If you found yourself in The Convo Friday night, you might think you'd wandered into the Twilight Zone.
No officials were to be found, nor was Ohio coach Joel Greenlee, and -
'You've got to get your mindset back ' he said. I told them to get in the room and get warmed up again because they'd lost that edge.
Aided by a forfeit in the 125-pound division and wins from Quentin Keyes and Germane Lindsey in the 133-pound and 141-pound divisions, respectively, Ohio kept the score even, 16-16, heading into the final two matches of the meet.
Clay Tucker (157) sealed the victory for Ohio with a pin of UNC's Thomas Scotton at the 1:13 mark in the third period. The fall gave the Bobcats a 22-16 lead, and the Tar Heels were unable to secure a fall in the 165-pound match to tie the score.
The Bobcats have struggled with getting the best out of all their wrestlers in one meet this season, and Hansen credited the win over UNC to the consistency up and down the lineup.
I told our guys before the match that we needed a team effort
he said. Before
it was just a couple guys performing
and a couple guys were off. This time
everyone contributed.
However, on a night when nothing went according to plan, the Bobcats were unable to carry the momentum from that win into the matchup with West Virginia.
For the Mountaineers, the chaos began even before they arrived in Athens. WVU coach Craig Turnbull said he was not informed that Friday's match was part of a doubleheader and had made travel plans in anticipation of a 7 p.m. weigh-in for an 8 p.m. match. Because of the 6 p.m. match with North Carolina, the weigh-in for all three teams was scheduled for 5 p.m.
Turnbull said he found this out by chance Friday afternoon and was forced to call his wrestlers out of class early to make it to Athens for the weigh-in, adding that a coach would ordinarily be informed if his team was a part of a doubleheader.
Greenlee, who was actively on the phone from Iowa throughout the night's events, said he recalled informing West Virginia of the 5 p.m. weigh-in time when the match was scheduled in the spring, and it was a misunderstanding between the coaches that led to the mix-up.
Of course, mix-ups seemed to be the theme of the day.
Turnbull also made his preference for genuine officials, and ' to his relief ' two local high school officials were contacted and officiated the match between Ohio and West Virginia. Waiting for these officials caused a 45-minute delay between the duals.
Once it did, things did not turn out well for the Bobcats. Jacob Ison picked up a fall for Ohio in the 174-pound slot to start the meet, but Keyes and Lindsey were the only other Bobcats to contribute any points.
Keyes, who has won four out of his last five matches after securing the starting spot in the 133-pound division, said he stuck to his routine and tried to remain calm in response to the unexpected delays in Friday night's competition.
My main concern was staying focused
he said. I was chilling in the locker room with my iPod on.
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