OSU’s Voinovich, starter at 149 pounds, to enter transfer portal sports

Daniel Allen Staff Reporter

The starting spot at 149-pounds now holds a vacancy in the OSU wrestling program.

On Wednesday evening, former 149-pound starter, Victor Voinovich entered the transfer portal, per OWrestle’s Seth Duckworth.

A prized recruit out of high school, Voinovich committed to OSU as part of the 2021 class, ranked No. 1 in his weight class.

Voinovich redshirted his true freshman season with the Cowboys before going 17-13 overall – 10-7 in duals – his second year in 202223. He qualified for the NCAA Tournament, before going 2-2 in nationals. His brother, Kael, was a state champion for Stillwater High School in 2022 and is currently rated as a top 10 in the 150-pound high school weight class. His future with the Cowboy wrestling program remains uncertain.

Voinovich becomes the fourth OSU wrestler to enter the portal -- joining Travis Mastrogiovanni, Colt Newton and Chance McClane – and the first starter for the Cowboys from this past season to announce his intentions to transfer.

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Paddack played french horn in junior high and high school before channeling his love of heavy metal into a passion for electric guitar.

“I’ve been an enthusiastic listener of heavy metal for a really long time,” Paddack said. “ So electric guitar was a natural choice.”

Rowley started his music career early in concert and jazz band before playing bass in his high school basketball band. He was looking for the perfect opportunity to get back into music.

“I’ve been playing guitar for a while, and when I got to college, I never really had a good reason to pick it up,” Rowley said. “I was itching for a reason to pick it back up and play for people.”

Miller played trombone for two years before exploring writing and producing his music. For him, music has the potential to be more than just a fun side gig.

“If I could choose anything to do as a career, it would be just doing music,” Miller said.

Their individual talent made combining their musical abilities into a stacked setlist easy. The band rehearsed twice a week for over two hours to prep for their show, and as time passed, the band found their collective sound.

“It feels very natural to make music with them, and honestly, it felt like it came together really well,” Paddack said. “I think we all jive as musicians really well.”

“We’ve got some pretty talented people, and I’m not saying we didn’t have to work for it,” Rowley said.

The band is working on assembling an album of their original songs after debuting multiple at their shows.

“We’re planning on recording some music,” Paddack said. “Hopefully, we’ll have a single out by the beginning of summer and then maybe a five or six-song EP this fall.”

A single and an EP are just the first steps for the band. They plan on playing multiple shows over the summer and expanding their reach.

“As soon as the summer starts, we’re going to start going around OKC because that’s a bit bigger of a venue,” Williams said.

OKC is not the furthest their dreams stretch, as the band is looking to take it as far as they can.

“We’re going to try to take this as far as we can and just see where it goes,” Paddack said.

As the band prepares for their final show of the semester this Friday, they are finishing strong, knowing that this band has reignited their college experience.

“I just feel like I’m having way more fun,” Paddack said. “ It’s really crazy to just go and play shows in front of my friends and then play music with a group of dudes I really like.”

Rowley has never loved practicing music more.

“Monday night rolls around, and it’s good time you just go jam with,” Rowley said. “You know, three of your buddies for two hours, and that’s a good time.”

Miller found a home for his love of music.

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“It’s changed tenfold,” said Williams. I finally was able to find people who are really committed to wanting to play.”

Williams is fulfilling a lifelong dream.

“It’s a realization of a dream that I’ve had for a long time, so it’s very fulfilling, and it’s very exciting,” Williams said. “ We’re just on the very tip of what’s to come, so that’s awesome.”

Strawberry Blonde performs this Friday at 9 p.m. at Coney Island. Plans are already in the works for a backto-school bash, and updates can be found @strawberryblondeband on Instagram.