Ohio (4-4, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) is now officially at .500 this season while being one of the weaker opponents in the MAC. The Bobcats are coming off a 23-10 loss to the Central Michigan Chippewas (7-4, 1-1 MAC) on the latter team’s home mat.
In the past six matchups, Central Michigan’s wrestlers have been able to best Ohio’s wrestlers four games to two. Last season, while performing at The Convo, the Bobcats came away with a close 18-16 victory. This time, however, the Chippewas maintained control for most of the dual meet.
Early in the 125 lb. weight class, Ohio looked promising with freshman Brayden Teunissen leading the way for an 11-3 major decision win over Central Michigan’s graduate student Colton Camacho. The freshman from Belvidere, Illinois, took advantage in the third period to rally his team to a 4-0 start in the contest.
Following that, the Chippewas responded well with a major decision from the likes of redshirt junior Andrew Austin. Austin went up against Ohio’s junior Ryan Meek, and, to put it simply, Meek was just outperformed by Austin.
Meek was able to get a few shots in for himself, but Austin was quicker and reacted better to getting an advantage over his opponent. Austin went on to win 13-4 in a major decision win, and the two teams were tied at four apiece at this point.
From matches in the 141 lb. weight class to 165 lb. weight class, no matter how hard the Bobcats were competing, Central Michigan was a force that could not be stopped.
Starting at the 141 lb. spot for the Chippewas was sophomore Nick Blackburn, and facing him for Ohio was sophomore Kolten Barker. In the first period, both wrestlers were neck-and-neck, but by the second period, Blackburn took over with a 3-1 lead. Come the fourth, Blackburn held his own and won in a 4-1 decision. The score was 7-4 in favor of Central Michigan.
Similarly, the Bobcats’ redshirt junior Paul Woo stood his ground for the most part against redshirt junior Jimmy Nugent. Woo’s defense was considered ideal for any wrestler, but offensively, he could not find any way to attack Nugent.
Nugent was good enough to earn a point off an escape in the second period, and then he earned a second point for 1:03 of riding time in the third. He’d win in a 2-1 decision, and his squad was at 10 points to Ohio’s four.
Without a doubt, the 157 lb. weight class match was the most fun to witness for fans of either team. Redshirt junior Derek Raike looked like he would be the clear victor versus the Chippewas’ redshirt senior Mason Shrader.
In the second period, Raike led 7-2 and was just two minutes away from getting his team out of a scoring slump. Then the third period happened. Shrader was able to score an escape point, a takedown and a reversal on Raike. With seconds remaining and the running time in his favor, Shrader advanced with the help of a second stall call on Raike.
Redshirt senior Garrett Thompson was one of the few Bobcats to best his opponent. He jumped to a 4-0 lead in the second period, which included an escape and a takedown. Redshirt senior Cody Brenner got an escape point himself, and the match ended in a 5-1 decision for Thompson.
At this point, Ohio was only down nine to Central Michigan’s 16-point score. Thompson’s trusty teammate, redshirt senior Sal Perrine, took care of business against redshirt senior Adrien Cramer in an impressive 8-3 decision victory.
The Bobcats had a chance at potentially taking this dual meet, but the final two matches saw sophomores Evan Wingrove and Wyatt Schmitt be overpowered by the Chippewas’ redshirt sophomore Luke Cochran and redshirt senior Bryan Caves.
Next Friday, Ohio will face conference rival Kent State on the road once again. That dual meet is scheduled to commence at 6 p.m.
