After a down year by Tom Ryan standards in 2022, the Buckeyes rebounded in 2023 by bringing home a team trophy from NCAAs. Despite losing valuable senior leadership from Malik Heinselman, Ethan Smith, Kaleb Romero, and Tate Orndorff, Ohio State is in a good position to bring home another trophy this year. While Jesse Mendez is planning to Olympic redshirt, this will be the debut season for a lot of the loaded 2022 #1 overall recruiting class.

Overview

Head Coach: Tom Ryan

Assistants: J Jaggers, Bo Jordan, Logan Stieber

2023 NCAA Tournament Finish: 4th

2023 NCAA Tournament team points: 70.5

2023 Big 10 Tournament finish: 4th

2023 Dual Record: 13-3

Returning national qualifiers: 5 (Dylan D’Emilio, Sammy Sasso, Paddy Gallagher, Carson Kharchla, Gavin Hoffman)

Returning All-Americans: 4 (Dylan D’Emilio, Sammy Sasso, Carson Kharchla [2022], Gavin Hoffman [2022])

Last NCAA champion: Kyle Snyder (2018)

Last 10 NCAA Championships:

2013: 6th

2014: 6th

2015: 1st

2016: 3rd

2017: 2nd

2018: 2nd

2019: 2nd

2020: Canceled (COVID)

2021: 9th

2022: 13th

2023: 4th

125: Andre Gonzales

Andre Gonzales was forced with the impossible task of competing at the Big Ten Championships on several days notice last season when Malik Heinselman went out with an injury. Unfortunately for the Buckeyes, he went 0-3 and didn’t qualify for NCAAs. However, I don’t think this is an accurate representation of Gonzales’ ability. A California state champion in 2020 as a junior and #59 on the 2021 big board, the potential is there. As long as the weight isn’t an issue (he competed his redshirt year at 133), I think he will benefit from competing for an entire season as the starter.

Other Options: Vinny Kilkeary, Brendan McCrone

133: #9 Nic Bouzakis

Last year’s 133 lb starter Jesse Mendez had a great freshman year finishing 6th place at the NCAAs. While he is going to take an Olympic redshirt, the Buckeyes aren’t losing a step. Coming into your freshman year preseason ranked #10 shows you the level Nic Bouzakis is at. In fact, he beat Mendez for the 2022 U20 World Team spot in a best-of-three series. 

Watch the highlights from Bouzakis and Mendez’s 2022 best-of-three series below.

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Bouzakis went 11-1 as a redshirt last year with the only loss coming when he bumped up to 141 for the dual with Virginia Tech. This past off-season Bouzakis once again made the U20 World Team when he beat #9 overall 2023 recruit Cael Hughes in two-straight matches with a combined score of 20-0. He will compete at the World Championships in Warsaw, Poland on July 15 & 16. You can watch the entire event on FloWrestling.

Other Options: Vinny Kilkeary

141: #7 Dylan D’Emilio

Dylan D’Emilio is going to be holding down the 141 lb starting spot for the Buckeyes for the fourth-straight year. After qualifying for the NCAA tournament his first two years, D’Emilio was able to get on the podium last year with an 8th-place finish. He comes into the season ranked #7 in the country. Three of the six in front of him are also in the Big Ten - Real Woods, Beau Bartlett, and Brock Hardy. D’Emilio is super stingy and is capable of going with the best in the country, but don’t expect him to go into the postseason without a couple of blemishes on his record.

Other Options: Jesse Mendez (would have to pull redshirt), Jordan Decatur

149: #1 Sammy Sasso

The heart and soul of the Buckeye lineup - Sammy Sasso. This will be the Pennsylvania native’s final ride in the scarlet and grey. He’s a 2X NCAA finalist that has come as close as you can to winning a national title without actually doing so. This season will be his best shot, however. The two men to defeat him in the NCAA finals, Austin O’Connor and Yianni Diakomihalis, are both done; leaving Sasso as the top-ranked wrestler at the weight. 

There has been speculation as to whether or not Sasso would move up to 157 considering how tough it is for him to make 149 lbs. However, both for himself and for the team, I think it makes more sense to cut back down to 149. Now a senior, Sasso will be the driving force behind the Buckeyes' campaign to go for back-to-back NCAA team trophies.

Other Options: Brock Herman, Brandon Cannon

157: #15 Paddy Gallagher

After going 17-2 as a redshirt, Paddy Gallagher hit some snags as a freshman in the starting lineup. The Ohio native went 6-5 in duals and 4-4 in Big Ten duals. After going 0-3 at Big Tens, Gallagher received an at-large bid to qualify for NCAAs Gallagher peaked at the right time and made the round of 16 at NCAAs. This will be year three in Columbus for Gallagher and a year for a potential jump. 

Other Options: Gavin Brown, Isaac Wilcox

165: #18 Bryce Hepner

After spending the first two years of his career at 157, including as the starter in 2022, Bryce Hepner redshirted last season and moved up to 165. While he only competed at the Cleveland State Open, Hepner won and defeated 3X All-American Cam Amine of Michigan. This is a good sign for Buckeye fans. Hepner could be a really solid replacement for All-American Carson Kharchla who appears to be moving up to 174.

Other Options: Stephen O’Neil 

174: #8 Carson Kharchla

As stated above, with Kharchla competing at 79 kg this off-season, Kharchla appears to be moving up 174. Kharchla didn’t appear to have too many issues with the added weight. He got up big on 2X 174 lb Oklahoma State All-American Dustin Plott before getting caught in a leg lace in match one and injured in match two. With how loaded the 165 lb weight class is, moving up is a good decision for both the team and Kharchla individually. Kharchla’s accolades at 165 have him preseason ranked #8 at 174.

Other Options: Rocco Welsh

184: Luke Geog / Seth Shumate

It won’t be easy taking over for Kaleb Romero. The Mechanicsburg native showed steady progression throughout his career, became a 2X All-American, and was a rock for the Buckeye lineup by the end. Stacked with the task will likely be left to a redshirt freshman - either be Luke Geog or Seth Shumate. Given that Geog beat Shumate at the MSU Open last season, I’d say he has the advantage, but the weight is a question mark. That was at 197. After that opening tournament, Shumate dropped down to 184 while Geog stayed up at 197. Geog competed his senior year of high school at 170 and didn’t appear to be very large at 197. So, with no inside info, I wouldn’t put 184 out of the question.

Watch Shumate and Geog’s MSU Open final below.

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Other Options: Gavin Ball

197: #13 Gavin Hoffman

Entering his sixth year at Ohio State, Gavin Hoffman will be the senior leadership on this team along with Sasso. Hoffman has been holding down the starting 197 spot for the Buckeyes for the past three seasons. An All-American in 2022, Hoffman went 1-2 at NCAAs last year. There was no good draw at 197 last year, but Hoffman didn’t get any favors drawing Tanner Sloan in round one and Max Dean on the backside.

Other Options: Luke Geog, Nicholas Boykin, Ryder Rogotzke

285: Nick Feldman

We will finally get the highly anticipated college debut of Nick Feldman. Feldman was the #1 overall recruit in the class of 2022. However, after suffering a neck injury, we haven’t seen him since the U20 World Championships in 2022. Feldman said that surgery and recovery went well and he is looking forward to getting out on the mat in a Buckeye singlet. With some of the best heavyweights in the country coming out of the Big Ten such as Gable Steveson, Greg Kerkvliet, and Tony Cassioppi, it won’t take too long to find out just how good Feldman is.

Other Options: Michael Misita, Hogan Swenski