Ohio State Wrestling's Ben Davino Beats Nic Bouzakis In College Debut
Ohio State Wrestling's Ben Davino Beats Nic Bouzakis In College Debut
Ohio State's top freshman, Ben Davino, got off to a hot start at the Clarion Open with victories over NCAA qualifier Max Leete and teammate Nic Bouzakis.
Ohio State true freshman Ben Davino had an incredible debut at the Clarion Open. Davino finished his high school career as the #3 ranked recruit in the class of 2024. After the first weekend of the 2024-25 NCAA season, he's already living up to the hype.
In the Clarion Open finals, Davino defeated his teammate, #13 ranked Nic Bouzakis, a round of 16 finisher at last year's NCAA Championships 5-3 on the strength of a third period takedown. Matches between teammates can be tricky to make sense of because of the familiarity between opponents. In this case, it's also telling that Bouzakis was fresh off a trip from Tirana, Albania where he competed at the U23 World Championships a little over a week ago. Still, Davino's victory is noteworthy.
Davino's finals win over Bouzakis wasn't his only impressive result. He began his tournament with a major decision over NCAA qualifier Max Leete of American, then followed that up with a semifinal tech fall over three-year Pitt starter Colton Camacho (now at Edinboro).
Ben Davino's major decision over Max Leete
The Buckeyes may elect to leave Davino in redshirt for his true freshman season, but he certainly appears ready for the varsity stage should Coach Ryan and company change their minds.