Mattaus Rammel’s Splash of Success: Ohio State Beckons Two Weeks Post-Juniors Triumph

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Mattaus Rammel, representing the New Wave Swim Team in Raleigh, North Carolina, has verbally pledged to enroll at Ohio State University in the fall of 2026. His commitment follows a remarkable performance in the 100 fly at the Winter Junior Championships – East meet in Greensboro earlier this month.

During that meet, Rammel clinched victory in the B Final and secured 9th place in the 100 fly with a time of 47.25. This marked an impressive improvement of 1.7 seconds, surpassing his previous personal best of 48.91 from early November of this year. Throughout this season, he has improved his time by over two seconds compared to his best time entering the fall.

Along the way, he equaled the North Carolina Swimming LSC 15-16 record in that event – Noah Henderson also recorded 47.25 in 2018.

Rammel is considered a developmental swimmer for the Buckeyes and is somewhat of a late bloomer. As one of the younger team members, he won’t turn 17 until May.

He had a long course entry in that Winter Juniors meet for the 100 fly and used the Bonus standard to qualify for another individual event, the 50 free, where he also achieved a personal best of 20.70.

Even though Rammel did not qualify to swim the 100 free individually at the meet, he clocked a split time of 44.10 as an anchor on a 400 medley relay, which is 1.4 seconds faster than his lifetime best from a flat start.

Rammel is a student at the Ravenscroft School, where he is the reigning North Carolina Private Schools D1 State Champion in the 50 free.

Best Times in Yards:

• 50 free – 20.70
• 100 free – 45.53
• 100 fly – 47.25
• 200 fly – 1:51.34
• 100 back – 50.76

Rammel represents the first publicly announced commitment for the Buckeyes men’s team in the class of 2026 – an unusually delayed start for a squad that finished 13th at the prior year’s NCAA Championship meet.

The current Ohio State butterfly team is youthful, spearheaded by freshman Matthew Klinge, who recorded a time of 46.21 at the Ohio State Invitational in November. Klinge has already improved his performance by over a second in the event during his freshman year at Ohio State, putting him in 10th place in the Big Ten this season. This is a notable advancement for the Buckeyes, who are striving to keep pace with the leading teams in the conference, specifically Indiana and Michigan – Indiana’s Finn Brooks has clocked 45.15 this season.

They are bringing in Ethan Reniweicki (47.48) among a talented group of sprint flyers in the class of 2025, but Rammel’s performance earlier this month is set to make him a significant contributor for the Buckeyes upon his arrival in a season and a half.

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