Dual Rank: 4
Record: 0-0
Ranked Wrestlers: 10
125 No. 11 Malik Heinselman
133 No. 11 Jesse Mendez
141 No. 7 Dylan D’Emilio
149 No. 2 Sammy Sasso
157 No. 22 Paddy Gallagher
165 No. 6 Carson Kharchla
174 No. 6 Ethan Smith
184 No. 4 Kaleb Romero
197 No. 14 Gavin Hoffman
285 No. 7 Tate Orndorff
And now we have finally officially reached the “Big Boys” section of the Big Ten Wrestling Power Rankings.
This year’s fight for the Big Ten Wrestling crown may come down to a three-horse race and with some competitive young guys breaking through, Ohio State is squarely in the mix.
Dylan D’Emilio and Carson Kharchla are sophomores and Jesse Mendez, and Paddy Gallagher are potential standout freshmen.
Buckeye fans got a taste of what this year’s Ohio State team can do as they also took part in the 2022 Michigan State Open. All this squad did was win eight individual titles and have another four grapplers take home top three finishes.
Malik Heinselman, Jesse Mendez, Sammy Sasso, Ethan Smith, and Kaleb Romero all won titles in the Open division, and Brendan McCrone, Nic Bouzakis, and Luke Geog snagged titles in the freshman/sophomore division.
If veterans like Heinselman and Orndorff are able to step up their game this year along with getting Mendez and Gallagher up to speed, the Buckeyes could very well battle for the No. 2 spot in the Big Ten. Especially if Hoffman can somehow find the magic, he displayed in the 2022 NCAA’s. This team is going to be formidable.
Ohio State is set to host No. 14 Virginia Tech this Friday (November 11th) for their first dual meet and first real test of the season.