Brittany Bott / Staff Photographer / bb211605@ohiou.edu

Heath Allen took on TJ Wunnicke in the 125-pound weight class in Ohio’s meet with Northern Illinois. The Bobcats will wrestle tonight at Virginia Tech.

When Chris Iammarino signed on to wrestle at Ohio last year, he envisioned himself in a very different position nearing the end of his first season.

For starters, Iammarino was recruited as a 184-pound wrestler. And he was expected to be redshirted his first season, allowing the Lyndhurst, Ohio, native to mature before jumping onto the mat for team competitions.

Instead, he’s Ohio’s starter at the 197-pound spot and will take an 8-15 record into Ohio’s dual meet tonight at Virginia Tech.

It certainly hasn’t been the year Iammarino expected, but he said he’s trying to make the most of it.

“I realized I had the potential to start, and I kind of embraced it,” he said. “It’s made me work harder in the weight room and in the wrestling room.”

At the beginning of the season, Ohio coach Joel Greenlee had projected freshman Justin Powell to start at the 197-pound division. Powell, however, contracted a staph infection in his knee during the preseason and has been forced to sit out the
entire year.

Iammarino then wrestled against fellow 197-pound freshman Tim Samson for the starting spot and came out on top. He wrestled in the first meet of the year for Ohio and has since missed only
two matches.

“I’ve learned what you can and can’t do and what you can expect at the college level,” Iammarino said. “It’s really a huge jump (from high school).”

Iammarino and Greenlee agreed that his days as a 184-pound wrestler are finished. Early in the preseason before his role as the 197-pound performer became clear, Iammarino tried to cut his weight to wrestle at 184 pounds, but he instead chose to gain weight.

Greenlee said that Iammarino probably falls somewhere in between the weight divisions with his body type, but can still succeed at the 197-pound level.

“When he gets into a singlet, he looks like a 197-pounder,” Greenlee said.

As the season progresses, Greenlee said he hopes Iammarino will continue to improve with his confidence. Eight of Iammarino’s matches this season have been decided by two points or less, and Greenlee said a surge in confidence could turn some of those close matches into narrow wins later in Iammarino’s career.

Iammarino said that the more times he is faced with a down-to-the-wire match, the more comfortable he feels when the situation arises again.

“It’s really a lot more nerve-racking than high school,” he said. “I have to remember to stay calm and have faith in myself.”