Creating The Best Ohio D1 Lineup Of All Time

Creating The Best Ohio D1 Lineup Of All Time

Powered by legends Logan Stieber and David Taylor, the Ohio all-time team is almost too good to be true.

Apr 23, 2020 by JD Rader
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A few weeks ago I asked my Twitter followers how they would put together an all-time great college dual team with the current weights using athletes from their home states. The responses were great and really got me curious. So, I did the research and have now put together the best possible team for the top 16 states including some formidable back-up teams.

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A few weeks ago I asked my Twitter followers how they would put together an all-time great college dual team with the current weights using athletes from their home states. The responses were great and really got me curious. So, I did the research and have now put together the best possible team for the top 16 states including some formidable back-up teams.

Across the next handful of days/weeks, we will unveil these teams before pitting them against each other in a national duals format type competition.

Previous States: Pennsylvania, California, Oklahoma, Iowa, New Jersey

Now to O-H-I-O.

125 Starter: Nathan Tomasello, 2015-18

Hometown: Parma

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 1, 3 (125), 3 (133), 3 (125)

Powered off of a beautiful high-c and single leg, Nathan Tomasello went 119-8 over the course of his career at Ohio State. Here is the list of people who beat him: Spencer Lee (twice), Thomas Gilman (twice), Cory Clark, Alan Waters, Joey Dance, and Dylan Peters. While all those are more than respectable losses, he beat every single one of them at some point in his career. Not many NCAA wrestlers can say they've beaten any wrestler who has beaten them.

Watch Nathan Tomasello beat Spencer Lee below.

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125 Backup: Pat Milkovich, 1972-76

Hometown: Maple Heights

College: Michigan State

NCAA Finishes: 1, 1, 2, (126), 2 (134)

When he won the 126 pound NCAA championship over Chris Quigley 1972, Pat Milkovich became the youngest champion in NCAA history at 18 years and three months, and he did it as a walk-on. Milkovich completed his career as a two-time NCAA champion, three-time Big Ten champion, and a four-time NCAA finalist with a career record of 90-8-4. He never lost more than two matches in a season.

125 Honorable Mention

Kyle Ott - 2004 & 2005 NCAA finalist for Illinois

Joe McFarland - 4X AA and 2X finalist for Michigan in the 80s


133 Starter: Alan Fried, 1991-94

Hometown: University Heights

College: Oklahoma State

NCAA Finishes: 2, 2 (134), 1 (142)

Alan Fried went 128-6 while at Oklahoma State. Five of those losses came to Tom Brands. It wasn’t a completely one-sided rivalry, however, as Fried did pin Brands at the 1991 Midlands. In addition to pinning Brands, Fried racked up an astonishing 97 other bonus-point victories in his career. After going 34-0 his junior year, Fried broke his jaw and was unable to wrestle at the national tournament. His senior year he finally got his NCAA title when he majored his way through the bracket, including Gerry Abbas 15-6 in the finals. 

133 Backup: Jim Jordan, 1983-86

Hometown: St. Paris

College: Wisconsin

NCAA Finishes: 6, 1, 1 (134)

After taking sixth as sophomore Jim Jordan entered the NCAA tournament as the number one seed with a record of 41-1. He beat somebody by the name of John W. Smith, 7-4, in the finals to win his first NCAA championship. Jordan repeated this success his senior year and finished his Badger career with a record of 156-28-1 and two NCAA titles.

133 Honorable Mention

Steve St. John - 3X AA and 1996 NCAA finalist for Arizona State

Shawn Enright - 2X AA and 1998 NCAA finalist for Ohio

Joe Peritore - 3X AA and 2X finalist for Lehigh in the 60s

Bobby Douglas - 1963 NCAA finalist for West Liberty


141 Starter: Logan Stieber, 2012-15

Hometown: Monroeville

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 1, 1 (133), 1, 1 (141)

The fourth four-time NCAA champion in wrestling history, Logan Stieber holds a collegiate record of 119-3. His three college losses: Jordan Oliver, Chris Dardanes, and Zain Retherford. All of which he avenged. With 95 bonus-point victories, Stieber had almost an 80% bonus rate. He went undefeated his sophomore and senior seasons, winning the Hodge his senior year. His best season might have actually been his junior year when he bonus pointed everyone except Zain Retherford and earned 10 pins and 12 techs. Logan Stieber is truly one of the greatest NCAA wrestlers of all time.

