Ohio State coach Tom Ryan undergoes succesful surgery, Hofstra's Dennis Papadatos says

Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan underwent successful surgery following his automobile accident, Hofstra coach Dennis Papadatos said.

The Pride coach has been in touch with Ryan’s family and said the road to recovery is ongoing, but things are looking up for the Buckeyes coach. Ryan, who coached at Hofstra before going to Columbus, always maintained a great connection with his first head coaching gig.

Ohio State also released a statement Tuesday saying Ryan suffered non-life threatening injuries.

“Update. All surgeries successful today. Another long day tomorrow. But so far road to recovery is moving along,” Papadatos wrote on Twitter late Tuesday night. “Nothing real new. His wife was with him last night. And he is back with docs today for another long day, but expectations and spirits are high.

“He has his loved ones there. And our Love from the wrestling world. I believe it should be just time recovery after today. (Fingers crossed emoji).”

Ryan is a legend in the wrestling community. He holds a 322-150-2 career record in duals as a head coach, including a 213-68 record with Ohio State.

He was inducted into the Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame in 2023 and coaches to this day. He went into the Hofstra Hall of Fame that same year.

Ohio State won the 2015 national title under Ryan’s guidance and were also national runner-ups in 2008, 2009, 2017, 2018 and 2019.

Ryan was named the National Coach of the Year in 2009 and 2015 and the Big Ten Coach of the Year in 2015, 2017 and 2018.

Speaking with On3 last summer, Ryan was emphatic about college wrestling creating a dual meet championship.

“So I think that wrestling is the greatest sport on Earth,” Ryan told On3. “And I think that we need a plan which we don’t really have, in my opinion, we don’t have a plan. The focus of the season should be about what team wins their dual meet conference championship. That weekend should be the same for every conference. We have a build up. There should be an RPI for teams. And if you win your conference, you get an automatic bid into the National Dual Meet Championship. 

“There are also wildcards. If you’re in the Big Ten and you’re ranked fourth in the country, but your third in your conference, you may get a wildcard into the National Dual Meet Championship. So there’s no question we need a dual meet championship.”