The quarterfinals of the Mid-American Conference Championships have come to a close, and Ohio wrestlers ended the opening round with a 6-6 record, moving five wrestlers into the semifinal round. The semifinal round will begin at 4:00pm.
The first Bobcat to move on was top-seeded 149-pound Tywan Claxton who, after a closely contested first period, ran away with the match late en route to a 17-7 major decision.
Ohio hit its stride in the final five matches, beginning with No. 3 seed 165-pound redshirt junior Harrison Hightower dominating his match with a 9-0 major decision. Defending MAC champion Cody Walters also got a solid start to his tournament as the No. 3 seed, earning a 5-0 decision in the 174-pound match.
Ohio's other two No. 1 seeds were able to coast through their respectives first matches as well. Redshirt sophomore Phil Wellington won the 197-pound quarterfinal match with a 9-3 decision. Heavyweight Jeremy Johnson closed out the first round for Ohio with a 9-0 major decision. Wellington and Johnson now have win streaks of eleven and thirteen matches, respectively.
Full Ohio results through quarterfinal matches:
Preliminaries:
133: Justin Farmer dec. Sebastian Arroyo 7-2
184: Ryan Garringer dec. Cory Campbell 12-11
Quarterfinals:
125: No. 3 Brandon Jeske maj dec. No. 6 KeVon Powell 13-0
141: No. 3 Joey Lazor fall No. 6 Noah Forrider
149: No. 1 Tywan Claxton maj dec. Nick Barber 17-7
157: No. 4 Tristan Warner dec. No. 5 Spartak Chino 8-4
165: No. 3 Harrison Hightower maj dec. No. 6 Derek Geoghegan 9-0
174: No. 3 Cody Walters dec. No. 6 Jacob Davis 5-0
184: No. 1 Jack Dechow maj dec. Ryan Garringer 13-1
197: No. 1 Phil Wellington dec. Jared Bartel 9-3
HWT: No. 1 Jeremy Johnson maj dec. Adam Robinson 9-0
