Despite its best efforts, Ohio was unable to shake off host Gardner-Webb on Sunday, losing 24-12 and dropping its second of two duals on the road this weekend.
Ohio lost Friday to Mid-American Conference opponent Old Dominion by a single match point. A win Friday night would have given the Bobcats (7-7, 4-4 MAC) their fifth conference win in consecutive years.
Much like Friday’s dual, Ohio got off to a hot start with two wins in three matches coming from Hayden Lee (125 lbs) and Cameron Kelly (133). Redshirt junior Noah Forrider (149) was the only other Bobcat to earn a win Sunday.
With a 12-3 lead after Forrider’s win, again, eerily similar to Friday’s dual, the Bobcats fell apart. Ohio lost the last six matches of the dual by a combined score of 48-10.
A few explanations, however, can be offered for Sunday’s performance. Ohio rested three of its typical starters in Shakur Laney (125), Kade Kowalski (149) and Zack Parker (HWT). The duo of Laney and Parker wrestled in Friday’s loss, both earning wins, while Kowalski did not wrestle.
Ohio still has a chance to finish the season above the .500 mark with a home tri-meet Sunday, Feb. 19, as it hosts to American and Appalachian State, starting at 1 p.m.
From there, a majority of the Bobcats starters will attend the annual MAC Tournament in March hosted by Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Pending results from the MAC Tournament will decide how wrestlers will be attending the NCAA Tournament in late March.
