Ohio State freshman offensive lineman Austin Siereveld loses black stripe
COLUMBUS — Austin Siereveld became the third offensive lineman in the 2023 Ohio State class to lose his black stripe. Siereveld earned the post-practice honor Wednesday.
Siereveld hails from Liberty Township, Ohio, where he emerged as the No. 17 interior O-Line prospect this past cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which also ranked him as the No. 8 Ohio recruit.
Siereveld was a first-team All-Ohio and All-Southwest District selection. He ultimately chose the Buckeyes over Notre Dame and Alabama, even though his initial primary Ohio State recruiters — offensive line coach Greg Studrawa and defensive coordinator Kerry Coombs — were fired after the 2021 season.
The 6-foot-5, 317-pound Siereveld impressed this offseason, first in spring and then in training camp.
“All those guys, they’re just more comfortable playing the game,” offensive line coach Justin Frye said earlier this month, referencing Siereveld and his three fellow Ohio State true freshman O-Linemen. “They are more comfortable. It’s still scary for a young guy to look across and see like [defensive tackle] Mike Hall over there because Mike Hall’s a really good player. So you’ve gotta trust your technique, you’ve gotta trust your fundamentals. Early on, you don’t do that. You see Mike Hall, and you just say, ‘Oh, crap, I hope I block him.'”
Frye continued: “Now you can let your technique take you home, you can trust the scheme, you can get into it. Honestly, those guys that came mid-year with Miles [Walker] and with Austin or with Dilla (Josh Padilla) and with Luke [Montgomery], that was highly beneficial for those guys because they’ve got banked reps now. So they’re already a little bit ahead of the curve than a guy who would have got here in June or July.”
Montgomery was the first Ohio State offensive lineman in the class to lose his black stripe. Then it was Josh Padilla. And now Siereveld is officially a Buckeye, too.
Austin Siereveld third true freshman offensive lineman to shed black stripe
Sophomore offensive linemen George Fitzpatrick and Tegra Tshabola lost their black stripes the second week of this year’s spring practice, along with Ole Miss transfer cornerback Davison Igbinosun and true freshman wide receiver Carnell Tate. Oregon State transfer quarterback Tristan Gebbia shed his black stripe later in spring ball. And so did true freshman safety Malik Hartford and true freshman tight end Jelani Thurman.
Both transfer offensive linemen the Buckeyes brought in this offseason, Josh Simmons and Victor Cutler Jr., were the first Ohio State players to shed their black stripes in training camp. Then true freshman offensive tackle Luke Montgomery lost his, along with Ole Miss transfer defensive tackle Tywone Malone. After that, true freshman wide receiver Bryson Rodgers joined true freshman cornerback Jermaine Mathews in receiving the post-practice honor. Like Rodgers and Mathews, transfer cornerback Lorenzo Styles Jr. also lost his black stripe last week. The most recent black stripe honorees are wide receiver Noah Rogers, defensive tackle Kayden McDonald, offensive lineman Josh Padilla and wide receiver Brandon Inniss, linebacker/defensive end Arvell Reese — all true freshmen — plus Syracuse transfer safety Ja’Had Carter and Siereveld.
