Ohio (4-4, 1-3 Mid-American Conference) is back in action for the fourth week in a row with an upcoming contest against the Kent State Golden Flashes (6-7, 1-5 MAC) in the classic “Grudge Match.”
Both the Bobcats and the Golden Flashes are coming off losses, with the Bobcats recently falling to MAC rival Central Michigan in a 23-10 blowout. Three of Ohio’s 10 wrestlers were able to best their opponents, and those included freshman Brayden Teunissen, redshirt seniors Garrett Thompson and Sal Perrine.
Teunissen started off the evening hot with a rather impressive 11-2 major decision victory over Central Michigan’s graduate student Colton Camacho. After a long scoring drought, Thompson was able to get his team back on the board with a 4-2 decision against redshirt-senior Cody Brenner in the 174 lb. weight class.
Finally, wrestling in the 184 lb. weight class, Perrine tallied up the last few points for his club by recording an 8-3 decision versus redshirt senior Adrien Cramer for the Chippewas.
Kent State’s loss was to the visiting PennWest Clarion Golden Eagles, but the dual meet was only decided by a single point in Clarion’s favor. In that dual meet, three of the Golden Flashes’ wrestlers each won their matchup, including redshirt junior Ethan Barr, senior Blake Schaffer and redshirt sophomore Brentan Simmerman.
Last season, Ohio was the team to be dubbed the winner of the Grudge Match on Senior Night in Athens, Ohio. The Bobcats won with ease in a 29-11 effort. Since the 2018-19 season, Ohio has dominated every dual meet and has been undefeated five straight times. Kent State’s last victory was during the 2017-18 season, when they won 18-13 at The Convo.
Right now, the Bobcats as a team are still ranked a couple of spaces ahead of the Golden Flashes in terms of rankings in the MAC. However, neither of these squads have not been exceptional this season. Determining who will win this season’s Grudge Match is more or less a toss-up.
Match Information
Opponent: Kent State Golden Flashes
Time: 7 p.m. ET
Location: M.A.C. Center in Kent, Ohio
Wrestler to watch (Ohio): Garrett Thompson
It’s becoming cliché at this point, but Garrett Thompson is simply the top man for the Bobcats. He’s ranked at the top of the list for his weight class in the MAC, #22 per InterMat, #23 per FloWrestling and #20 per College Wrestling Report.
Regardless of whatever weight class he’s in, Thompson is the type of wrestler any team would die to have on its roster. He previously missed some of the first few dual meets due to injury, but that has not stopped him from performing at a high level.