Watch Logan Stieber beat Zain Retherford at the 2014 NCAA tournament below.

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141 Backup: Dean Heil, 2015-18

Hometown: Brunswick

College: Oklahoma State

NCAA Finishes: 4, 1, 1, R12 (141)

His sophomore and junior seasons, Dean Heil was darn near untouchable. He went 64-1 and won back-to-back NCAA titles. His 2016 bracket included Joey McKenna, Anthony Ashnault, Bryce Meredith, Micah Jordan, and Kevin Jack. His 2017 bracket once again included McKenna, Jack, Meredith, and Ashnault, in addition to Jaydin Eierman, Matt Kolodzick, George DiCamillo, and Luke Pletcher. While some of those wrestlers had yet to reach their full potential, those brackets were far from easy. 

141 Honorable Mention

J Jaggers - 3X AA and 2008 & 2009 NCAA champion for Ohio State

Brian Dolph - 3X AA and 1990 NCAA champion for Indiana

Tom Milkovich - 3X AA and 1972 NCAA champion for Michigan State

Roger Chandler - 3X AA and 1997 NCAA finalist for Indiana

Hunter Stieber - 2012 & 2013 AA for Ohio State

Ryan Lang - 2X AA and 2007 NCAA finalist for Northwestern


149 Starter: Dustin Schlatter, 2006-10

Hometown: Westerville

College: Minnesota

NCAA Finishes: 1, 3, 7, R12 (149)

Dustin Schlatter is a huge “what if” in terms of what he could have been if he was able to stay healthy. This is a guy, who as a true freshman, went 42-1 and beat the likes of Zack Esposito, Ty Eustice, Matt Storniolo, and Troy Tirapelle and avenged his lone loss to Mark DiSalvo. His sophomore year, his lone loss came to Gregor Gillespi, 3-2, in the NCAA semifinals. Schlatter came back for third, outplacing Jordan Burroughs, JP O’Connor, Lance Palmer, Jordan Leen, and Dan Vallimont among others. 

This is when the injuries start and Schlatter’s performance takes a hit. He lost five times his junior year and finished in seventh place. However, after that season, Schlatter was able to redshirt and made the Senior World Team. He beat Andrew Howe, Ryan Churella, and Travis Paulson twice... while still in college. Once again, however, injuries got the best of Schlatter. He went 0-1 at Worlds and despite going 14-0 in the regular season, was forced to injury default out of NCAAs his senior year. 

After all of this, Schlatter finished his career with a 114-10 (several losses coming by injury default), including a 65-match win streak over his freshman and sophomore years. 

Listen to Dustin Schlatter talk about the highs and lows of his career below.

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149 Backup: Jim Heffernan, 1983-87

Hometown: North Olmstead

College: Iowa

NCAA Finishes: 4, 2, 1, 2 (150)

While wrestling for Coach Gable, Jim Heffernan went 131-18-2, won four Big Ten titles, made three NCAA finals appearances, and won the 1986 NCAA championship. In ‘86 Heffernan defeated Adam Cohen of Arizona State 10-3 in the finals. His senior year, he lost to Iowa State’s Tim Krieger on criteria to finish in second. 

149 Honorable Mention

Brian Dolph - 3X AA and 1990 NCAA champion for Indiana

Lance Palmer - 4X AA and 2010 NCAA finalist for Ohio State

Micah Jordan - 3X AA and 2019 NCAA finalist for Ohio State

David Habat - 2X AA and 2015 NCAA finalist for Edinboro

Matthew Kolodzik - 3X AA for Princeton from 2017-19

Charlie Becks - 1996 NCAA finalist for Ohio State


157 Starter: Lee Kemp, 1975-78

Hometown: Chardon

College: Wisconsin

NCAA Finishes: 2 (150), 1, 1, 1 (158)

After Lee Kemp lost in the NCAA finals his senior year ON A SPLIT REFEREE’S DECISION (what a terrible rule set), he never lost another NCAA Championship match. He famously beat Dan Gable at the Midlands in his sophomore year. Through raw strength and explosive quickness, Kemp put together a career record of 143-6-1 with 47 pins, including a 103-match winning streak and a separate 87-match winning streak. 

