The Ohio wrestling team competed Sunday in what has been dubbed in the wrestling world as “The Toughest Tournament in the USA” — the Reno Tournament of Champions in Reno, Nev.
Ohio placed eighth out of 20 teams in the tournament that spanned 12 hours on Sunday. The Bobcats finished ahead of schools such as Air Force, Boise State, Arizona State and Stanford.
Gaining the most points for the Bobcats were ranked wrestlers No. 13 Nick Purdue (174-pound class), the undefeated,No. 5 Jeremy Johnson (heavyweight), who entered the open with a nine-bout winning streak. Johnson, however, saw his streak end in the semifinals in the 285-pound bracket.
Purdue advanced farther than any Ohio wrestler, as he reached the finals in the 174-pound weight class. Purdue won his first three matches by a combined 16 points after falling in the final match to top-seeded Ryan DesRoaches from Cal Poly.
Johnson began the day ranked third in the heavyweight class. After winning his first three bouts fairly easily, Johnson sparred with No. 2 seeded Clayton Jack from Oregon State.
After trading points in each round of the semifinal bout, Johnson fell in the final round and lost 7-5, as he dropped a match for the first time in 12 outings.
Ohio’s other heavyweight wrestler, Andy Hartshorn, dropped his first match of the day, but went on to win his next three bouts in the consolation bracket and finished 3-2 on the day.
Other Bobcat wrestlers finishing with winning records were Harrison Hightower (157 pounds) at 3-2 and Darrin Boing (141 pounds) with a 4-2 record in the open.
Beau Wenger (197 pound) and Ryan Garringer (184 pound) also won two matches each for Ohio.
Although the Bobcats finished in eighth place overall with 48 points — only half a point ahead of Air Force — they were 118 points behind first place Oklahoma State. Other teams finishing ahead of Ohio were Wyoming, Oregon State, Michigan State and West Virginia.
The Bobcats will not compete again until New Year’s Day, when they will travel to Chattanooga, Tenn. for the two-day long Southern Scuffle.
