Ohio (4-2, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) will be on the road facing numerous MAC rivals until near the middle of February, and its first stop is a dual meet against Northern Illinois (5-5, 1-0 MAC) this Friday night.
Last Friday, Jan. 16, the Bobcats fell to the visiting Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars in a 25-11 brawl while wrestling at home. On the flip side, the Huskies are coming off a 19-14 victory over the Central Michigan Chippewas on their home mat last Friday as well.
In the case of Ohio in their dual meet versus SIUE, only a handful of Bobcats were able to overpower their Cougar opponent. Those included redshirt junior Derek Raike in the 157 lb. weight class, redshirt seniors Garrett Thompson in the 174 lb. weight class and Zayne Lehman representing the 197 lb. weight class.
Raike was the first to score points for his team in the contest. He managed to come back from a 1-0 deficit in the second period to then record a takedown, securing a 4-1 decision win. Following him two matches later was Thompson, who started off quickly with a takedown and nearfall to jump to a 7-0 lead after the first period.
In the second period, Thompson earned an escape point and then an additional takedown. A bonus point for 2:36 of riding time helped obtain a 13-3 major decision victory. His teammate, Lehman, had performed similarly to Thompson.
Lehman recorded three takedowns and earned a bonus point for 2:42 of riding time, which resulted in an 11-0 major decision win.
When it comes to the history between these two teams, it’s actually split right down the middle at the moment. The last time Ohio and Northern Illinois met, the latter was the one to take the last laugh in a 21-20 win over the Bobcats. In fact, Ohio has not beaten the Huskies since January 2022, over three years ago.
Another interesting piece about this is that the Bobcats have a winning record on the road as opposed to their at-home record versus the Huskies. Ohio right now sits at 2-1 in away dual meets and 1-2 while hosting Northern Illinois.
Like all sports, wrestling is all about matchups. It’s unclear to tell what team will come away with the win and what wrestler will come away with an upset, but what likely can be foretold is that neither the Bobcats nor the Huskies will back down from this dual meet.
Match Information
Opponent: Northern Illinois Huskies
Time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Victor E. Court
Where to Watch: ESPN+
Wrestler to Watch (NIU): Markel Baker
Redshirt junior Markel Baker for the Huskies has been simply phenomenal. This past week, Baker was named MAC Wrestler of the Week after he went undefeated (5-0) in the NWCA National Duals. He is ranked No. 17 for WrestleStat, No. 27 for FloWrestling and No. 28 for InterMat. In the MAC, Baker is second in the 133 lb. weight class, right behind SIUE’s Marcel Lopez. Given that Ohio’s lower weight wrestlers have typically performed worse than their heavier weights, whoever will face Baker will have a tough test.
