Ohio State Wrestling Rolls to National Duals Invitational Title

No. 4 Ohio State’s bonus-point prowess fueled a 27-12 finals win over No. 3 Iowa and a $200,000 check at the National Duals Invitational sponsored by Paycom on Sunday night at the BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. 

Ohio State blanked the Hawkeyes in the first five bouts; however Iowa started a comeback bid, winning four straight from 165 pounds to 197 pounds. Bonus points from a pin at 125 pounds, a technical fall at 141 pounds and a major decision at 157 pounds gave the Buckeyes enough cushion to mathematically clinch the dual after 197 pounds, with Iowa forfeiting at heavyweight.

A top performer for the Buckeyes, two-time NCAA champion Jesse Mendez continues to prove he is pound-for-pound one of the best in the nation, going 4-0 on the weekend with three wins over top-10 opponents as well as three bonus-point victories. In the championship dual, Mendez put on a takedown clinic against ninth-ranked Nasir Bailey, cruising to a 17-1 technical fall.

Entering the weekend, Mendez was one of six top-ranked wrestlers in the competition. After four matches, he leaves Tulsa as one of only two No. 1 wrestlers to remain undefeated. Joining him is Illinois’ Lucas Byrd. 

Other notable performances on Sunday night came from Nic Bouzakis at 125 pounds and Ben Davino at 133 pounds.

Bouzakis upended No. 10 Dean Peterson with a first-period fall in 94 seconds to put Ohio State up early. Davino followed up with a decisive 10-4 win against two-time NCAA finalist Drake Ayala. 

The Buckeyes dominated in all four of their duals over the weekend, winning 31 of 40 matches and securing 18 bonus-point wins along the way. The front half of the lineup, 125-157 pounds, went undefeated, collecting 20 match wins. 

In addition to defeating the third-ranked Hawkeyes, Ohio State also recorded wins over No. 2 Nebraska, No. 9 Minnesota and No. 24 Wyoming en route to the title.

Overall, eight teams earned a cash prize based on their finish in the tournament. Final team standings are below:

Final team standings and prizes

First place - Ohio State, $200,000

Second place - Iowa, $150,000

Third place - Oklahoma State, $150,000

Fourth place - Nebraska, $75,000

Fifth place - Minnesota, $50,000 

Sixth place - Virginia Tech, $40,000

Seventh place - Illinois, $25,000

Eighth place - Missouri, $20,000

An additional $50,000 in prize money was awarded earlier in the tournament as Paycom presented team takedown bonuses, a $10,000 prize, to the squad with the fastest average takedown time in each of Saturday’s sessions. Each team’s five fastest takedowns, recorded by five different wrestlers, were averaged to determine the winners. The five winners were: 

Team takedown bonuses
Round of 16 Group One - Illinois, 1:53 

Round of 16 Group Two - Ohio State, 0:18

Quarterfinals - Ohio State, 0:56

Consolation Round One - Virginia Tech, 0:49

Consolation Quarterfinals - Missouri, 1:08

On top of the prize money and team takedown bonuses, each of the weekend’s 16 teams received an additional $20,000 for participating, bringing the total purse to over $1,000,000 across all teams. 

Finals results

No. 4 Ohio State 27, No. 3 Iowa 12

125: Nic Bouzakis (OHST) fall No. 10 Dean Peterson (IOWA), 1:34

133: No. 8 Ben Davino (OHST) dec. No. 3 Drake Ayala (IOWA), 10-4

141: No. 1 Jesse Mendez (OHST) TF No. 9 Nasir Bailey (IOWA), 17-1, 5:13
149: No. 10 Ethan Stiles (OHST) dec. Ryder Block (IOWA, 3-2)
157: No. 9 Brandon Cannon (OHST) MD Victor Voinovich (IOWA), 14-2
165: No. 2 Mike Caliendo (IOWA) dec. No. 16 Paddy Gallagher (OHST), 4-1 SV1
174: No. 2 Patrick Kennedy (IOWA) dec. No. 9 Carson Kharchla (OHST), 4-1 SV1
184: No. 2 Angelo Ferrari (IOWA) dec. No. 7 Dylan Fishback (OHST), 4-1 SV1
197: Massoma Endene (IOWA) dec. Seth Shumate (OHST), 8-3
285: Nick Feldman (OHST) win by forfeit