No. 7 Buckeyes Open at No. 3 Virginia Tech Friday

No. 7 Ohio State at No. 3 Virginia Friday, home vs. Edinboro Sunday
Dates/Times: Friday, Nov. 10 (7 p.m.), Sunday, Nov. 12 (Noon)
Locations: Blacksburg, Virginia/Columbus, Ohio
Venues: Cassell Coliseum/Covelli Center
Watch: ACCNX, ESPN+/B1G+
Follow Along: X/@wrestlingbucks | OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Ohio State Tickets: OhioStateBuckeyes.com
Rosters: Ohio State | Virginia Tech | Edinboro
Match Notes: Ohio State/Lineups | Virginia Tech | Edinboro

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 7 Ohio State begins the 2023-24 dual season Friday with a Top 10 matchup at No. 3 Virginia Tech. The Buckeyes then return home to take on Edinboro Saturday at the Covelli Center (Noon/B1G+). The match in Blacksburg will be streamed on ACCNX/ESPN+ with a 7 p.m. start.

Four Buckeyes earned titles with seven individuals making it to the finals in their respective weight classes last Sunday at the 2023 Clarion Open. Ohio State sent 27 wrestlers to the event and won titles at 149 (Dylan D'Emilio), 157 (Paddy Gallagher), 174 (Rocco Welsh) and HWT (Nick Feldman). Jesse Mendez and Brandon Cannon made the finals at 141 but agreed to a no contest result. Isaac Wilcox took second at 165.
Tom Ryan is two dual wins shy of 200 victories as head coach of the Buckeyes. He reached career win No. 300 (307) a year ago. Ohio State opens the dual season with a 198-66 record over the last 18 years under Ryan's direction. Overall, in 30 years as a head coach, Ryan is 307-148-2.
Ohio State is 16-3 overall in the series with Virginia Tech with an 8-1 record in Blacksburg. The Buckeyes have won the last two meetings and six of the last eight. Against Edinboro, Ohio State is 10-3 all-time with wins in the last seven meetings. The Buckeyes are 4-0 in Columbus against the Fighting Scots.
Ohio State held its annual Wrestle-Offs Oct. 26 to get a look at a few veterans and several newcomers in action. Winners from that event: Brendan McCrone (125), Nic Bouzakis (133), Jesse Mendez (141), Dylan D'Emilio (149), Paddy Gallagher (157), Isaac Wilcox (165), Seth Shumate (184), Luke Geog (197) and Nick Feldman (HWT).
The Buckeyes will appear in the Big Ten Network six times in 2023-24 with home matches against Pittsburgh, Cornell and Michigan televised nationally. Road duals vs. Wisconsin, Penn State and Michigan State also will be on BTN. The remainder of the home and Big Ten Conference matches (home and away) will be live streamed on B1G+.
Buckeyes Jesse Mendez and Nic Bouzakis earned medals at the 2023 U20 World Championships in Amman City, Jordan, last summer. Ohio State had two wrestlers on the Team USA roster at the U20 World Championships for the second-consecutive year. Mendez, a sophomore with the Buckeyes, advanced to the U20 Championship Finals after four victories at 65kg for Team USA. He fell to Mohammad Shakeri of Iran, 5-2, to bring home a Silver Medal for the United States.
Bouzakis, who will be a redshirt freshman at Ohio State this year, battled back after a loss in the quarterfinals of the 61kg weight class, to earn a Bronze Medal.
In addition to his Bronze at the U20 World Championships, Bouzakis took Gold at the U20 Pan-Am in Chile last July. He won five bouts on his way to the title.
At the US Open in Las Vegas last April, Bouzakis put on a show with seven wins to win the 61kg title. He outscored foes 71-8 on his way to the championship.
Ohio State sent nine Buckeyes to the 2023 NCAA Championships, seven earning qualifying bids from individual performances at the 2023 Big Ten Championships and two earning at-large bids.
Ohio State finished fourth overall at both the 2023 Big Ten and NCAA Championships. Five Buckeyes earned All-America status at the NCAA Championships (Jesse Mendez (133), D'Emilio (141), Sasso (149), Smith (174), Romero (184).
Redshirt senior Sammy Sasso made his fourth NCAA Championships appearance in 2023 and was a Top 4 seed all four times. He was the No. 2 seed at 149 last year and finished second.
Sasso became a four-time All-American at Ohio State. There have been nine Buckeyes to earn All-America status four times, including assistant coaches Bo Jordan (2015-18) and Logan Stieber (2012-15). Associate head coach J Jaggers was a three-time All-American at Ohio State from (2007-09).
Tom Ryan has coached 50 All-Americans at Ohio State during his tenure, one in which earned him a spot in the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame during ceremonies this fall.
Sasso earned his second Big Ten Championship March 5, 2023 with a win over Michael Blockhus of Minnesota in the title bout at 149-pounds. As a team, the Buckeyes finished fourth overall and Sasso was named to the 2023 All-Big Ten squad.
Kaleb Romero finished second at the 2023 Big Ten Championships in Ann Arbor at 184. Carson Kharchla (165) and Ethan Smith (174) finished third while Dylan D'Emilio (141) and Tate Orndorff (HWT) finished fourth.
Redshirt freshman Paddy Gallagher became the 15th Buckeye to earn "Black Shirt" status Feb. 23, 2023. Gallagher was the 11th Buckeye on the 2023 roster to be so honored. Following a vote of the other Buckeye Black Shirts and coaches, Gallagher now will have the honor of wearing black at the Jennings Center. For more on the honor see the last two pages of these notes.
Junior Isaac Wilcox became the 14th Buckeye to earn "Black Shirt" status Feb. 7, 2023. He has stepped in when called upon in three weight classes last year (157, 165, 174) and earned wins at all three.
Mendez entered the Top 10 in the Intermat rankings Jan. 16, 2023 and two days later he was named an Ohio State Black Shirt (1/18/23).
Ryan earned career dual victory No. 300 at the Collegiate Duals Dec. 20, 2022 in New Orleans. Ohio State defeated No. 21 Lehigh 23-12 for the historic win on the final day of the event. The Buckeyes also defeated Lock Haven, 39-3. No. 22 Northern Iowa earned a 19-13 win over Ohio State in the second dual of the competition.

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