By most measures, Tom Ryan’s Ohio State wrestlers had an incredibly successful regular season. Finishing any campaign with an 18-1 dual meet record leaves most coaches content.

“We’ve had a really good year so far,” Ryan said. “But now we have the critical part of the season.”

Most recently, Ryan has had to field questions about his team’s sole loss of the season, a 36-5 drubbing at the hands of top-ranked Penn State on Feb. 13.

“First off, they’re an incredible team,” he said. “Add that we had three starters out and lost three toss-up matches (125, 133 and 184), and you aren’t going to do well against a team like Penn State. They’re too good.”

Ryan broke down what went wrong against the Nittany Lions.

“Our mistakes weren’t so much technique-related as much as tactics,” he said. “There’s a difference. You gotta have match awareness, know the score, know how much time is left in periods, know if you should throw a leg in or maybe avoid that because you never use legs and the guy you’re wrestling is incredible at defending them.”  

An overtime takedown pushed #1 Luke Lilledahl past fourth-ranked Buckeye Nic Bouzakis 4-1 at 125. A reversal in a tiebreaker proved to be the difference in Marcus Blaze’s 3-2 victory against Ben Davino in a battle of highly ranked freshmen at 133. 

Ohio State got its lone win of the night when two-time NCAA champ Jesse Mendez scored a 19-2 technical fall at 141 against returning All-American Braeden Davis. 

After that, the Nittany Lions swept the final seven matches. Former Buckeye Rocco Welsh rallied back from a 4-0 third-period deficit to beat Dylan Fishback 7-6 at 184, and Penn State scored bonus points in five other matches, including three against Buckeye backups Brogan Fielding, Daxton Chase and T.J. Schierl.  

“I love all three of them — they fought as best they could,” Ryan said. “But the reality is having them up against three more #1s, that won’t beat a team like Penn State.”

Ryan was characteristically metaphorical in gleaning whatever positives he could from a dual in which the Buckeyes won only one of ten matches.

“We aren’t catastrophizing the loss — that match was actually a gift,” he said. “It clearly showed us where we have leaks. That outcome forced us to acknowledge where we need to get better. Whether it’s cardio, tactical, not relaxing, not protecting leads like we did at 184. All of it showed us where we have leaks in our ship. 

“Until a boat is put under duress, you don’t know if it’s strong or not. Some of our guys need to strengthen some areas. As a staff, we know we’ve gotta strengthen our hull and fix some leaks. Penn State revealed them to us, and we’re altering practice to address and plug those leaks.” 

Postseason Lineup

The three Ohio State starters who missed the Penn State dual — Ethan Stiles (149), Brandon Cannon (157) and Carson Kharchla (174) — are set to return to the Buckeye lineup for the Big Ten Championships, according to Ryan. 

Additionally, Ryan said Paddy Gallagher won a best-of-three wrestle-off against e’Than Birden for the 165-pound slot. After splitting the first two matches, Gallagher won the third to earn the postseason nod.

“If two guys are really close, coaches shouldn’t make the decisions,” Ryan said. “e’Than and Paddy are close, we allowed them to settle it, and Paddy won two of their three matches.”

Cannon’s Return

There weren’t a ton of sophomore seasons going better than the undefeated run 157-pounder Brandon Cannon was on this year. After injuring his knee Jan. 23 against Minnesota’s Charlie Millard in a 12-6 win, Cannon underwent midseason surgery. 

After getting cleared to return, Cannon now balances the tightrope walk of following rehab protocols while getting his wrestling shape back.  

“It’s been a process,” Cannon said. “I’ve had to figure it out as I go, but I’ve been able to wrestle pretty hard.

“It’s just frustrating. Tom and Logan (Stieber) have helped me a lot — Tom with the mental advice, Logan more in the wrestling part. Mentally, it’s not a one-solution-fits-all, and wrestling-wise, I just want to be able to replicate practice.”

Ranked #1 nationally before his injury, Cannon now sits at #3 behind #1 Antrell Taylor (Nebraska) and #2 Meyer Shapiro (Cornell). Taylor, the returning national champion, learned just how good Cannon is after being majored by the Bucks’ sophomore at the National Duals Invitational in November. 

“I really didn’t look at it as anything too special,” Cannon said. “My best is good enough to be the best in the country.”

Through rehab and recovery, Cannon credits his support network.

“It’s definitely been a journey,” he said. “A lot of people have been part of it — my coaches, my family, my girlfriend, my faith. 

“And, I want to mention our athletic trainer, Sam Buscher. He’s kept me going through all this, too.”

In less than two weeks, Cannon will get to test the fruits of his rehab work at the Big Ten Championships. 

“Brandon just has to wrap his brain around not feeling 100 percent,” Ryan said. “He’s gotta wrap his head around knowing it probably won’t be perfect. Ninety percent might have to be enough for Brandon at Big Tens and NCAAs.

“He’s so solid, so good, nobody here will be shocked if that’s the case.”