The Ohio State Buckeyes are currently locked in a tight battle for second place at the Big Ten Wrestling Championships, but they have already qualified ten wrestlers for the NCAA Championships in two weeks.
There were questions about the Buckeyes’ health coming into this event, and a few questions still remain. Ethan Stiles looks near 100% this tournament, and he will face off against Penn State’s Shayne Van Ness for the Big Ten title. Nic Bouzakis, on the other hand, did not quite look his best, but he still punched his ticket to the NCAAs.
Two other Buckeyes reached the finals of their respective weight classes (Ben Davino at 133 lbs and Jesse Mendez at 141 lbs), which will be Sunday evening.
While the overall results are probably not what Ohio State wanted for this tournament––the Buckeyes expected to be a clear No. 2 behind Penn State, not fighting with Nebraska for that spot––the team did what it needed to do to give itself a chance at the NCAA Championships. Of course, it would take a miracle for anyone to beat Penn State, but at least the Buckeyes have given themselves a chance. Penn State is the only other Big Ten school that also qualified ten, though Nebraska has nine so far with a good chance at earning a tenth as well. These are the top three schools in the Big Ten, and they’ll likely be the top three in the NCAAs as well.
Now all the Buckeyes need to do is to continue to get healthy and prepare for deep runs in Cleveland. The NCAA Championships start Thursday, March 19th.
This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State qualifies full team of ten wrestlers for NCAA Championsips
Reporting by Yesh Ginsburg, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
