Buckeye fans always get riled up when they hear the Michigan Wolverines are coming to Columbus. For the Ohio State fan who can’t stand the sight of that yellow “M,” the school up north faces the Buckeye wrestling team at 7 p.m. tonight at St. John Arena.
“I’m sure there are going to be people that come (tonight) just because it’s Michigan,” senior 165-pounder John Clark said. “To beat them would mean a lot.”
The Buckeyes will be looking for their first win in the last 10 meetings against their rivals.
“Our class has never beaten Michigan,” Clark said. “We’ve beaten them at tournaments, but we’ve never beaten them in head-to-head competition.”
The Wolverines (13-2 overall, 3-0 Big Ten) are ranked No. 2 in the country and feature seven ranked wrestlers. Foley Dowd (133) and Ryan Berlin (157) are both ranked second in the nation in their weight classes. Despite this, OSU thinks it matches up well with Michigan.
“We could win six matches,” Clark said. “We’re going to have about three matches that could go either way.”
Those three matches are at the 149, 165, and 197-pound weight classes. At 149, OSU’s No. 12 Jeff Ratliff will face No. 7 Ryan Churella, while at 165, No. 13 Clark will face No. 4 Pat Owen.
“It’s a big match for me personally,” Clark said. “I was pinned by him last year when I was ranked ahead of him, which was kind of a frustrating experience.”
At 197, freshman J.D. Bergman (No. 16) will probably take on Michigan’s Chase Verdoorn. Bergman has won four consecutive matches, providing the Buckeyes with some much-needed points.
“I’m just relaxing and using the skills that God gave me,” Bergman said. “I think I’m making the adjustment pretty well and turning the corner right now.”
OSU coach Russ Hellickson is quick to say this match is no different than any other.
“The rivalry thing has never been something that I’ve grabbed a hold of,” he said. “I’m not going to make this dual meet more important than anything else.”
Last year OSU lost 26-17 in Ann Arbor. Current seniors Ratliff, Blake Kaplan and Tommy Rowlands notched victories in the losing effort.
Clark feels this year’s team is better than its 6-6 record.
“It’s weird that we have a .500 record, but we were one match away from beating Penn State and Cornell, and then we beat Purdue,” he said. “I think our record is a little deceiving.”
The Buckeyes beat then-No. 18 Purdue 22-18 last Friday in West Lafayette, Ind., to break a five-match losing streak. OSU took a 15-0 lead after three matches thanks to a pin from Bergman, a decision by No. 2 heavyweight Rowlands and a forfeit win for 125-pounder Jermaine Jones.
“I think getting that win gets the team back on track so that we can win some Big Ten duals,” Ratliff said.
No. 19 OSU (6-6 overall, 2-1 Big Ten) will also be in action Sunday afternoon at home when they take on the Northwestern Wildcats.
While Northwestern will come to Columbus unranked, no Buckeye will be taking the Wildcats lightly, especially given OSU’s loss to Tennessee-Chattanooga in January.
“I think we went to Tennessee – might have taken them lightly, looking towards Missouri – and we ended up getting beat,” Ratliff said. “We can’t sit there and only be thinking of Michigan this weekend and then come out and be flat against Northwestern.”
