Wrestling: No. 6 Ohio State drops to No. 2 Penn State in final dual meet of regular season

Jake Rice
Sun, 16 Feb 2020 03:56:53 +0000
News, Sports, Wrestling, All-American, Big Ten, Buckeyes, buckeyes wrestling, Chase Singletary, Elijah Cleary, Ethan Smith, heavyweights, Hunter Lucas, joey mckenna, Ke-shawn Hayes, Keshawn Hayes, Kollin Moore, Luke Pletcher, Malik Heinselman, ohio state, Ohio State wrestling, Ohio State wrestling roster, Ohio State wrestling schedule, Ohio State wrestling tickets, osu, OSU wrestling, Penn state wrestling, Tom Ryan, wrestlers, wrestling

Ohio State redshirt freshman Sammy Sasso grapples for position in a meet against Maryland Jan. 31. Ohio State won 43-3. Credit: Griffin Strom | Sports Editor

Ohio State wrestling missed the mark on the road, losing to rival Penn State in a 20-16 finish.

The No. 6 Buckeyes (10-4, 6-3 Big Ten) dropped a couple crucial matches in their loss to the No. 2 Nittany Lions (11-2, 7-1) in Happy Valley Saturday.

In the marquee matchup of the night, Ohio State senior Luke Pletcher –– No. 1 at 141 pounds –– wrestled against Nittany Lion junior Nick Lee, who is No. 2. Pletcher was first to score but a strong second period by Lee gave him momentum to finish strong and upset Pletcher in an 8-4 decision win.

Back in the lineup after missing Sunday’s meet against Northwestern, Ohio State redshirt sophomore Kaleb Romero –– No. 7 at 174 pounds –– fell quickly to Nittany Lion senior Mark Hall. Hall is No. 2 in the weight class.?

Hall earned six team points for Penn State with a pin over Romero at the 0:46 mark.

Ohio State redshirt junior Gary Traub, the No. 23 heavyweight wrestler, toughed it out against Nittany Lion freshman Seth Nevills, the No. 13 heavyweight. Traub finished strong with a takedown in the final seconds of the match before riding Nevills to earn the Buckeyes a 5-4 decision win.

Ohio State redshirt senior Kollin Moore –– the No. 1 wrestler at 197 pounds –– remained undefeated with a win against Penn State redshirt senior Shakur Rasheed, ranked No. 18 in the class. Moore put on a takedown clinic against Rasheed while improving to 3-0 in their career meetings, posting a 14-6 major decision win.

Following Pletcher’s loss, No. 1 149-pounder and Ohio State redshirt freshman Sammy Sasso took on Penn State redshirt sophomore Jarod Verkleeren. Tied 1-1 at the end of the third, Sasso scored a takedown on Verkleeren with seconds left to earn a 3-1 decision in SV-1.

Penn State has not lost to the Buckeyes in a dual meet since the 2014-15 season.

Ohio State will take a break before starting tournament play, but the Buckeyes return to action to face off in the first session of the Big Ten Championships beginning March 7.