No. 4 Ohio State Opens Big Ten Dual Schedule

No. 4 Ohio State at Illinois, home vs. Rutgers
Times: 8/6 p.m.
Dates: Friday, Jan. 10/Sunday Jan. 12
Venues: Huff Hall/Covelli Center (4,185)
Tickets: Purchase Here (Ohio State)
Watch: B1G+/BTN
Live Results: X/@wrestlingbucks
Rosters: Ohio State | Illinois | Rutgers
Match Notes: Ohio State | Illinois | Rutgers

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- No. 4 Ohio State (8-0, 0-0) begins Big Ten competition this weekend with a road contest against No. 10 Illinois (6-0, 1-0) and then a home meeting with No. 17 Rutgers (8-2, 0-0) at the Covelli Center. The matchup with the Illini will start at 8 p.m. Friday with B1G+ providing the live stream. The Big Ten Network will broadcast the match against the Scarlet Knights at 6 p.m. Sunday.

The Buckeyes won a 37-34 edge in the all-time series against Illinois and have won seven of the last duals. Four of the last six battles in Champaign have gone to the Buckeyes. In the series with Rutgers, Ohio State is 10-0-1, which includes a 5-0 record in Columbus. After a tie in the first meeting (24-all) Feb. 10, 1984, Ohio State has won the last 10.
Ohio State ended the non-conference dual season and started the 2025 portion of the schedule this year with a 40-3 win over visiting Oregon State last Sunday in Columbus. The Buckeyes won the final nine matches of the dual, seven with bonus points.
Graduate Sammy Sasso (165) earned win No. 100 during the dual with the Beavers by defeating Steele Starren in a 1-0 decision. Sasso is 100-15 over his career at Ohio State, which includes a 51-4 record in dual competitions.
Freshmen Ben Davino (133) and e'Than Birden (165) each finished with a trip to the podium at the 2024 Midlands Championships before the calendar switched to 2025. Davino claimed third with a 5-1 record while Birden took seventh at 5-2 at the event.
Ohio State's list of Black Shirts grew by two after Nic Bouzakis and Brendan McCrone earned the distinction Dec. 19, 2024. The duo became the 19th and 20th Black Shirts in program history. There are nine current Buckeyes who have earned Black Shirt status. For more on the honor see the final two pages of these notes.
The Buckeyes went 3-0 at the 2024 Collegiate Duals in Nashville Dec. 21 with wins over No. 21 North Carolina, Lock Haven and No. 14 Iowa State.
Graduate Carson Kharchla returned to action after a year away with injury. He won all three of his bouts at 174 at the 2024 Collegiate Duals.
After trailing 14-0 at Pittsburgh, the Buckeyes won five of the final six bouts to win 20-17. Brendan McCrone started the rally with an 8-0 major decision victory before wins by Nic Bouzakis (133), Jesse Mendez (141), Dylan D'Emilio (149) and Paddy Gallagher (157) brought Ohio State from down 0-14 to up 20-14.
Jesse Mendez claimed the title at 141 Dec. 7 at the 2024 Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invite. Mendez went 3-0 with wins over No. 8 Joshua Koderhandt of Navy and No. 17 Latona Alabaster of Virgina Tech for the title.

Lineup vs. the Illini

125-No. 10 Brendan McCrone (R-So.) vs. Caelan Riley (Jr.)
133-No. 9 Nic Bouzakis (R-So.) vs. No. 2 Lucas Byrd (R-Sr.)
141-No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Jr.) vs. No. 13 Danny Pucino (R-Jr.)
149-No. 12 Dylan D'Emilio (Gr.) vs. No. 11 Kannon Webster (R-Fr.)
157-No. 9 Paddy Gallagher (R-Jr.) vs. Jason Kraisser (Gr.)
165-No. 11 Sammy Sasso (Gr.) or Bryce Hepner (R-Sr.)/e'Than Birden (Fr.) vs. No. 10 Braeden Scoles (R-Fr.)
174-No. 9 Carson Kharchla (Gr.) vs. No. 21 Danny Braunagel (R-Sr.)
184-No. 14 Ryder Rogotzke (So.) vs. No. 10 Edmond Ruth (R-Sr.)
197-Seth Shumate (R-So.) vs. No. 11 Zac Braunagel (R-Sr.)
HWT-No. 7 Nick Feldman (R-So.) vs. No. 11 Luke Luffman (R-Sr.)

Lineup vs the Scarlet Knights

125-No. 10 Brendan McCrone (R-So.) vs. No. 16 Dean Peterson (Sr.)/Ayden Smith (Fr.)
133-No. 9 Nic Bouzakis (R-So.) vs. No. 17 Dylan Shawver (Sr.)
141-No. 1 Jesse Mendez (Jr.) vs. No. 16 Joseph Olivieri (Sr.)/Max Hermes (So.)
149-No. 12 Dylan D'Emilio (Gr.) vs. No. 24 Andrew Clark (Sr.)
157-No. 9 Paddy Gallagher (R-Jr.) vs. Conner Harer (Fr.)
165-No. 11 Sammy Sasso (Gr.) or Bryce Hepner (R-Sr.)/e'Than Birden (Fr.) vs. Anthony White (Sr.)/Andrew Barbosa (Fr.)
174-No. 9 Carson Kharchla (Gr.) vs. No. 23 Jackson Turley (Gr.)
184-No. 14 Ryder Rogotzke (So.) vs. Brian Soldano (Jr.) or Shane Cartagena-Walsh (So.)
197-Seth Shumate (R-So.) vs. No. 18 John Poznanski (Sr.)/PJ Casale (Jr.)
HWT-No. 7 Nick Feldman (R-So.) vs. No. 8 Yaraslau Slavikouski (Gr.) or John O'Donnell (Sr.)

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