Jesse Mendez 'puts on a show' during freshman Ohio State wrestling season

As the lights went down, Ohio State freshman Jesse Mendez sauntered into the Covelli Center to Johnny Cash’s “God’s Gonna Cut You Down,” head held high, oozing confidence and swagger.

It didn’t matter that Michigan State wrestler Rayvon Foley had five more seasons of experience under his belt or that he was an NCAA All-American. To Mendez, Foley was just a body in the way of another victory.

“When people have swagger, it’s because they believe, right?” Ohio State associate head coach J Jaggers said. “And he believes because there’s no evidence of the contrary.”

Mendez took care of Foley, securing his fourth takedown of the match in the final seconds of the third period before standing up, offering the crowd an “O-H” and strolling away with his 11th win in 12 matches.

This is just who Mendez is: strong, determined, unafraid, living in what Ohio State coach Tom Ryan calls the perfect space between optimism and reality in his freshman season, but with no satisfaction.

“He’s an assassin,” Ryan said. “That’s his mindset. He’s just growth mindset, anything it takes. Whatever, whenever. Not afraid of challenge, no fear of losing. You watch him compete, you see more love than fear. He wants to put on a show.”

Jesse Mendez adapts to Ohio State's wrestling room

Entering Ohio State, the top recruit in the 2022 class had four state titles, losing only one of his 158 matches for Crown Point High School in Indiana.

Mendez saw Ohio State as the stepping stone he needed.

“When you are surrounded by people that have the same mindset as you,” he said, “it only kind of encourages you to get better.”

Better is all Mendez wanted to be. And better is what Ryan expects his wrestlers to be, because even an athlete with Mendez's resume cannot cruise to victories at the college level.

“You come into the room and people you have never heard of are giving you really tough goes,” said Ohio State assistant coach and four-time national champion Logan Stieber. “People that you’ve heard of, but didn’t think were that good are beating you. You’re like, ‘OK, I need to get better.’ ”

Sammy Sasso has been through this same process. He too picked Ohio State based on a gut feeling, saying he “felt the love” from the Buckeyes coming from Nazareth, Pennsylvania.

He remembers ups and downs, coming in as the best wrestler in his high school room and turning into someone who had to “fight and claw” against wrestlers like Stieber, Joey McKenna and Micah Jordan.

“Just how to fight,” Sasso said of what he learned as a young Ohio State wrestler. “Just being in an atmosphere where you’re not the best guy in the room. You got to keep climbing and fighting every single day.”

It’s those ups and downs Sasso sees Mendez navigating, so Sasso is doing whatever he can for the Ohio State freshman, pushing him on the practice mat. The two also gravitated toward each other due to their similar mindsets and competitive spirit.

With that competitive mindset, Mendez said he’s turned into a completely different wrestler in his short time at Ohio State, diversifying his offense and improving his defense.

“Everybody’s going to be gritty,” Mendez said. “Everybody’s tough wrestling in the NCAA. So just being a little bit more diligent and just getting tougher. I got the guys in the room to do it and the coaches to help me. It was a pretty easy transition.”

'Jesse Mendez is a bad man'

For Mendez, confidence came first.

In the first week of summer workouts, Jaggers said he remembers the coaches discussing what the plan was for the 133-pound weight class and who would redshirt for the upcoming season.

Mendez wouldn't hear of that.

“Day one, he’s like, ‘I’m wrestling,’ ” Jaggers said.

Mendez followed up that bold statement with a first-place finish at the MSU Open, beating two top-20 wrestlers at 133 for his first collegiate event win.

Even after his first loss of the season — a 3-2 decision against No. 19 Sam Latona of Virginia Tech — along with a month sidelined due to injury, Mendez began to cruise, earning five-straight victories since his return against Indiana Jan. 8.

The streak was broken in Ohio State's home match against Penn State on Friday, losing 8-2 to Roman Bravo-Young, the No. 1 wrestler in the country. Mendez bounced back against Northwestern, earning a sudden-victory win against Northwestern All-American Chris Cannon.

Mendez is the first-ever Ohio State freshman to earn a “black shirt,” to signify earning his place as one of the top wrestlers in the room after breaking the top-10 national ranking nine matches into his collegiate career.

“He works really, really hard and he really, really wants to learn,” Stieber said. “He’s been really receptive to teaching, so that’s been cool. He’s learned a lot quickly.”

Mendez is not close to where he wants to be. His sights are set on an NCAA title.

But even as the matches get tougher in Big Ten play and as his first tournament approaches, Mendez said he doesn’t feel much pressure.

“It’s more so excitement,” Mendez said. “I’m excited to get these top-10 matches and wrestle the best in the country."

That’s the wrestler Ryan has come to know: one who is still getting tested but who doesn’t get too high or too low. To Ryan, Mendez is already a leader.

Isaac Wilcox saw this right away.

From the first day he met Mendez, the Ohio State junior said Mendez was turning heads, something Wilcox doesn’t see stopping anytime soon.

“Jesse Mendez is a bad man,” Wilcox said with a smirk. “I wouldn’t want to mess with him.”

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Jesse Mendez 'puts on a show' as Ohio State wrestling freshman