PHOTO DAY GALLERY

OHIO WESLEYAN PHOTOS

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – Another season of Otterbein University wrestling is now underway, as the program hosted Ohio Wesleyan on Tuesday night for an unconventional/unscored dual competition in the Clements Recreation Center.

The Cardinals were victorious in 16 of 23 matches against the Battling Bishops, securing 13 with bonus points and 11 via pin. SEE FULL RESULTS HERE

Otterbein will feature perhaps its deepest roster since Brent Rastetter helped resurrect the sport on campus, as the seventh-year head coach has nearly 35 individuals on the official roster to begin the new campaign.

CORE RETURNERS:

• The dual lineup welcomes back at least eight starters, while Joey Bradberry (184) has stuck around to join the staff as a graduate assistant coach.
   
• Tamas Eder, Joey Buckland, Nathan Leko, Ryan Whitten, Cale Callahan, Jacob Williams, Kyle De Moss, Jarrod Setliff and a core of heavyweights all represented their weight classes at length last winter. Callahan delivered a 20-win season as a freshman.
   
• Whitten (64-16) and Setliff (63-30) are both former NCAA qualifiers with a combined 127 wins under their belts. Setliff is a 2x All-OAC pick who is back for a fifth year of eligibility.
   
• Buckland and Williams are four-year journeyman looking to reach a new level of production in their closing runs.

NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK:

• More than half the roster will be wearing a Cardinal singlet for the first time, as a whopping 16 true freshmen join a pair of incoming transfers.  
   
• Plenty of new faces have the chance to make an immediate impact, spearheaded by the likes of (but not limited to) Logan Cormell, Zach Orseno, Andrew Sas, Conner Roback and Muskingum transfer Noah Houchins at the moment.
   
• Eight individuals won their debut for Otterbein in the head-to-head with Ohio Wesleyan.
   

COACH RASTETTER COMMENTS:

"Practices have been crazy, with anywhere from 3-5 in a day because of different schedules and numbers. It's a good problem to have. I wasn't necessarily planning on this large of a roster, but kids started recruiting themselves and it snowballed. They have work to do, but it's a very talented group and they all bring something unique. Some are competing for spots right now. They have all come into the room and gotten after it." – on a large recruiting class and meshing them into the lineup

"Our upperclassmen have done an awesome job bringing the new kids in. There have been some great leaders and captains over my career… but Jarrod Setliff has been (without a doubt) the best I've ever had. He is calm, cool, collected and makes sure everyone feels a part of this. There is no outlier, and all of our seniors factor into that. You have to remember… Setliff had the least pedigree on paper of anyone in his freshmen class, and has ended up being the best. I'm excited to watch him continue passing that mindset down to new guys." – on leadership from the senior class, and Jarrod Setliff returning for an extra season
 
"Obviously Baldwin Wallace is the class of our league… but it's still nasty all the way around. Every teams has their tough spots in the lineup that cause trouble. We have the potential/ability to jump into that next tier or second group of teams. We need to start putting ourselves in that heightened conversation, and I think these guys can." – on competition within the Ohio Athletic Conference

"Every team I've had, there's always a couple kids who you might worry about when they aren't at team activities. Are they representing the program well? These kids right now don't give me any concern as I watch them rally around each other. They are fun in the practice room but also work hard. More importantly, they are handling their business in the classroom and are good stewards around campus." – on the personality and identity of this team as student-athletes

THE SCHEDULE:

• Otterbein will get its first taste of tournament action this coming Sunday at the Lycoming Invitational in Williamsport, Pa. The team then begins OAC competition come November 15 at Muskingum.
   
• Home duals against John Carroll (11/29) and Ohio Northern (2/7) in the Rike Center are also on the schedule.
   
• As usual, the group will get about a month off to rest/regroup from the middle of December to January.
   
• Regionals are set for February 24-25 with the NCAA Championships come Match 10-11 at the Berglun Center in Roanoke, Va.