When doing these type of rankings, I tend to look at the wrestlers entire body of work. However these are never easy to do. There are a lot of arguments to be made to put one in front of the other. Many times there is no wrong answer. Keep in mind, these are just for fun and to give us something to talk about until college wrestling begins. Let me know how you would rank Ohio’s best.
10 Lance Palmer
Lance won the OHSAA state tournament 4x in high school and graduated with a record of 150-6. He also won a NHSCA National Championship. At Ohio State, he was a 4x all-american, placing 4th, 8th, 4th, and 2nd. During his career he was a Big 10 Champion, and had impressive victories over Olympic Gold Medalist Jordan Burroughs, NCAA Champion Frank Molinaro, NCAA Champion Bubba Jenkins, and Hodge Trophy winner Brent Metcalf. Lance ended his wrestling career with a 121–33 record. Since graduating he has transitioned into MMA and has since won titles in the RFA, the WSOF, and the PFL.
9 Mitch Clark
Mitch was a 2x all-american, finishing 2nd in 1997, before winning the NCAA title in 1998. His place in history is set, as he is the only wrestler to score a first period technical fall in an NCAA Championship match.
8 J Jaggers
J was a 4x state champion in high school before arriving at Ohio State. His success continued for the Buckeyes, as he became a 3x all-american, and 2x NCAA Champion! On the Road to his two consecutive NCAA titles, He defeated, NCAA Champion Darrion Caldwell, UFC title challenger Chad Mendes, and Olympian Frank Molinaro. J had 107 career victories, and was named 2009 Ohio State Male Athlete of the Year.
7 Myles Martin
Myles entered the program with a ton of hype and he absolutely lived up to it all. In high school he was a 3x National Prep Champion, a 2x Beasts of the East Champion, and a 3x Maryland independent schools state champion. He finished high school with a 171-15 record. Upon arriving at Ohio State, he made an immediate impact, starting as a true freshman. He finished the year with a 24-5 record, and an NCAA title. Making his just the 15th true freshman in college history to win a NCAA title. Over the course of his collegiate career, Martin became an NCAA champion, a Big 10 Champion, and a 4x all-american with a college record of 121-19.
6 Nathan Tomasello
In high school, Tomasello was a 4x Ohio state champion out of the Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy. He graduated with a record of 178-5 overall. Tomasello was then recruited by Ohio State University. Where he became a 4x Big 10 Champion, and 4x all-american. After going 19-0 during his red-shirt season, Tomasello put together an excellent freshman campaign going 33-4 before winning the NCAA title. The following three years he finished 3rd at the national tournament, competing at 125 and 133 lbs. His career record was 119-8. He has quality wins over NCAA Champion Corey Clark, 2x NCAA Champion Jesse Delgado, 3x NCAA Champion Spencer Lee, and 2021 World Champion Thomas Gilman.
5 Kevin Randleman
Kevin was from Sandusky, Ohio and was a multi-sport athlete in high school. He played varsity football all 4 years, he ran track and was a state qualifier, but he really excelled in wrestling. He had a high school record of 122-11 and was a 1989 state champion. Kevin then went on to wrestle for Ohio State, and made an immediate impact. His freshman season he rattled of 42 victories and won the Big 10 championship and made it all the was to the NCAA finals before losing to Iowa’s Mark Reiland. Randleman then went undefeated during his sophomore year, and won the NCAA tournament. Randleman again won the NCAA tournament in his junior year, despite having his jaw dislocated during the actual tournament. Despite having some of the most successful three years in the history of collegiate wrestling, including compiling the third best winning percentage in Ohio State wrestling history, Randleman became ineligible to wrestle in his senior year because of academic issues. After leaving Ohio State, Randleman attended Lindenwood University. However in 2002 he was nominated as the Ohio State University Wrestler of the Century. Kevin was the first 2x NCAA Champion in school history.
4 Mark Coleman
Mark was a 2x Ohio State Champion in high school, before attending Miami University, and later Ohio State. At Miami Mark was a 2x NCAA qualifer, and a 4th place finisher at the 1986 national tournament. Earning his first all-american honors. At the end of the season Mark left Miami and ended up at Ohio State. After redshirting, in 1987, The Hammer was back with vengeance for his senior season. During his only year in a Buckeye singlet, Mark set a school record with 50 single season victories, a Big 10 title and the 190 lb NCAA crown. During the National Tournament, Coleman outscored his opponents 52-7 and won 5-0 in the finals. After graduation, Mark went on to represent the United States on the world stage. Mark won 3 straight pan american championships. From there he wrestled in the 1991 world championship, where he walked away with a silver medal. In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Coleman finished in 7th place. After retiring from wrestling, Mark went on to win multiple world championships in the sport of MMA. He was also the first ever UFC heavyweight champion.
3 Tommy Rowlands
In high school, Rowlands was a 2x Ohio state champion as well as the 1999 National High School Champion. He had a career record of 167-10 with 98 pins. At Ohio State he was a 4x all-american, a 3x NCAA finalist, and a 2x NCAA Champion. He holds career records for takedowns at 705, wins 164, and team points 703. In 2001, he was named Big 10 freshman of the year. After graduation, his success continued during his international career. He was a University World Champion, a Pan-American Champion, a 2x US Open Champion and a 6x US National Team member. He was also a 2x Olympic Alternate.
1 Kyle Snyder
Kyle’s high school career, went almost perfectly. Posting a perfect 179-0 record in three years, before leaving school after his junior year to train at the Olympic training center prior to starting his college career. In high school, Kyle surrendered only a single takedown. While winning 3 National Prep Championships, and 2 Junior World Championships. At Ohio State, Kyle was just as impressive, he became a 4x all-american, 4x NCAA finalist, and 3x NCAA Champion. A defining moment for Snyder came during his sophomore season, when he moved up in weight to challenge 2x defending NCAA Champion, and 2x World Bronze medalist Nick Gwiazdowski. Snyder won the match in overtime, ending an 88 match winning streak, while giving up nearly 40 pounds. If that wasn’t enough, Kyle won the triple crown of American wrestling. The triple crown is winning a World, NCAA, and Olympic title. Kyle accomplished this in a single year in 2016. He also holds the distinctions of being the youngest Olympic Gold medalist and the youngest World Champion in American wrestling history. Kyle had a college record of 75-5. He has quality wins over World Champions J’Den Cox, Jake Varner, Abdusalam Gadisov, and one of the best pound for pound wrestlers on Earth, Abdulrashid Sadulaev.
Honorable Mention:
Harry Steel
Harry Steel is a bit of a mystery, it appears he only wrestled his junior and senior years at Ohio State. His senior year he was the undefeated Western Conference, now the Big 10, heavyweight wrestling champion. 1924 was a huge year for this heavyweight. He started the year off by placing 3rd at the National AAU tournament. Then, he ended up being a late replacement for the United States Olympic Team, however he made the most of his opportunity in Paris and walked away with a Gold Medal. Its scary to think about how good he could of been with more then just a couple of years on the mat.
Bo Jordan
4x all-american, NCAA finalist, Big 10 Champion.
Luke Pletcher
2x Super 32 Champion, Big 10 Champion, 108-21 career record.
Kollin Moore
3x Big 10 Champion, NCAA finalist, 4x all-american, 110-11 record.