Let the music begin.

The Ohio State University Marching Band named its full roster of 228 music-playing members on Monday night after a tryout process that began on Thursday. Combined with two drum majors, four members of the drum major training squad and 12 members of student staff, the band will have 244 students in full uniform on Ohio State football gamedays this fall.

“I’m really proud of all of our students, who worked exceedingly hard over the last several days — and many of them over the entire summer,” said Dr. Christopher Hoch, director of Marching and Athletic Bands at Ohio State. “They’re really pushing to make this band the best that it can be.”

Unlike the 2020 season, which saw the number of students in the band slightly altered due to the pandemic, the 144th edition of the band in 2021 will feature a return to the normal allotment of band members and instruments. Each row in the band will feature 14 members, with the exception of J Row, which — as normal —has 18 (six each on tenor drums, bass drums and cymbals).

Members of the 2021 band come from 12 different states: Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, Virginia and Washington. Forty-three different students are newcomers to the band this year.

For the first time in decades, the band also includes sixth-year students in 2021. Students have only been allowed five years of eligibility since the 1970s, but anyone who made the band in 2020 did not have that season count toward their five-year total. Sixth-year members in 2021 will be Geneviève Gray, Cody Harris, Josh Oconer, Jeremy Parr, Parker Stephens and Dawson Taylor.

Tryouts started Thursday with the band’s 33 music-playing squad leaders officially earning their new positions. On Friday and Saturday, the band held Candidate Days for every student who would be a first-year member of the band in 2021. On Sunday, the full group of registered participants joined for the scored segment of tryouts.

Despite rain delays on Monday pausing the third round of marching auditions for an hour, the completed band was announced to students at 10:30 p.m. in Ohio Stadium.

More than 400 students registered for marching band tryouts this year.

All participants performed their music auditions while wearing special musician masks on Sunday morning with independent, fully masked music professionals. After their music scores were in, students then took part in four separate marching tryouts over the course of the next two days. Marching tryouts are scored by the band’s squad leaders. Once all marching scores are in, the directing staff begins making up the band’s final roster by weighing each candidate’s music score and marching scores.

In 2020, the band was created using only virtual music auditions and no marching auditions.

The first members of the 2021 band were new drum majors Austin Bowman and Dalton Cararo, who officially won their spots in May.

The band does not waste time in beginning its preparation for the 2021 season. Rehearsals begin on Tuesday with three-a-days for the remainder of the week. The band’s normal rehearsal schedule (Monday-Friday, 4:10-6:15 p.m.) commences on August 23.

The band will be attending Ohio State home football games in 2021 and resuming its popular Skull Session performance before kickoff on gamedays. Skull Sessions begin at St. John Arena two hours and 20 minutes before kickoff of each game.

Seven brand-new halftime shows are in the works, with the first debuting on September 11 as the Buckeyes take on Oregon. The band also plans to travel to the football game against Michigan on November 27.

The band’s 2021 Reunion Weekend featuring the Alumni Marching Band will be held on September 25 when Ohio State football plays Akron. This year’s performance marks the alumni’s 52nd reunion and first since 2019.

“This was probably the most competitive tryout we’ve had in my time here,” Hoch said. “We’re really excited to get back to what we normally do and cheer on the team on gameday.”

TBDBITL 144 Members
Newcomers in italics

A Row
Squad Leader: Jamie Bossenbroek
Assistant Squad Leader: Jacob Haehn
Andrew Olszewski
Justin Barnes
Bobby Petty
Jordan Bechtol
Taylor Klunk
Emily Doleh
Kylie Long
Austin Riegle
Kevin Agyekum
Kyle Macatangay
Chris Becker
Spencer Hurt

B Row
Squad Leader: Sam Howard
Assistant Squad Leader: Jacob Ryan
Julia Moxley
Luke Atkins
Josh Oconer
Kylie Hicks
Blake Hassay
Ann Stallsmith
Ruth Bonnice
Arianna Goodrich
Adam Wells
Nick Routh
Eric Pattison
Dillon Portz

C Row
Squad Leader: Shaylin Adams
Assistant Squad Leader: Mallory Cooper
Tyler Kotaka
Cody Harris
Owen Hennessey
Jackson Chapman
Parker Stephens
Noah Bungart
Nathan Hochstetler
Anastasia Muenz
Mia Craigo
Emma Dixon
Alex Britt
Payton Greulich

D Row
Head Drum Major: Austin Bowman
Assistant Drum Major: Dalton Cararo
Ethan Kelly
Jacob Radcliffe
Nick Ball
Ash Harmon

E Row
Squad Leader: Elizabeth Geil
Assistant Squad Leader: Dan Havens
Zachary Thompson
Anthony DeRosa
Matthew Friedman
Makenna Hack
Mackenzie Kazin
Ray Johnson
Kenneth Polta
Emma Brunswick
Crosbee Lisser
Robbie Chapman
Christopher White
Will McAuley

