With January in the rearview mirror, Ohio State wrestling coach Tom Ryan is still trying to get a grip on his team’s talent level.

Ryan saw his team go 2-3 that month, including the program’s first victory over Iowa since 1966. Nine days later, though, the Buckeyes lost 34-9 at Penn State, leaving Ryan to compare his team with January gym enrollees.

“Can you do that every morning, or is it a once-in-a-while thing?” he said. “When it’s all the time, the law of consistency is in effect. It’s not yet. The law of inconsistency is in effect for us right now.”

The sixth-ranked Buckeyes will continue to seek that answer on Friday with a home meet against No. 8 Michigan at which assistant football coach Luke Fickell will serve as honorary coach.

Although freshman Hunter Stieber said the rivalry on the mat does not equal the one in football, the match will serve as another chance for Ohio State to get back on track.

“We still don’t want to lose to them,” Stieber said. “It’s still a rivalry, but not like Iowa because they’re always on top. Michigan, they’re good, but they’re never one of the top teams. We’re trying to prepare like we did for Iowa. All week, we were hyped up for it and ready, and then once we stepped on the mat, we were ready to go.”

Ryan said the week of practice after the Iowa victory showed no signs of an imminent letdown. Although the loss to the Nittany Lions resulted in a gamut of excuses for the team’s performance, Ryan was able to draw one conclusion — and it came from an earlier loss against Iowa.

Sophomore Joe Grandominico turned in a scrappy performance against the Hawkeyes, moving up two weight classes to take on Ethen Lofthouse. Grandominico lost 7-1, but he inspired his teammates.

Such a performance was missing against Penn State.

“You do not need to be an expert in the sport of wrestling to be able to spot passion,” Ryan said. “There was none of it to be found at Penn State, and that’s what frustrated me the most.”

Against Michigan, the Buckeyes will regain the services of 149-pound freshman Cam Tessari, who did not wrestle against the Nittany Lions after winning his match against the Hawkeyes. Ryan said the 14th-ranked Tessari is not quite 100 percent but will wrestle. Ryan pointed to Tessari’s match with fifth-ranked Eric Grajales as pivotal.

Likewise, Ryan said the Buckeyes need seventh-ranked Nick Heflin to defeat sixth-ranked Justin Zeerip at 174 pounds for the team to win the meet. Those are the types of matches the Buckeyes lost against Penn State.

“It was frustrating because we go from a high to a low, but we know we’re right there,” team captain Logan Stieber said. “We just have to make a few adjustments. If we win a couple toss-up matches, it’s a lot closer.”

ajardy@dispatch.com