2019 Season Recap

The 2019 season was the inaugural season for the Buckeyes in the Big Ten Division of the CWPA. After eight successful seasons in the Great Lakes division, a move to the Big Ten was decided upon by the team and approved by the CWPA.

As they’ve done the past few seasons, the Buckeyes began the year hosting the Labor Day Tournament at the McCorkle Aquatic Pavilion. This tournament brought masters and junior teams from Columbus, Big Ten competitor Michigan State, and D3 Club powerhouse Washington University in St. Louis. In order to work on team chemistry on a team of 40+ members, the Buckeyes split into two even teams to face the competition. The Buckeyes went 3-4-1 between the two teams against all of the competition.

Next up was a preseason tournament at Michigan State, where the Buckeyes would play a slew of Michigan teams. First up was that Team Up North, and the Buckeyes came away with a 12-9 win. The second game of the day was MSU Alumni, and the Buckeyes eked out a 13-12 win. In the third game of the day, the Buckeyes ran out of steam against the host Spartans and fell 6-13. The next morning, the Buckeyes dispatched the Ann Arbor masters team 18-9 to round out the weekend.

To end the first half of the season, the Buckeyes traveled to the University of Tennessee for their annual Hillbilly Invite. After a more grueling start to the season, the Buckeyes defeated the host Volunteers, Bluff City Masters, University of Kentuckey, the Nashville Waves, and the Charlotte Sharks by a combined margin of 62-7 to win the tournament.

The second half of the season means Big Ten competition has begun. The Buckeyes returned to Michigan State for the first conference weekend. The weekend started with an overtime loss against the Spartans(12-13), followed by wins over MSU B(8-3), Purdue(16-6), and Northwestern(12-3). The following weekend, the Buckeyes headed to Indiana for the crossover tournament. Four games ended in four wins for the Buckeyes with victories over Indiana (17-5), Iowa (forfeit), Wisconsin (10-8), and Illinois (12-7) to end the regular season with a 7-1 record in Big Ten competition.

Heading into Big Ten Championships at Purdue, the Buckeyes were the #2 seed. The Buckeyes opened up the weekend with a 14-6 win over Indiana to set up a semifinal matchup with the Badgers of Wisconsin. In a high scoring affair, the Buckeyes emerged victorious with a 17-13 win to earn a spot in the Big Ten title game against Michigan State. In a back and forth game filled with physicality and high-level water polo, the Buckeyes ultimately fell 10-13 to finish second in their first year in the Big Ten. The Spartans went on to finish 5th at the Collegiate Club National Championships.

In the post season conference awards, the Buckeyes filled the list. Junior Drew Wilson was awarded MVP as well as first team all-Big Ten and was joined on first team with senior Alex Puthoff and junior Lance Bockbrader. The Buckeyes also earned a nomination on the second team, with junior goalie Alex Rabe nabbing the award.

Overall, it was a very successful year for the Buckeyes with a 2nd place finish in the Big Ten and a 20-7-1 record for the season.