How’s this for a curveball for the 2015-2016 season?

The ball got rolling earlier this week when Ohio State announced they’d be pulling True Freshman Myles Martin’s redshirt and inserting him into the lineup at 174 pounds.

Then Ohio State really piqued our interest when they sent this tweet today:

Big news coming out of Columbus tomorrow at 10am. Going to be a great start to the New Year!

— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) December 31, 2015

With the reigning champs sitting currently at 8th in the ASICS FloRankings and Penn State, Oklahoma State and Iowa gaining steam, it looked unlikely we’d see Ohio State go Buck to Buck.

Things just changed. Kyle Snyder, who was in the midst of an Olympic Redshirt, is going to be rejoining the Buckeyes this year... At heavyweight! After Snyder made the World Team, it was determined he’d be taking an Olympic Redshirt.

Ohio State is scheduled to face Illinois this Sunday. If they pull Snyder for this match he’ll face #19 Brooks Black. Snyder was an NCAA runner-up at 197 last year at 197 pounds. He competes internationally at 97KG (213.5 lbs). The cut for Snyder down to 197 may be too much for him to make again, especially with NCAA’s only a few weeks from the Olympic Trials.
This change removes NCAA Qualifier Nick Tavanello from a starting spot at 285. Also, 2-time All American Hunter Stieber will be returning from his injury to bring extra firepower at 149. This is what the Ohio State lineup will look like coming into the new year. Happy New Year Ohio State fans!

125 - #1 Nathan Tomasello
133 - #7 Johnni DiJulius
141 - #9 Micah Jordan
149 - Hunter Stieber
157 - #20 Jake Ryan
165 - #2 Bo Jordan
174 - Myles Martin
184 - #11 Kenny Courts
197 - Mark Martin
285 - Kyle Snyder

Happy New Year, #BuckeyeNation! @Snyder_Man45 will return to #OhioState lineup: https://t.co/0ttxu4K1fN #GoBucks pic.twitter.com/nixcKG0jZJ

— Ohio State Wrestling (@wrestlingbucks) January 1, 2016