157 Backup: Dan St. John, 1987-90

Hometown: Cleveland

College: Arizona State

NCAA Finishes: NQ (142), 3, 1 (158), 1 (167)

You know who has more career wins than Zahid Valencia, Zeke Jones, Anthony Robles, and any other Sun Devil Wrestler? Dan. St. John. With a career record of 147-16-3, St. John went 85-1-1 his last two years en route to two NCAA titles. 

157 Honorable Mention

Ryan Bertin - 4X AA and 2X NCAA champ for Michigan in the early 2000s

Jake Percival - 4X AA and 2009 NCAA finalist for Ohio

Greg Elinsky - 4X AA and 2X NCAA finalist for Penn State in the 80s


165 Starter: David Taylor, 2011-15

Hometown: St. Paris

College: Penn State

NCAA Finishes: 2 (157), 1, 2, 1 (165)

Yes, I realize that David Taylor did not spend his childhood in Ohio. However, on his official college roster Taylor lists his hometown as St. Paris. And for consistency's sake, that is what I’m using when available. 

Anyway, as you probably know, David Taylor was an insanely good college wrestler. He went 134-3 with 125 bonus point victories for a career bonus rate of 91.4%. I really don't even know how that was possible. I couldn’t locate NCAA records, but that has to be one of, if not the, highest career bonus rates. 

The Magic Man won both the Hodge Trophy and the NCAA Tournament OW in his sophomore and senior seasons. Basically, unless your name was Kyle Dake or Bubba Jenkins, David Taylor was going to ankle pick you and then cradle you.

Watch David Taylor pick up a first-period tech fall over Iowa’s Nick Moore.

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165 Backup: Joe Heskett, 199-2002

Hometown: Cuyahoga Falls

College: Iowa State

NCAA Finishes: 3, 2, 2, 1 (165)

After falling in overtime to Donny Pritzlaff in both the 2000 and 2001 NCAA finals, Joe Heskett finally reached the top of the podium when he defeated Illinois’ Matt Lackey 4-2 in the finals. A hammer on top, went 143-10 with 58 falls. He also once tech falled two-time NCAA champion Chris Pendleton, who was only beat 10 times in college.

165 Honorable Mention

Markus Mollica - 4X AA and 2X NCAA champion for Arizona State in the mid-'90s

Mike Deanna - 4X AA and 1979/1981 NCAA finalist for Iowa

Charlie Jones - 2X AA and 1992 NCAA champion for Purdue

Isaac Jordan - 4X AA and 2016 NCAA finalist for Wisconsin

Gene Gibbons - 2X AA and 1951 NCAA champion for Michigan State

Dave Reinbolt - 1961 NCAA champion for Ohio State


174 Starter: Kevin Randleman, 1991-93

Hometown: Sandusky

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 2 (167), 1, 1 (177)

In just three years, Kevin Randleman racked up over 100 career wins, made three NCAA final appearances, won three Big Ten championships, won two NCAA titles, and had one undefeated season. Unfortunately for everyone not in the 177-pound weight class in '93-'94, Randleman was ruled ineligible to wrestle his senior year due to academic issues. 

174 Backup: Steve Luke, 2006-09

Hometown: Massillon

College: Michigan

NCAA Finishes: NQ (157), 6, 2, 1 (174)

Steve Luke was a tough SOB that made steady progress throughout his career at Michigan. After losing to Keith Gavin 4-2 in the finals as a junior, Luke would go 32-0 as a senior and win the 174-pound national title. The Massillon native beat Mike Miller 8-4 in the finals and outplaced Quentin Wright, Jay Borschel, and Raymond Jordan.

174 Honorable Mention

Bo Jordan - 4X AA and 2017 NCAA finalist for Ohio State

Mike Miller - 2X AA and 2009 NCAA finalist for Central Michigan


184 Starter: Mike Pucillo, 2007-10

Hometown: Cuyahoga Falls

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 6, 1, 2, R12 (184)

Mike Pucillo is the reason Jake Varner only won two NCAA titles. The Cuyahoga Falls native beat Varner in the 2008 NCAA finals on riding time after tiebreakers were exhausted. In 2009, Pucillo fell to Hodge Trophy winner Jake Herbert 6-3 in the finals. His career record is 107-17.

