The Ohio wrestling team enters this Sunday's triangular with Cumberland College and Virginia Tech with a 9-8 record thus far in the 2005 season and a 2-1 Mid-American Conference record that lands them at third place in the MAC.
As they defeated Buffalo last weekend, 20-13, both 157-pound wrestler Jake Percival and 174-pound wrestler Ed Willis reached the 20-win mark on the season. After returning to the mat in January, Percival now holds a 20-2 record on the season while Willis has had a strong 20-13 showing.
For the third consecutive weekend 141-pound wrestler Jim Fowler will step in to replace starter Jon Spires who has yet to practice since suffering a knee injury at Northern Illinois.
Ohio coach Joel Greenlee commented this week about his team's progress heading into this Sunday's dual meets against the Patriots and Hokies.
We need to continue to improve as we have all season
Greenlee said. Since the Buckeye Duals we've improved by leaps and bounds and we spent some time talking about our intensity this week. We can wrestle with both teams this weekend; it just needs to be a total team effort for us as it usually is.
In the National Wrestling Coaches Association's latest poll, released Jan. 25, two Virginia Tech wrestlers were ranked within the nation: 133-pound wrestler David Hoffman at No. 8 and heavyweight wrestler Michael Faust at No. 19.
Hoffman holds a 27-3 record on the season with a 79-18 career standing; he has also recorded 14 pins this year, only one behind the Hokies all time record. At 23-5 this season, Faust is not a completely new face to the Bobcats.
Ohio's heavyweight wrestler Jeremiah Beltran is familiar with Faust, although it has been some time since the two have been at the same competition.
I'm looking forward to wrestling Faust Beltran said. I haven't seen him wrestle much since my senior year in high school. That year we wrestled in Fargo at the national tournament.
The Bobcats play host to the Cumberland Patriots and Virginia Tech Hokies at noon and 4 p.m., respectively, Sunday in the Convo.
-Katie Carrera
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Katie Carrera
