bottom. I may be saying the same thing Jan 28 when we are wrestling Penn State, but that is one of the best college wrestling teams I have really ever seen.”
The loss dropped Rutgers to 3-3 on the season as Ohio State moved to 7-0.
The dual-meet began at 174 pounds and Rutgers did not score its first victory until five matches later when No.2-ranked Nick Suriano defeated Braken Mean for a 25-9 dominant tech fall win.
Ohio State usually features No.1-ranked Nathan Tomasello at 125-pounds, but he was not in attendance because of a wedding he was scheduled to attend.
“It’s whatever, I don’t think anything about it,” Suriano said when asked about facing Mean in place of Tomasello. “I’m here, I have never ducked anyone. I am here doing what I do. For me, I take everyone the same way. Go out, light it up, move my feet, feel the good energy and just attack. It doesn’t matter who it is. You know what I want, an NCAA title.”
Rutgers came close in the next match as 133-pounder and 11th-ranked Scott DelVecchio nearly scored a takedown in the final seconds against third-ranked Luke Pletchet. But time expired on that upset attempt as Pletchet earned a 4-2 win.
Fireworks ensued a couple mathes later when 149-pounder Elezear DeLuca scored a pair of six-point moves in the final period to win 12-7 over No.5-ranked Ke-Shawn Hayes.
DeLuca’s final points came with the match locked at 6-6 in the final 10 seconds as he completed a successful throw of Hayes as The RAC erupted.
“It was exciting,” Goodale said. “I was kind of waiting for that place to get going a little bit. We needed something like that. He is capable of that type of technique, we’ve seen him do it a bunch. Just glad he was able to hit it on a really, really good kid, the No.5 kid in the country. That is a game changer heading into the rest of the Big Ten schedule.”
The day ended with another furious finish as No.15-ranked 165-pounder Richie Lewis scored a late takedown to upset sixth-ranked Te’Shan Campbell by a final of 5-2.
“It was good for him, he is getting adjusted to that weight,” Goodale said of Lewis. “That kid is a big strong kid and he had to really gut out a finish there. He did a really good job of riding and he ran around one to close out the match. That is sticking to a game plan. That is a good job and he is going to need to win matches like that going forward. It’s a really good weight class in the Big Ten.”
That closed out the meet as there was an air of excitement, even though Rutgers was on the losing end.
“Nick does what he needs to do, we pick off two nationally raked guys at 149 and 165. That’s big, that is important for us,” Goodale said. “There are little battles in those matches that you have to win. You just have to keep that momentum going.”
Nick Gravina, the regular starter at 184-pounds, did not wrestle as Jordan Pagano stepped in for him in a losing effort.