Ohio Intercollegiate Open
Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan reflect on the collegiate events from this past weekend as week two of the wrestling season comes to a close. They begin with the first annual Ohio Intercollegiate Open where second ranked Ohio State was completely dominant. Ohio State had both starters and backups often making it to the finals to wrestle for first place. 13 out of 19 competitors reaching the finals and 9 being able to end the day champions. The wrestle-off rematch between Micah Jordan and Sammy Sasso is the first topic of discussion.
Penn State vs. Kent State
The Ohio Intercollegiate Open comes to a close. Then the conversation shifts to Penn State. Specifically, the incredible performance at their season opener against Kent State. Penn State won by pin in seven out of ten matches. In addition, had an additional two tech falls to win 52-3. The atmosphere in Rec Hall becomes a topic of heavy conversation. Matt compares the mood to that of sharks smelling blood in the water. This mentality was shown even by the newest members of the Penn State’s lineup.
The Frenzy at the Field House
From Penn State’s opener, conversation shifts to the first impressions of the Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes began their season at The Frenzy at the Field House, wrestling duals against CSU Bakersfield and Kent State at Kent. Iowa, as expected, had an impressive performance with a 36-3 win over CSU Bakersfield and 45-0 win over Kent State. Conversation then shifts to Kent State’s decision to schedule 3 matches against highly ranked Big 10 teams in the first week of competition. With such an aggressive scheduling style, Kent State clearly wanted to set the pace for the season. Even though they may not have expected to win these duals, they wanted to get their wrestlers experience against the best competition possible.
Penn State’s Rec Hall
With Rec Hall’s reintroduction to the conversation the topic shifts to arguably the greatest dual in collegiate history. Penn State vs Ohio State at Rec Hall last season. Ben and Matt discuss the current environment of Rec Hall during a match, both agreeing it is likely the most intimidating place to wrestle in the sport at this time. With tickets incredibly difficult to come by, the arena is almost always completely filled by passionate and loud Penn State fans. The arena puts the fans right on top of the mat. The intensity and pressure can break even the best of wrestlers.
Finally, after wrapping up the lengthy tangent on Rec Hall and Penn State wrestling, Ben closes out the podcast with a few other notable events from the weekend.
Show Timestamps
- 0:00 – Ohio Intercollegiate Open
- 9:10 – Penn State Season Opener
- 16:17 – Iowa Hawkeyes Season Opener
- 27:00 – Rec Hall’s Atmosphere and Penn State’s Mentality
- 37:17 – Closing Remarks and Other Notable Events From the Week
Where to find the RUDIS Wrestling Podcast
The RUDIS Wrestling Podcast is hosted Ben Askren and Matt Dernlan. Ben Askren, World Champion and Olympic wrestler, joins RUDIS from the T-Row & Funky Show. Ben is an official partnership as a content provider for all things RUDIS. Matt Dernlan joins from a D1 college coaching background with family roots grounded in Ohio wrestling with a collective 10 state titles on the shelf.
