Olympic gold medalist wrestler OSU junior Kyle Snyder was honored during the Buckeyes first game of the 2016 season against Bowling Green on Sept. 3 at Ohio Stadium. The Buckeyes won 77-10. Credit: Alexa Mavrogianis | Photo Editor

The No. 4 ranked Ohio State wrestling team will travel to Olney, Maryland, to take on the Maryland Terrapins. The Buckeyes are the home team, but are competing at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, where world champion Kyle Snyder attended high school.

“We made a commitment to Kyle (Snyder) when he committed to us that we would bring the Buckeyes to Good Counsel (High School),” OSU coach Tom Ryan said.

Ryan and the rest of the coaching staff have been returning to the high schools of wrestlers for years, most recently traveling to Walsh Jesuit High School in Cleveland, Ohio, for now-graduated Johnni DiJulius.  

Coming off last week’s win against No. 12 Illinois and picking up the team’s seventh-straight dual-meet victory, the Buckeyes are confident heading into this week against the unranked Terrapins.

“I think that we can win every single match of the dual, 10-for-10,” Snyder said.

However, heading into the dual, fifth-ranked 149-pound redshirt sophomore Micah Jordan has a highly anticipated matchup against No. 15 Alfred Bannister. Jordan is coming off of a victory via pin against Illinois’ Eric Barone. Jordan currently has five falls, and is 3-0 in Big Ten competition.

“(Bannister’s) a home-grown Maryland kid, so he’s going to have lots of people there that will be cheering for him,” Ryan said. “Even though it’s our home dual, I think being in his home state could give him a little bit of an energy boost.”

Redshirt junior Nathan Tomasello moved up to become the No. 1 wrestler in the 133-pound division this week after defeating fourth-ranked Zane Richards on Jan. 15. The Buckeyes now sport three wrestlers ranked at the top of their weight class: Tomasello, Snyder and 174-pound redshirt junior Bo Jordan.

Tomasello, like Micah Jordan, is undefeated this season.

“Whether he’s ranked one, two, three, four, Nathan always does things in preparation for the toughest scenarios, the toughest people, the toughest opponents,” Ryan said. “His big picture goal is to be the national champion. So where he’s ranked, I’m not sure it affects his confidence at all.”

Tomasello was also named Big Ten co-Wrestler of the Week, alongside Michigan’s 133-lb. freshman Stevan Micic.

Redshirt freshman Kollin Moore, the No. 5 wrestler at 197 pounds, is fresh off a pin victory over Illinois’ Andre Lee that clinched the dual-meet victory for OSU. Moore said he feels the Buckeyes have a bit of an edge over Maryland, including his personal matchup against David-Brian Whisler.

“On paper we’re the better team,” Moore said. “I think our expectation going into every dual should be to win and dominate every match.”

Moore mentioned he wrestled Whisler in high school, so there will be some familiarity between the two when they meet on Sunday.

The dual meet is set for 1 p.m.