Ohio lost to Central Michigan on Sunday 16-15.
After a convincing winter break with wins at Midlands and Eastern Michigan, Ohio (5-2, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) fell to Central Michigan in part to a tiebreaker on Sunday.
Central Michigan (5-1, 2-0 MAC) won the match points 39-36, defeating Ohio despite the two teams being knotted at 15 apiece. This opportunity was taken by the Chippewas when Newton Smerchek defeated Ohio's Jesse Webb, 2-1, in the heavyweight matchup.
Now halfway through the season and despite the loss, Ohio is ranked No. 21 in the country.
Throughout the first stretch of the the season, Bobcat freshmen Shakur Laney and Cameron Kelly have been good predictors of how Ohio will perform in its match.
Laney lost 9-2 to Central Michigan's Brent Fleetwood, and Kelly won 3-2 to Corey Keener.
The Bobcats started slow, falling 9-3 early with losses from Laney, Noah Forrider and Cullen Cummings losing their respected matchups. The Bobcats were able to recover but not enough to secure their second conference win.
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Redshirt senior, Spartak Chino, led the push with a 4-3 victory over Chippewa Luke Smith, who is ranked 9th in the country in the 157 weight class.
Ohio was also led by redshirt seniors Phil Wellington and Andrew Romanchik, both scoring victories.
Ohio will resume play against Kent State (8-3, 1-1 MAC) on Friday, Jan. 15 at The Convo.
@Pete_Nakos96
pn997515@ohio.edu
