The Spartans were in the middle of one of their toughest performances all season and clinging to a 15-12 lead over the Buckeyes with two wrestlers to go. But MSU’s hopes of an upset were dashed when the 125-pounders took the mat.

While wrestling No. 16 Johnni Dijulius of Ohio State at 125 pounds, senior Eric Olanowski fell behind 5-15 late in the third period when his frustrations got the better of him. Olanowski appeared to bite the arm of Dijulius and was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.

The reason for the ruling was unclear, but as Olanowski walked off the mat, he seemed to say something to the referee and threw his headgear to the ground, which resulted in another pair of unsportsmanlike penalties and a deduction of two points from MSU’s team score.

“That match just kind of got away from him,” Minkel said. “And when those things happen, you have to get your act together and your wits together and realize that you need to make a comeback one or two points at a time, not all at once. And I think Eric was trying to get it all at once, and he got frustrated.”

The official NCAA wrestling rule book dictates that a wrestler called for unsportsmanlike conduct during the pre or postmatch period will result in a one-point deduction from the team score for the first offense. For the second violation, the wrestler will be disqualified and removed from the premises, and another point will be deducted.

Olanowski was not available for comment after the match.

“One of the things we preach is keeping your composure,” Minkel said. “Sometimes bad things will happen, sometimes unfair things will happen. But no matter what happens, you have to keep your composure because otherwise the match gets away from you, and Eric failed to keep his composure.”
 
Looking ahead
Despite the loss, the Spartans saw a lot of things they can build on going forward into the next few duals.

“We’ve improved immensely on the mat and in the top and bottom positions,” senior 174-pounder Curran Jacobs said. “Today, we displayed that. We’re getting out, we’re escaping and trying to keep the guy down for riding points.”

Throughout the Big Ten season, the Spartans faced some of the toughest competition in the NCAA. Currently eight of the 12 Big Ten teams are ranked in the top 25, six of which MSU has faced this year.

Senior 157-pounder Anthony Jones Jr. said the level of competition in the conference and his team’s performance against Ohio State helped prepare the Spartans for the upcoming Big Ten and NCAA championship tournaments.

“Every match fought, we fought hard,” he said. “For us to go toe-to-toe with (Ohio State) in every match — and some that could have gone either way ­­— it’s still a big win for us. Unfortunately we came up short, but now we see where our potential is, and hopefully it goes through till Big Ten, and we can come out on top.”