Jim Jordan, Ohio congressman and former Ohio State coach, key in Strauss doc

• A new HBO documentary, “Surviving Ohio State,” alleges that Congressman Jim Jordan knew about sexual abuse perpetrated by Ohio State physician Richard Strauss.
• The documentary includes footage of Jordan denying the allegations in previous interviews.

Jim Jordan, a former Ohio State assistant wrestling coach who is now a U.S. congressman, has long denied any knowledge of the decades of sexual abuse perpetrated by Richard Strauss during his tenure as an Ohio State physician.

But “Surviving Ohio State,” a new documentary produced by George Clooney that aired on HBO June 17, alleges Jordan and many other coaches and administrators within Ohio State were very much aware.

Multiple wrestlers and a referee told filmmakers that Jordan was aware of Strauss’ abuse. Jordan declined to be interviewed for the documentary.

HBO’s Surviving Ohio State: We watched HBO’s Surviving Ohio State documentary: Here’s what you need to know

“Chairman Jordan never saw or heard of any abuse, and if he had, he would have dealt with it,” Russell Dye, a spokesman for Jordan, told The Dispatch.

Dan Ritchie, who wrestled at Ohio State from 1988 to 1992, said Strauss would conduct unnecessary genital exams with ungloved hands.

Multiple wrestlers said Strauss would turn off the lights and use a flashlight to examine their genitals, and some said he would get so close to them that they could feel his breath on them. Wrestlers told the documentary filmmakers that people had nicknames for Strauss, such as “Dr. Fun Boy” and “Dr. Jelly Fingers.”

Ritchie recalled a conversation where Jordan said he wouldn’t allow Strauss to abuse him like others had.

Ritchie claimed Jordan, an assistant coach at the time, told wrestlers, “If he ever did that to me, I’d snap his neck like a stick of dry balsa wood.”

Frederick Feeney, a wrestling referee from 1988 to 2024, said that he once was showering after a match and Strauss began to shower right next to him. Feeney said that he saw Strauss begin to masturbate and when he turned away, Strauss grabbed his butt.

Feeney told filmmakers that he told both Jordan and former Buckeyes wrestling coach Russ Hellickson about the encounter. But Feeney said Jordan shrugged off the incident and said: “It’s Strauss, you know what he does.”

In interview footage with local and national news stations included in the documentary, Jordan denied that he knew about Strauss’ sexual abuse.

Former wrestler Adam DiSabato told filmmakers that when Jordan was accused of knowing about Strauss’ abuse, the congressman called him and asked him to stand up for him. Jordan, DiSabato said, cried on the phone and asked him to say publicly that he had no knowledge of the abuse.

DiSabato declined, he told filmmakers.

Hellickson, who served as the wrestling team’s head coach from 1986 to 2006, said in interview footage from 2018 that he wasn’t aware of abuse at the time it occurred. In the 2018 interview, Hellickson said he once approached Strauss about how he thought the doctor touched student athletes in a way that was “too invasive” and “too physical.”

How to get help and report sexual abuse by a medical professional

Dispatch investigative reporter Max Filby can be reached by email at mfilby@dispatch.com. Find him on X at the handle @MaxFilby or on Facebook at @ReporterMaxFilby.

(This story was updated to add a photo gallery and resources for survivors of sexual abuse.)