The best wrestling talent in the country packed into Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City on Thursday, as the 2014 NCAA Championships began day one of its grueling three-day process to find the nation’s ten national champions.
A school-record six Ohio wrestlers entered that into that foray, and after two rounds of competition, an impressive total of four remained in contention for national placement.
Redshirt senior Jeremy Johnson (heavyweight), junior Tywan Claxton (149), and redshirt sophomores Phil Wellington (197) and Cody Walters (174) all posted a win and a loss on Thursday, staying alive and advancing to the third session of competition, beginning Friday at 10 a.m. Spartak Chino (157) and Harrison Hightower (165) each went 0-2, and were eliminated from the tournament, ending their respective seasons.
Despite the promising finish, the day got off to a sluggish start for the Bobcats, with just two wrestlers in Johnson and Wellington winning their respective first matches. Johnson defeated Blake Herrin of American in the first round with a 4-1 decision before falling 3-1 Mike McClure of Michigan State.
McClure has been a thorn in Johnson’s side throughout his career. Johnson is now 0-4 against the Spartan heavyweight, with two losses in Michigan State Open tournaments, and one loss in a dual meet last season. The offending dual meet would go on to be the last dual loss for Johnson in his Bobcat career.
Wellington knocked off Harvard’s James Fox 6-5, but was upset by Cody Reed of Binghamton 4-0 in the second round.
Claxton was the first wrestler of the day for Ohio, and dropped a narrow 3-1 decision to defending national champion Kendric Maple of Oklahoma. Claxton bounced back in round two to defeat West Virginia’s Mike Morales 4-3. Also bouncing back from an early defeat was Walters, who lost an overtime match to MAC rival Cody Caldwell of Northern Iowa, but came back with a pin in the second round to advance to day two of competition.
Hightower and Chino had the two most lopsided losses for the team in round one. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, those defeats carried over into the evening round. Chino was pinned in the first round by Minnesota’s two-time All-American Dylan Ness, then fell 10-6 in an overtime match against Marcus Schiedel of Columbia. Hightower dropped a major decision 11-0 to Cornell’s Dylan Palacio in the first round, before losing a much closer 2-1 decision to former Virginia Tech teammate Chris Moon.
Walters has arguably the most anticipated start to his day tomorrow, as he will wrestle Central Michigan’s Mike Ottinger for the third time this season. Walters defeated Ottinger for the MAC title two weeks ago. Meanwhile, Claxton has another high profile opponent on the way in No. 2 Chris Villalonga.
Johnson will open competition against Virginia Tech’s No. 20 Ty Walz tomorrow, while Phil Wellington will begin with No. 16 Jace Bennett of Cornell.
To earn All-American status, the remaining Bobcats must go 2-0 tomorrow, guaranteeing them a top-eight finish. A loss on day one eliminates them from national title contention.
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