The Bobcats experienced defeat for the first time in a dual this season at the Virginia Duals Wrestling Tournament.
After starting the season 6-0, Ohio (7-2) went 1-2 on Friday and Saturday, beating UC Davis 29-12 but losing to Edinboro (20-12) and Kent State (33-9).
I thought our guys competed super-hard
coach Joel Greenlee said. Edinboro was a (good) dual. We were right in it until the end.
The Fighting Scots and Golden Flashes, who as of Tuesday were respectively ranked 19th and 20th in the nation by intermatwrestle.com, were too much for a Bobcats squad missing two of its best athletes.
Junior Germane Lindsey and redshirt senior Jacob Ison were injured and did not compete. Lindsey is ranked 14th in the country at 141 pounds by intermatwrestle.com. Ison is one of Ohio's most experienced wrestlers and a team leader.
We were pretty beat up Greenlee said. (Ison is) one of our best guys. He's a guy we count on for a win almost every time out there.
Redshirt sophomore Darrin Boing wrestled in place of Lindsey and went 1-1, losing a 4-0 decision to Joel Webster of Edinboro and winning a 9-7 decision over Sean Collins over Kent State.
The Bobcats got solid performances from their key players over the weekend, but none managed to string enough good matches together to boost Ohio to more than one win.
Redshirt junior Quentin Keyes, senior Seth Morton and redshirt senior Clay Tucker all went 2-1.
Nick Purdue, ranked 20th by intermatwrestle.com, finished the weekend 1-1 and Erik Schuth, ranked 14th, went 2-0.
Heavyweight Andy Hartshorn was winless in two tries on the first day.
Greenlee said that along with injuries, Ohio is not well suited to dual meets.
You can be a little bit better of a tournament team than you can be a dual meet team he said. That might be a little bit of the case with us right now.
The Bobcats now take a break from traveling as they host two matches this weekend. They will have to wait until February, though, for their chance to redeem themselves against the Mid-American Conference rival Golden Flashes.
We don't really care for Kent State too much
fifth-year senior Ison said.
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Sports
Nathaniel Maund
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