OSU wrestling coach Tom Ryan watches on during a match

OSU wrestling coach Tom Ryan watches on during a match against Minnesota on Feb. 6, 2015. Credit: Lantern file photo

Ohio State’s football team battled with a season lost then recovered, positive COVID tests and canceled games. Now, Tom Ryan and his wrestling team look ahead to how they will navigate their own season over the course of spring semester.

The challenges of playing a season in the midst of a pandemic have not ceased with the turn of the calendar year — nearly a year removed from when COVID-19 initially disrupted the 2019-20 wrestling season. Aware of the challenges faced by sports that have played before his own, Ryan and his team are thankful to have the opportunity to compete. 

“Right now, I think this team is in a very grateful place,” Ryan said Friday. “Gratitude is moving throughout the program. We’re super grateful we’re going to get to wrestle this year in the midst of a pandemic, so we’re taking it one day at a time.” 

Sunday’s tri-meet against Illinois and Wisconsin marked the first time the Buckeyes competed on the mat since March 8, 2020. 

Since the initial disruption in the spring, Ryan said he was able to coach his team in September, but it wasn’t until Oct. 19 that they returned to the facility. 

While Ryan was in the early stages of trying to navigate training his team in an unprecedented environment, Ohio State football became the first sport at the university to step back onto the field of competition. 

Enduring numerous positive COVID-19 tests, three canceled games and months without being able to spend time with their families, head coach Ryan Day admitted the team needed a break following a loss in the national championship game. 

With his own team’s season on the horizon, Ryan kept close tabs on what  Day and his team went through to compete. 

“He and I have become friends through the process, because he was walking through it — what I’m about to get into now,” Ryan said. “We’ve been really fortunate so far, as far as our first competition goes, as of today, everyone is good to go. Our team can wrestle. But as we know, tomorrow, we could lose a starter and not have the weight class being represented. So we’re in the beginning stages of it.”

Aware of the circumstances outside training and competition, Ryan said he is focused on paying attention to the parts of his players’ lives that extend beyond athletics. 

“I’ve never been told to stay in my dorm room for 10 days in isolation. I don’t know what that feels like, so just communicating with them through that is really important,” Ryan said. “They’re humans that are dealing with things — that to some degree — no college student-athlete has ever dealt with. We’re loving them.” 

One of the wrestlers that Ryan will be coaching throughout the season is redshirt sophomore Sammy Sasso. 

Sasso, who collected a pair of wins Sunday, said his training effort has not decreased because “things aren’t going to slow down because of what’s happening.” 

Along with a Big Ten-only schedule, daily antigen testing and other safety protocols, a key difference from last season will be the lack of fans in attendance. 

An Ohio State spokesperson said there is a hope to have families of student-athletes and coaches at events, but the situation is still being evaluated. 

Ohio State football saw friends and family attend 2-of-3 home games — with the game against Indiana played without any fans in attendance as a result of Franklin county reaching a “purple” COVID-19 distinction. 

In the last home game for men’s basketball Wednesday, families were allowed to attend for the first time all season — a morale boost head coach Chris Holtmann recognized following the game. 

“Best thing for me tonight, 1A the win and 1B having the families here,” Holtmann said Wednesday. “As a coach, you just love the families having a chance to see their players.” 

Although sports such as wrestling are waiting for a determination on the allowance of families, Sasso said his approach to competition has remained the same because the objective has stayed the same. 

“You make it as simple as it can be,” Sasso said. “It’s another season, it’s another chance to go wrestle, so why would I make it much different? Every time I step out to compete, whether there’s fans in there or there’s not, it’s the same thing: Two guys are going out there and they want to get their hand raised. And I’m going to do everything in my power to get my hand raised.”