Buckeyes Set for 2022 NCAA Championships

No. 6 Ohio State at 2022 NCAA Championships
Dates: March 17-19, 2022
Times: All Day
Venues: Little Caesars Arena | Detroit, Michigan
Watch: ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3 | Viewing Information
Live Updates: @wrestlingbucks
Match Notes: Ohio State

NCAA Championships Info | Brackets | Tom Ryan/Ethan Smith Interviews | J Jaggers Bracket Preview | NCAA Seed Release

2022 NCAA Wrestling Championships Schedule (all times Eastern and subject to change)
Thursday, March 17 (Coverage on ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3)
Time	Session	TV/Stream
Noon-3:30 p.m.	Session I - First Round	ESPNU (8 mat feeds and MATCAST)
7-10:30 p.m.	Session II - Second Round	ESPN (8 mat feeds and MATCAST)
Friday, March 18 (Coverage on ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3)
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.	Session III - Quarterfinals	ESPNU (8 mat feeds and MATCAST)
8-11 p.m.	Session IV - Semifinals	ESPN (6 mat feeds and MATCAST)
Saturday, March 19 (Coverage on ESPN, ESPNU, ESPN3)
11 a.m. - 2 p.m.	Session V - Medal Round	ESPNU (4 mat feeds and MATCAST)
7 - 10 p.m.	Session VI - Championships	ESPN
Note: MATCAST to present individual feeds of every mat for all sessions on ESPN3 and the ESPN App.

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State is sending eight wrestlers to battle for NCAA titles this week at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan.

The Buckeyes qualified athletes in 8-of-10 weight classes at the 2022 Big Ten Championships earlier this month in Lincoln, Nebraska.

