Ohio State had just defeated Hofstra on the Sunday before Thanksgiving when coach Tom Ryan faced a question.  

Did any of the Buckeyes earn front-runner status at the five weight classes that were recently considered still up for grabs?

“Nothing’s changed,” Ryan said, referring to battles at 125, 157, 165, 174 and 184 pounds. “Ultimately, the two words right now are reliability and durability. One example is we don’t know yet how durable Sammy (Sasso) is going to be. We don’t know what weight he’ll end up at. He’s gonna go 165 in Vegas (for the Cliff Keen Invitational), but (Bryce) Hepner is coming back from injury so he’ll be challenging Sammy. 

“All the things that have to happen to determine an official starting lineup haven't happened yet.”

There’s a lot the Buckeyes have to sort through. 

— Ryan said 125-pounder Vinny Kilkeary “is healing but probably won’t wrestle in (this weekend’s) Cleveland State Open.” 

— At 157, Ryan said Brandon Cannon “will eventually challenge (Paddy) Gallagher.” Ryan said Cannon could be part of the contingent Ohio State is sending later to this month to the Midlands Championships, along with returning NCAA finalist Rocco Welsh and true freshman Ben Davino, both of whom are expected to redshirt this season. 

Ryan said Gallagher “is getting better by the day.” 

— So, too, is All-American Carson Kharchla, who hasn’t competed in nearly a year after starting last season 12-3 at 174. 

“We’re watching Paddy, we’re watching Cannon, we’re watching Sasso, we’re watching Hepner, we’re watching Carson, we’re watching (Seth) Shumate, who’s gone down to wrestle at 184,” Ryan said. “Seth will be wrestling at 184 in Vegas.”

‘Whatever, Whenever’ 

Ohio State’s injuries and absences forced the Buckeyes to dip into their depth against Hofstra. Though the Pride claimed a pair of individual wins, Ryan took pride in the ‘Whatever, whenever’ mentality displayed by a pair of his fill-ins. 

“I think it’s a good chance to highlight that many in our program are ‘whatever, whenever’ people,” he said. “T.J. Schierl is one of those guys for us. He’s a 157-pounder, and he wrestled 174 for us in the match. We’ve got some problems right now at that weight. Carter Chase is hurt. Carson and Hepner are out. You obviously don’t want to forfeit, so you look up and down your lineup, and Schierl stepped up for us. He knew he’d be giving up quite a bit of weight, but we put him in, he fought, and we were proud of the effort he put out.

“And then at 184, we couldn’t put Shumate in because of the descent rule (in which wrestlers can lose no more than 1.5 percent of their body weight per week). Since he went 197 at Clarion, not enough time had elapsed — from Clarion to the Hofstra match — that would have allowed him to wrestle at 184. So we had Gavin (Bell) go for us, and he came up short.”

Ohio State has other wrestlers on the roster at 174 and 184, of course, but Ryan’s options were limited due to some of the redshirt decisions the Buckeyes have made. 

In 2022, the NCAA passed legislation, allowing wrestlers to compete in up to five competition dates during the student-athlete’s first year of enrollment without using a season of eligibility. Ryan said he’d like to see the rule adjusted.  

“With only freshman redshirts given the advantage of wrestling five matches, it puts other wrestlers on your team in a bad spot where you frequently have to bump them up a few weights (for duals),” he said. “It’s a bad rule. It needs to be changed. If redshirting, no matter which year, everyone should get up to five matches.”

What Happens In Vegas Won't Stay In Vegas

The annual Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational kicks off Friday, and Ryan said he and his staff will place paramount importance on how each wrestler competes at the marquee tournament. 

“Guys on this team know that our roster is pretty deep,” he said. “Ultimately, we’ll be looking this weekend for people that we can stamp in as reliable, guys we can count on. That means that every time this guy competes, there’s effort. It means that every time he wrestles, people watching say, 'That guy loves what he does. That guy’s fearless.’ That’s what we’ll be looking for.

“We talk about the ‘Three T’s’ a lot in our program — toughness, tempo and technique. We’re assessing that constantly. How tough are they? How deep do they dig? What’s their tempo in a match? What’s their capacity to push themselves when they’re experiencing discomfort? And the technique aspect speaks for itself. Are they executing what we teach and work on in the room? Can we see improvement in certain areas? 

“All will be things we’ll be paying close attention to in Vegas. And you know what? You can see positives even in hard-fought losses. Do they come off the mat huffing and puffing because they gave everything they had, or are they satisfied because they kept a one-point loss close, but maybe didn’t give all they had?

“We’ll be evaluating all of this.”

The Lighter Side

Ryan was asked a few lighthearted, quick-hitter questions about his squad. 

Who’s the best-dressed Buckeye?

“Gotta be Vinny Kilkeary,” Ryan said. “Yeah, Kilkeary. He’s pretty cool. He knows how to dress well.”

Which Ohio State wrestler makes the staff and team laugh the most?

“Ryder Rogotzke,” Ryan said. “The guy is a clown, in the best way.”

If you had a second daughter — Ryan’s only daughter Mackenzie is already married — which wrestler would you allow to marry her without any hesitation?

“(Laughing) Wow,” Ryan said. “You know, I’ve got a lot of guys on the team, actually. Honestly, there’s a lot of guys on the team for this one. We’re blessed with a really good group of guys. But I will tell you this: I wouldn’t allow anybody that doesn’t go to church. They’d have to be churchgoers.”

Who’s the most prompt? Who’s the one you always know will be on time or even early for everything?

“Nick Feldman,” Ryan said. 

Who is the neat freak on the team? The cleanest locker, car, nothing out of place anywhere?

“That’s a hard one,” Ryan said. “There are more dirty ones than clean ones (laughs). Probably Luke Geog or Feldman again.”