Mark Coleman and Mike DiSabato, both former Ohio State wrestlers and central figures in the Dr. Richard Strauss sexual abuse case, recently sat down for an interview to discuss the abuse they endured, the process of coming forward, and the ongoing fight for justice.
Mark Coleman and Mike DiSabato on Dr. Richard Strauss
Mark Coleman, a UFC Hall of Famer, and DiSabato, a longtime wrestling coach and advocate, recounted how they and their teammates were victimized by Dr. Richard Strauss, who served as the university’s team physician from 1978 to 1998.
In the interview, Mark Coleman reflected on the lack of understanding about grooming and sexual abuse at the time, speaking in an interview with Ariel Helwani, he said:
“At the time, you know, this is 1986, Ariel. We didn’t know what we know now to be grooming and sexual abuse. We just thought it was some dude that was not right and enjoyed something that was not cool. But he was the doctor, and he was the guy that cleared us to wrestle. If you had injuries, you had to go to him. And very much like Larry Nassar, he was a friend. I mean, it’s a complicated thing to—when you look back at it.
“He earned our trust. And again, when you’ve got that varsity, you’ve got that Ohio State logo on your chest, and you’re a medical doctor—well, we were taught to follow the rules and do what they say you’re going to do. So, look, man, you needed this guy to compete. This guy’s got to sign you off. It’s that simple for me. I wanted to be a national champion. I wasn’t going to cause problems.”
Coleman and DiSabato described how their realization of the abuse came about after reading about the Larry Nassar scandal. DiSabato said:
“We were the first—Mark and I, just to play a little history—we’re sitting around in December of 2017, and he’s reading the newspaper, talking about Larry Nassar to me, because his daughter was a gymnast. And when he went into the details of what Nassar was doing—very similar, unnecessary genital exams—it just hit me like a ton of bricks, like, ‘That’s us, Mark.’
“And so we spent the next couple months speaking to the guys in our community, in our circle, just to reaffirm—I knew everyone went through the same thing, but it was one of those things where you just went to the guys and said, ‘Am I—this happened, right?’ And sure enough, it did.”
This process of reaching out to other survivors helped validate their experiences and led to a broader movement of former athletes coming forward. The scope of the abuse was staggering, with Mark Coleman and DiSabato emphasizing that it was not limited to wrestling but affected athletes across many sports. “We’re talking thousands. Every sport too, not just wrestling. This is an epidemic. It was an epidemic. It still is an epidemic—sexual assault,” DiSabato stated.
The two also highlighted the difficulty male survivors face in speaking out, particularly in the world of elite athletics. “It’s hard for people to talk about male-on-male sexual abuse, especially male-on-male elite male athlete sexual abuse. And so being here, it’s important to have this kind of conversation to say, you know, this [expletive] happens,” DiSabato said.
Surviving Ohio State: Inside the Fight for Justice and the HBO Documentary That Exposes It All
Reflecting on the trauma and the institutional failures at Ohio State, both men expressed a sense of betrayal. “I first met him when I was 14. He did body fat tests. And he wanted to see our testicles at 14 years old,” DiSabato recalled.
The documentary, Surviving Ohio State, produced by George Clooney and directed by Eva Orner, features interviews with Coleman and other survivors and will be available for streaming on HBO (Max) starting June 17. The fight for justice remains ongoing, with Mark Coleman and DiSabato adamant about holding the university accountable.
Ohio State Survivors Speak Out
“I’m a fighter. I’m not going to quit. They offered you whatever, $150,000—yeah, I think the average was $200,000, $220,000. I want paid for what happened. I mean, the only way you hold power accountable is you hit them in the pocketbook, right?” said Coleman.
Both men also discussed the emotional toll of coming forward, noting that the trauma of speaking out and dealing with institutional resistance was often worse than the original abuse. “Part of me is more upset with—one of the victims said to me, which I think is telling: ‘Strauss—we’re survivors of Strauss, but almost what’s happened since Strauss, that’s been more disappointing than actually, in my personal situation, the trauma that’s come after coming forward was a hell of a lot worse than the trauma of actually dealing with him,’” DiSabato shared.
Mark Coleman and DiSabato emphasized the importance of honesty and truth-telling. “You’ve got to sometimes get uncomfortable to become comfortable. And, you know, Mike said, ‘Let’s—maybe make a video, me, Mike, and Russ Helix, the head coach of Ohio State.’ And I was very nervous that day. I remember telling Russ, ‘I’m pretty nervous. I don’t know if I should do this.’ And he just looked at me and said, ‘Well, just tell the truth and everything, it’ll be okay.’”