The Buckeyes qualified eight wrestlers for the 2022 NCAA Championships. Six are making return trips with Carson Kharchla (165) and Gavin Hoffman (197) earning spots for the first time.
Hoffman earned Ohio State elite “Black Shirt” status (see page 26) earlier this week (March 14). There are eight current Buckeyes who have been recognized as Black Shirts, all eight are competing this week in the NCAA Championships.
OSU entered the 2022 Big Ten Championships with two wrestlers owning the No. 1 seed in their respective weight classes. Redshirt junior Sammy Sasso was seeded No. 1 at 149 as was redshirt sophomore Carson Kharchla at 165. Both entered postseason competition with 19-1 records. Sasso finished second while Kharchla finished in the No. 4 spot at his first Big Ten tournament.
In 2021, OSU finished 9th at the Big Ten Championships in State College, Pennsylvania. Sasso became the 35th Buckeye to win an individual conference title, after earning a 5-2 win by decision over Nebraska’s Ridge Lovett in the 149-pound championship.
Sasso was the runner up at 149 in the 2021 NCAA Championships, falling 3-2 to Austin O’Connor of North Carolina in the title bout.
Ohio State has 23 individual national champions in NCAA championship competition and one team title (2015). Kyle Snyder was the last Buckeye to earn an individual NCAA title. He did so at HWT in 2018, his third consecutive NCAA championship.
The Buckeyes have had 56 individual Big Ten champions all-time to go with five Big Ten team titles.
In the final weekend of the regular season the Buckeyes earned Big Ten dual wins at MINN (24-14) and vs. IND at home (34-3).
The Buckeyes fell to No. 1 Penn State on the road Feb. 4 (32-7) before starting the three-match win streak to end the season with a come-from-behind win at RU (19-14).
Senior Fritz Schierl earned Black Shirt status within the OSU program earlier this season. The Sevens Point, Wisconsin, native is one of 11 wrestlers with the right to wear black within the Jennings Wrestling Center. For more, see page 26.
Prior to a week off, OSU split the last two matches in Columbus vs. No. 2 Iowa (Jan. 21/L, 21-12) and Maryland (Jan. 23/W, 39-4).
The Buckeyes split with the state of Michigan in the first two Big Ten matches of the season. Against Michigan State to open the league campaign, OSU came away with 27-14 win. Against Michigan in Columbus, the Wolverines earned a 29-8 victory.
In addition to the match at Rutgers Feb. 6, several Buckeyes took part in the Edinboro Open. Freshman heavyweight Mike Misita finished second while classmate 157-pounder Paddy Gallagher placed third.
Three Buckeyes earned titles at the Purple Raider Open Jan. 16. Freshman Andre Gonzales went 4-0 at 133 while Jason Hubbard (5-0/157) and Rocky Jordan (4-0/184) earned titles in their respective weight classes.
Jordan and Hubbard also won their brackets at the Storm Open in early December.
The Buckeyes defeated No. 22 Pittsburgh Dec. 12, 30-7. OSU won eight of 10 bouts highlighted by a Top 10 clash between then No. 8 Carson Kharchla and No. 9 Jake Wentzell of Pitt. Kharchla earned the win (4-3) by decision. His efforts earned him the Big Ten Wrestler of the Week Dec, 15.
OSU finished second at the 2021 Cliff Keen Invitational in Las Vegas Dec. 3-4. The Buckeyes have six team titles since 2009 at the CKLVI including three-consecutive (2016, 17, 18). The Buckeyes have placed outside the Top 5 just once in the past decade and own 10 Top 3 finishes. Individually, Kaleb Romero took top honors in the 184-pound bracket in his first competition of the year.
OSU cruised to a home 51-0 win over Notre Dame College Nov. 23. All 10 Buckeyes contributed bonus points in the win.
The Buckeyes traveled to No. 10 Virginia Tech and knocked off the Hokies 17-13 Nov. 19.
OSU opened the season with a dual vs. No. 14 North Carolina. OSU built a 17-0 lead starting with the 165 match and the debut of Carson Kharchla. The No. 8 Buckeyes won the match 23-12.
According to Intermat Wrestling, OSU enter the NCAA tournament with eight Buckeyes ranked among the Top 25. They are: Malik Heinselman (No. 11/125); Dylan D’Emilio (No. 15/141); Sammy Sasso (No. 4/149); Carson Kharchla (No. 7/165); Ethan Smith (No. 6/174); Kaleb Romero (No. 9/184), Gavin Hoffman (No. 21/197) and Tate Orndorff (No. 15/HWT).
Three Buckeyes won titles at the Purple Raider Open Jan. 16 in Alliance, Ohio. Freshman Andre Gonzales (133), Jason Hubbard (157) and Rocky Jordan (184) all claimed titles.
A contingent of Buckeyes competed in the Storm Open Dec. 5 in Painesville, Ohio, and came away with five individual champions. Brady Koontz (125), Will Betancourt (133), Jashon Hubbard (157), Fritz Schierl (174) and Rocky Jordan (184) all came away with titles in their respective weight classes.
Several Buckeyes earned titles at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open Nov. 14 in Tiffin, Ohio. OSU earned titles in the Open Division at 125 (Malik Heinselman), at 141 (Dylan D’Emilio), at 149 (Sammy Sasso), at 157 (Bryce Hepner), at 165 (Carson Kharchla), at 174 (Ethan Smith), at 197 (Gavin Hoffman) and at 285 (Tate Orndorff). In the Freshman/Sophomore Division, the Buckeyes won at 157 (Paddy Gallagher) and at heavyweight (Mike Misita).
At the Michigan State Open Nov. 6 in East Lansing freshman Andre Gonzales earned the title in the freshman/sophomore division at 133 with a 4-0 record. Classmate Mike Misita finished No. 2 in the heavyweight bracket with a 3-1 record. In all, seven Buckeyes were among the Top six in their respective brackets.
On Nov. 10, Tom Ryan, head coach of the Buckeyes, signed the top-ranked recruiting class in the country, including the Top 3 overall recruits. Nic Bouzakis, Gavin Brown, Nick Feldman, Luke Geog, Brendan McCrone, Jesse Mendez and Seth Shumate all signed national letters of intent to become Buckeyes.
Mendez is the No. 1 national recruit (138) and Bouzakis is the No. 2 and No. 1 132-pounder. Feldman is the No. 1 overall national recruit (220). Mendez won his fourth Indiana State championship (138), just the 10th to do so in Indiana high school wrestling history.
Geog won the Ohio Division I 175-pound title as did Seth Shumate at 190. McCrone won the Ohio Division II title at 120 and Brown won the Ohio Division III title at 150.
Broderick Harris was included in the signing class as an honorary member. Broderick, who aspired to wrestle for the Buckeyes and in the Olympics, was a tireless and fierce competitor. He tragically died in a house fire at age 11 in 2014.