There were plenty of reasons why it could have been a long ride home from Buffalo.
But the Bobcats won 22-17, despite injuries, close calls and an upset.
Ohio (10-3, 2-0 Mid-American Conference) was on the road competing against a tough conference opponent.
The Bobcats were dealing with injuries. Senior Seth Morton, ranked 27th at 149 pounds, did not compete. Redshirt senior Jacob Ison, another regular starter, came back after missing six matches.
And on top of that, junior Erik Schuth, who is ranked 10th in the nation at 197 pounds, was upset in a double-overtime match. With all of those factors, it would seem unlikely that Ohio left with a victory.
Yet the Bobcats beat Buffalo on Saturday, pushing their conference record to 2-0.
Our team has a lot of determination
team captain Clay Tucker said.
We're coming around. We have a lot of leadership on our team and it's good to see how we stayed focused.
Ohio took five of 10 matches, but was propelled by pins from Ison and redshirt sophomore Andy Hartshorn.
Ison wrestled for the first time since Dec. 30 and came away with a fall in 3:43.
It was real nice to see (Ison) out there junior Germane Lindsey said. We were real glad to see him out there on the mat and getting a 'W' for us.
The match did not start well for the Bobcats when Buffalo's Jimmy Hamel broke Schuth's five-match win streak. The match was controversial because Schuth was called for stalling while time in regulation was running out, sending the match to overtime.
To put it politely coach Joel Greenlee said, (it was) a very disputable call.
Schuth lost 4-3 in double overtime. But as quickly as things went sour for the Bobcats, there was a prompt turnaround.
In the next match, Hartshorn pinned his opponent in 3:52. Tucker said it was a key win for the team because Schuth, on whom Ohio usually depends on for wins, had just lost his match.
That was awesome for (Hartshorn)
Tucker said. I don't know how much he knows that that helped out.
It didn't really seal the deal for us, but that put the dagger in the heart (of Buffalo).
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30410,2010-01-31 23:00:00,Wrestling: 'Cats overcome odds to beat Bulls,There were plenty of reasons why it could have been a long ride home from Buffalo.
,There were plenty of reasons why it could have been a long ride home from Buffalo.
But the Bobcats won 22-17
despite injuries
close calls and an upset.
Ohio (10-3
2-0 Mid-American Conference) was on the road competing against a tough conference opponent.
The Bobcats were dealing with injuries. Senior Seth Morton
ranked 27th at 149 pounds
did not compete. Redshirt senior Jacob Ison
another regular starter
came back after missing six matches.
And on top of that