F Row
Squad Leader: Nathan Adkins
Assistant Squad Leader: Tori Mollenkopf
Hayden Hostetler
Katie Giffin
Richard Kane
Griffin Heintz
Alexander Myers
Phillip Brown
Zach Irwin
Ben Prochaska
Devin Fogerty
Owen Kovach
Charlotte Stefani
Hikari Nawa

H Row
Squad Leader: Colin Williams
Assistant Squad Leader: Hanna Hutchins
Jacob Carlson
Carter Bivens
Jaykuhn Song
Noah Tuggle
Carter Greenlees
Andrew Scott
Mark Kostyack
Alayah Robinson
Nicholas Gilicinski
Katie Reed
Zach Ferko
William Whitman

I Row
Squad Leader: Josh Drouillard
Assistant Squad Leader: Ryan Harris
Eric Vermillion
Justin Williams
Cameron Dhume
Ethan Laib
Thomas Agre
Faris Matus
Matthew Chalk
Richard Kelly
Brendan Barcus
Will Terrell
Nathaniel Criss
Isaiah Partridge

J Row
Squad Leader: Michael Mayer
Assistant Squad Leaders: Nate Gambill, Dan Rumpz
Abigail Dickman
Justin Monroe
Max Reynolds
Sarah Wood
Glenn Jenkins
Caleb Richardson
Michaela Poeppelmeier
Adam Mayo
Sophie Gallucci
Nathaniel Wise
Andrew Haines
Alex Burlison
Justin Boes
Samantha Manning
Ray Bertke

K Row
Squad Leader: Connor Oppy
Assistant Squad Leader: Avery Voress
Sam George
Dylan Penka
Katie Galuska
Michael Sterling
Chris Cortese
Zach de Mesa
Nick Pisanelli
Garrett Everhart
Austin Hare
Cameron Reinbolt
Brody Hyre
Noah Jockett

L Row
Squad Leader: Luke Isler
Assistant Squad Leader: Bradley Krak
Jake Blevins
Ryan Lannutti
Ethan Kowalski
Kamren Zirger
Andrew Moulas
Carter Tull
Ben Murawski
AJ Frasure
Max Cogswell
Isabel Slaven
Michael Troller
Andrew Boden

M Row
Squad Leader: Dawson Taylor
Assistant Squad Leader: Sawyer Heilshorn
Davis Aho
Xavier Lindenmayer
Selin Haas
Jacob English
Julie Stoffiere
Kamran Khorshidi
Patrick Rhonemus
Anthony Simon
Sean O’Brien
Zach Baruch
Bradley Sutton
Grace Bittence

Q Row
Squad Leader: Ben Stefanko
Assistant Squad Leader: Taylor Thompson
Olivia Carruthers
Colleen Conard
Matthew Lerner
Lindsey Spangler
Seth Lawhon
Katie Moore
Jordyn Murphy
Ethan Ours
Christian Smith
Joseph Wyler
Eric Oxsalida
Tristan Miller

R Row
Squad Leader: Nathan Stevens
Assistant Squad Leader: Scott Snyder
Jamey Boezi
Corbin Russ
Sarah Stewart
Sam Reikart
Olivia Sexton
Alex Mazik
Audrey Watkins
Geneviève Gray
Olivia Spradlin
Sarah Jones
Christina Sieger
Noah Krupa

S Row
Squad Leader: Joe Bertrand
Assistant Squad Leader: Brooke Butler
Brady Philipps
Kenneth Shafer
Ethan Rose
Matthew Curie
Nick Denino
Quentin Bouanna
Carter Smyke
Dylan Daugherty
Jeremy Bogen
Jacob Moore
Andrew Scherley
Colton New

T Row
Squad Leader: Jeremy Parr
Assistant Squad Leader: Christy Welder
Jacob Haines
Tommy Kasarcik
Jacob Hofer
Alex Kerns
Ben Dollenmayer
Bryce Morgensen
Will Altman
Nick Miller
Autumn Derosette
Jenna Chance
Stephen Gerstner
Jadyn Shipman
Max Hathaway

X Row
Squad Leader: Josh Coffey
Assistant Squad Leader: Vanessa Rivera
Eric Luman
Ella Wielinski
Alessandro Nocera
Zach Heffner
Andy Planitz
Evan Philipp
Matthew Brewer
Ian Bruns
Brenna Kitchen
Joey Caley
Brandon Jiang
Mark Michalke

Student Staff
Squad Leader: Jacob Glorioso
Assistant Squad Leader: Quintin O’Boyle
Sidney Apel
Madison DiCicco
Rachel Giffin
Brandon Holcomb
Jamel Lee
Lauren Lewis
Laurie McIlvenna
Alyson McMahon
Elizabeth Medina-Diaz
Aidan Pukansky