The 2024-25 college wrestling season begins with most Ohio State fans engaged not only in the customary forecasting of lineups, All-American hopefuls and predictions for March, but also curiosity about coach Tom Ryan’s health and how his recuperation has gone since his car accident in April.

“I’m improving,” Ryan said. “In every way, I’m improving. Physically, I’m getting better. Mentally, I stopped measuring my gains by the day and started measuring by the month.”

It was a pivotal turn for Ryan.

“It’s been a rough road,” he said. “I’m better, though. I’m way better mentally. The physical side was tough, but honestly, I thought the mental side would be easier. It was pretty challenging — for sure the most challenging part of all this.”

The crash left Ryan with a broken left femur and tibia and a shattered kneecap. He also tore biceps and rotator cuff tendons. He endured multiple surgeries and was left immobile for weeks. 

Ryan said acknowledging he wasn’t doing well mentally was something that helped him. 

“The thing is, I think sometimes we can get caught up in being tough,” he said. “When you are tough, and when you’ve been through some tough things in your life, you aren’t afraid to say, ‘I’m struggling.’ That’s actually part of being tough.” 

Despite his serious injuries and their effect on his mobility, Ohio State administration believes Ryan is still up to the task of leading the Buckeye grapplers. Last month, Ryan was given a three-year contract extension that runs through the 2027 season.

Sasso’s ‘Will Is Incredible’  

In addition to questions about his own health, Ryan often hears queries about the status of Sammy Sasso, Ohio State’s three-time All-American who missed last season after getting shot while confronting two suspects during a reported carjacking in August of 2023. 

Sasso, a two-time national finalist, is attempting to come back from his final year of eligibility following surgeries and 15 months of rehab. Severe nerve damage around his spine has forced him to adapt, but his coach has been impressed.

“Sammy is trying to do what I would say in my 32 years of coaching would be the most significant comeback I’ve ever witnessed,” Ryan said. “I just read a great piece on Walter Payton and it talked about how there are levels to a human being’s desire to win. Sure, everyone wants to win, right? Then there are people who go about this, that there’s nothing they won’t endure. Sammy fits that category. His will is incredible, and because of his will, he has a chance.”

Ohio State Outlook

After the Buckeyes’ showing at the Clarion Open on November 3, there’s reason for more than a mere glimmer of hope heading into the regular season. Ryan’s grapplers took home seven individual titles, led by returning national champion and 141-pounder Jesse Mendez, who earned a 14-3 major decision over Lehigh’s Luke Stanich in the finals.

Clarion’s open tournament format allows multiple wrestlers from the same school to enter at each weight class. 

As a result, the competitive depth of this year’s Ohio State squad was on full display. One match providing credence was the 133-pound title bout. Ohio State highly touted freshman Ben Davino defeated teammate and U23 freestyle national champion Nic Bouzakis 5-3. 

Brandon McCrone defeated Vinny Kilkeary 5-3 at 125 in another all-Buckeye final. 

“This is one of the deepest teams we’ve ever had,” Ryan said. “I’m incredibly optimistic. The issue for us is we have a handful who will score some big points, and a handful who are between eighth and 15th in the country. Unfortunately, this year, that’s just not going to cut it. Some of our guys this year will have to elevate. We’ve got to keep developing them so that in March they can do something. Placing eighth in the country (All-American status) gets you about 6 points. If you’ve got 10 guys who place 8th, you’ve got 60 points and you’re not even sniffing a trophy. That’s 10 All-Americans and no team trophy.”

Granted, there’s reason to believe Buckeye wrestlers like Mendez, returning runner-up Rocco Welsh and returning fifth-place finisher Nick Feldman will, barring injuries, finish better than 8th in March. The question for the Buckeyes revolves around who and how many grapplers will step up and be the needed, pleasant surprises this year to make team trophy noise in March. 

“I wouldn’t call ourselves ‘pure’ but we’re a team with no transfers, we didn’t go out and purchase anybody,” Ryan said. “I’m not saying we’ll never do it (taking advantage of NIL rules), we’re just going about things a different way. That doesn’t make us better; thus far we’ve just been different. I don’t want to go pay for a guy who’s currently ranked sixth when we’ve got a guy who’s 10th that we believe we can develop.”

In sum, this year’s rendition of the Buckeyes is a mix of proven, winning collegiate wrestlers and a crop of talented, highly touted recruits who will need to perform beyond their preseason rankings for Ryan to collect another team trophy.

Full results from the Clarion Open

On The Horizon

Nov. 14: Chattanooga at Ohio State 

Nov. 17 Ohio State at Edinboro