Injuries and a tough draw stood in the way of the Bobcats at the Virginia Duals.
A first-round matchup with No. 8 Lehigh - the top-seeded team in the tournament - five starters not participating because of injuries and a young team were too much for the Bobcats as they finished 1-2 this weekend in Hampton, Va.
Two of the youngest wrestlers turned out to be the only positives in the Bobcats' first match.
Freshman Tim Silvers and redshirt-freshman Andy Hartshorn were the only two wrestlers to earn victories against Lehigh, which brought three wrestlers ranked in the top 16 in the country.
Silvers said that when you beat a wrestler on a top-10 team, it helps your confidence.
It helps a lot in the long run
Silvers said. It goes to show that the work we're doing throughout the week is really paying off.
Hartshorn said that when the team struggles, he just focuses on how he performs.
You just think how well you do not really anyone else Hartshorn said.
Coach Joel Greenlee said it's good to see young wrestlers getting better and becoming more consistent. He was especially pleased with how his young team responded in its first consolation match against Bucknell, in which they won four individual matches, but lost the match.
We had five starters out
Greenlee said. We have one more starter in there and we win the match
holy smokes
we win the dual.
The five starters that were absent were Matt Reedy (neck), Tommy Weinkam (back), Erik Shuth (rib), Dylan Wrage (knee) and Jacob Ison (knee).
Greenlee said he is trying to keep these guys as healthy as possible for the Mid-American Conference Tournament.
Silvers and Hartshorn had their eyes set on the MAC Tournament as well. They both said they felt that if they had a completely healthy team, they'd be more competitive.
I think we can compete with anybody in the MAC
Hartshorn said. Even Kent State and Central Michigan
who have been at the top of the MAC for the better part of a decade.
Ohio (5-4-1) faced North Dakota State in their final consolation match and defeated them. Six wrestlers picked up wins in the process.
I thought we did pretty well. Greenlee said.
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