OSU, PSU favored in NCAA wrestling tourney

By K.J. Pilcher, The Gazette

CLEVELAND ? Only two teams have been in the national title discussion this season.

Top-ranked Ohio State and defending champion Penn State have been in a category of their own with little conversation of challengers to the top-two spots.

The talk of a fierce team battle between the two remains the same, leading up to the NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships, beginning Thursday at Quicken Loans Arena.

The Buckeyes qualified all 10 wrestlers and is looking for its first national crown since 2015. The Nittany have nine in the field and have captured six of the last seven team titles.

?Both teams are really good,? Ohio State heavyweight Kyle Snyder said. ?Penn State won it last year and wrestled really well. Five champions and all of them are returning. So obviously they have the firepower to compete at a really high level.

?But I would say that we are the favorite. I think just looking at the seeds, looking at our performance from last week, if everyone competes at the best of their ability, the best that they can, then I think it?s our tournament to win, our tournament to lose, I mean.?

Ohio State drew first blood in a tournament format, winning the Big Ten Championships by 16 ½ points last week. Buckeyes Coach Tom Ryan wasn?t as definitive as his two-time NCAA champion big man.

?Penn State has a tremendous team this year, as does Missouri and many others here,? said Ryan, a former two-time All-American for University of Iowa. ?When you look at the last competition that occurred, the Big Tens, if we can wrestle like that and our guys can compete to that level, we certainly have a shot.

?So, I don?t guarantee anything other than I believe my team is ready. I like where they are physically and mentally. They care about each other, and we?re ready to wrestle. So we?ll see Saturday night how this all shakes out.?

Last season, Ohio State won the conference tournament, but Penn State won the national tournament, taking gold in half the weights and starting talk of this year?s squad being one of the best ever.

?Yeah, I know I?m happy to be here and we?ll find out over the next three days if our team?s happy to be here,? Penn State Coach Cael Sanderson said. ?But we have a great team of great young men that are just stand-up guys and great competitors and they love each other and we?ll see what happens after three days.?

Another battle could be for the other two team trophies. Lehigh has 10 qualifiers. Missouri and Oklahoma State have nine. Michigan was a distant third at the Big Ten tournament.

Missouri Coach Brian Smith if his Tigers should be considered among the title contenders.

?You guys won?t, but that?s all right,? Smith said. ?We?ve been the underdogs all year, so we?ll keep playing that.?

Penn State might be one short, but eight wrestlers are seeded. All but one are seeded fifth or better. Don?t forget about the five titlists, including Zain Retherford (149), Jason Nolf (157), Vicenzo Joseph (165), 174-pounder Mark Hall and Bo Nickal at 184.

?I think our guys are relaxed and ready to compete,? Retherford said. ?So, I think it will be a fun tournament. But it?s no different than the way we?ve competed all year long. So kind of keeping that in the back of our minds.

?It?s just another opportunity that we?re all kind of grateful for and it will all, the way we compete, if we compete hard, it will the tournament will take care of itself. So just looking forward to kind of how it plays out.?

Penn State beat Ohio State in a dual but the Buckeyes have great depth for the tournament format. Snyder and Kollin Moore (197) are top seeds. Former NCAA champs Nathan Tomasello (125) and Myles Martin (184) are second seeds. All 10 Buckeyes are seeded with the lowest being 13th.