184 Backup: Rex Holman, 1990-93

Hometown: Upper Arlington

College: Arizona State/Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: R12, NQ, 3, 1 (190)

Sorry Rex, but you’re going to have to cut an extra six pounds to make the team. After going 52-18 in his two seasons at Arizona State, Holman transferred to Ohio State and took it up a notch. As a Buckeye, Holman went 69-3, won two Big Ten titles, and one NCAA title. His senior season, Holman went 29-0 and beat Joel Sharratt in the NCAA finals.

184 Honorable Mention

Mark Coleman - 2X AA and 1988 NCAA champion for Ohio State

JJ McGrew - 2X AA and 1995 NCAA champion for Oklahoma State

Viktor Sveda - 2X AA for Indiana in the early 2000s


197 Starter: Kollin Moore, 2017-20

Hometown: Burbank

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 3, 4, 2, NQ* (197)

Kollin Moore is one of the guys you felt the worst for when the NCAA championships got canceled this year. Moore was as big a favorite to win as almost anyone this year. With a career record of 110-11, including 69 bonus-point victories, Kollin Moore used an athletic and slick style for an upper weight. He tallied 14 tech falls over his career, something you don’t see too often 197 pounders. He was undefeated this season and his only losses last season were to Bo Nickal. Moore also won a Junior World bronze and U23 World silver medal while at Ohio State.

Watch Kollin Moore major decision Preston Weigel at the 2019 NCAA Championships below.

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197 Backup: Dustin Kilgore, 2009-13

Hometown: Berea

College: Kent State

NCAA Finishes: NQ, 7 (184), 1, 2 (197)

Dustin Kilgore and Kollin Moore should be Starter A and Starter B. That’s how good Dustin Kilgore was his junior and senior seasons. After going 70-8 his first two years, Kilgore went 81-3. It was Kilgore’s pinning power that made him elite. While trailing 5-1 late in the second period to Oklahoma State’s Clayton Foster, Kilgore was able to put Foster on his back and pin him to win the National Championship. That was one of 50 pins in his career.

After taking an Olympic redshirt year, Kilgore returned and went 43-1, only losing to Penn State’s Quentin Wright in the NCAA finals. 

197 Honorable Mention

Nick Heflin - 3X AA and 2019 NCAA finalist for Ohio State

Chris Honeycutt - 2X AA and 2012 NCAA finalist for Edinboro

Zach Thompson - 2X AA and 2000 NCAA finalist for Iowa State

Nick Preston - 2X AA for Ohio State in the early 2000s


285 Starter: Tommy Rowlands, 2001-04

Hometown: Hilliard

College: Ohio State

NCAA Finishes: 2, 1, 6, 1 (285)

During his career at Ohio State, Tommy Rowlands was a two-time NCAA champion, three-time NCAA finalist, four-time NCAA All-American, and two-time Big Ten champion. His freshman year, Tommy fell to John Lockhart in tiebreakers in the finals. His sophomore year, he handed Steve Mocco one of his six collegiate losses in the finals. Rowlands finished his career at Ohio State with a record of 164-15.

285 Backup: Dustin Fox, 2005-08

Hometown: Galion

College: Northwestern

NCAA Finishes: R12, NQ, 3, 1 (285)

Dustin Fox is another guy who steadily improved throughout his college career. Just look at his season records: 19-12, 28-11, 33-5, 29-1. His senior season he defeated Jared Rosholt, Kyle Massey (avenging his lone loss of the season), David Zabriskie, and JD Bergman.

285 Honorable Mention

JD Bergman - 3X AA and 2008 NCAA finalist for Ohio State

Greg Wojciechowski - 3X finalist and 1971 NCAA champion for Toledo


There you have it, the greatest Ohio D1 lineup of all-time.

WeightNameYears ActiveHometownCollege
125Nathan Tomasello2015-18ParmaOhio State
133Alan Fried1991-94University HeightsOklahoma State
141Logan Stieber2012-15MonroevilleOhio State
149Dustin Schlatter2006-10Westerville
Minnesota
157Lee Kemp1975-78Chardon
Wisconsin
165David Taylor2011-15St. ParisPenn State
174Kevin Randleman1991-93SanduskyOhio State
184Mike Pucillo2007-10Cuyahoga Falls
Ohio State
197Kollin Moore2017-20Burbank
Ohio State
285Tommy Rowlands2001-04Hilliard
Ohio State