Buckeye Spotlight – March 11
3/11/2025 4:04:00 PM | General
Weekly highlight of the Buckeye student-athletes behind the major moments in Ohio State Athletics
COLUMBUS, Ohio – Week in and week out, Buckeyes raise the standard of excellence set at Ohio State, whether that be in competition, in the classroom or in the community. 'Buckeye Spotlight' recognizes Buckeye student-athletes who had noteworthy accomplishments both in contests and beyond the box score.
Natalia Botello | Women's Fencing | So. | Mexico
- At her first NCAA regional competition, Botello led the Buckeyes with a second-place finish.
- In women's sabre, Botello was 5-1 in the first pool and won 9-of-11 bouts in the second pool.
- Botello was the CCFC Champion last month, helping lead the Buckeye women to the team title.
Brandon Cannon | Wrestling | R-Fr. | Denver, Colo.
- As No. 8 seed, reached Big Ten final at 157 after upsetting No. 1 seed Ethen Miller of Maryland 9-2
- Opened tournament with a 15-0 win over Chase Saldate of Michigan
- Earned one of nine automatic bids earned by the Buckeyes to the 2025 NCAA Championships
Katie Kaucheck | Women's Lacrosse | Jr. | New Albany, Ohio
- Kaucheck was the leader on the Buckeye defense in the team's overtime win against Cincinnati last Friday at home.
- She had a career-high five caused turnovers and picked up a ground ball in the victory. Kaucheck and the Buckeyes limited the Bearcats to 14 total shots, including just one in the fourth quarter as the Buckeyes came back to win.
- The Buckeyes open Big Ten play Wednesday evening at Oregon before playing at San Diego State Saturday.
Solin Li | Men's Fencing | Jr. | Beijing, China
- Li notched a third-place finish in men's foil at the NCAA Regionals Saturday in Granville, Ohio.
- He was 4-1 in the first pool to advance and then won seven of 11 bouts in the second pool.
- Up next for the Buckeyes are the NCAA Championships at Penn State, with the individual selections announced Tuesday.
Jake Michalak | Baseball | So. | North Royalton, Ohio
- Michalak was dominant on the mound as the Buckeyes defeated Valparaiso, 8-3, on Sunday afternoon at Bill Davis Stadium.
- Michalak fanned a career-high 10 batters in 6.0 innings pitched, which is also his career-high.
- He allowed just one run on five hits.
- This season, Michalak has struck out 15 in 12.1 innings pitched.
Bryce Nakashima | Men's Tennis | So. | San Diego, Calif.
- Bryce Nakashima went a combined 3-1 last week in helping the No. 3 ranked Buckeyes to a pair of wins over No. 20 Illinois and Penn State in the Big Ten opener.
- Nakashima won both of his singles matches, defeating Illinois veteran Mathis Debru 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday night and then besting Penn State's Marcus Schoeman 6-4, 6-2 on Saturday.
- He also rolled to a doubles win over Schoeman and Reiya Hattori 6-2 with partner Alex Fuchs.
- Nakashima has not lost a dual singles match so far this spring and has an overall record of 12-4.
Hadley Parisien | Softball | So. | Odon, Ind.
- Parisien was one of the hottest hitters in Ohio State's lineup last weekend, batting .500 with four home runs and six RBI as the Buckeyes won four games at their home-opening tournament.
- Parisien hit a home run in four consecutive games between Friday and Sunday and was part of an offense that averaged 12.0 runs per game in those four wins.
- The Buckeyes (17-5-1) open up Big Ten play this weekend when they host No. 21 Nebraska at Buckeye Field. The series opener is set for Friday at 6 p.m.
Conlan Simpkins | Men's Gymnastics | R-Fr. | Galloway, Ohio
- Redshirt freshman Conlan Simpkins made his collegiate debut on Saturday in a Big Ten meet at Nebraska.
- Simpkins led the Buckeyes on pommel horse and finished fourth overall with a score of 13.600.
Logan Terness | Men's Hockey | Sr. | North Vancouver, British Columbia
- Terness played three games in three nights as the Buckeyes came from a game down to win their Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal series against Wisconsin.
- In the series, he had a 2.27 goals-against average and .928 save percentage, making 90 saves.
- After allowing three goals in a game one loss, he limited Wisconsin to just two goals in each of the next two games, with two of the four on the power play.
- On the year, Terness has a 2.24 goals-against average and .926 save percentage, ranking in the Top 2 in the Big Ten in both categories.
- The Buckeyes moved on to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals after defeating the Badgers. The squad will host Penn State Saturday in the Schott for a spot in the tournament final.
Kyle Teune | Men's Volleyball | Sr. | Downers Grove, Ill.
- Led the Buckeyes to a pair of wins at NJIT to move Ohio State to 9-8 on the year
- In a pair of sweeps over the Highlanders, led the Buckeyes with 20 kills while hitting .462
- Also added an ace, seven digs and four blocks in the nonconference victories
- Ohio State his back home this week against Queens Thursday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (2 p.m.)
