The Ohio wrestlers took home four individual awards from the Hokie Open held Sunday in Salem, Virginia.
The event was the first of the year for the Bobcats and proved to be a strong test for the team, said coach Joel Greenlee.
We came in to a tough field and proved we could wrestle with anyone
said Greenlee. I think we have a pretty freaking tough team.
Redshirt-sophomore heavyweight Andy Hartshorn entered the tournament unseeded, but defeated Corey Sullivan of Newberry College and Dustin Porter of Gardner-Webb.
Porter came into the tournament ranked sixteenth in the nation and was the second seed at the tournament. In what proved to be the biggest win of the day for the Bobcats, Hartshorn defeated Porter 5-2 and advanced into the quarterfinals where he beat Tom Minwell of The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Despite Hartshorn losing his last two matches of the day to finish in fourth place, his performance was something of note to the Bobcats coaching staff.
Hartshorn did amazing today Greenlee said, He came into the day with no fear and dominated some people. It was a statement day for him and I'm really proud of how he wrestled.
The Bobcats came home from Virginia with two fifth place finishes, one from senior Seth Morton (149 pounds) and one from freshman Kyle Sanders (197 pounds). Sophomore Nick Purdue (184 pounds) rounded out the place-winners for the Bobcats with his sixth place showing.
Sanders was incredible today Greenlee said, He was on the offensive all day. Coming in as a freshman to this type of event and doing that well was huge for us.
Junior Germane Lindsey had a disappointing day for the Bobcats. Lindsey, the 4th seed in the 141-pound weight class, saw his tournament end sooner than expected. After defeating Kent State wrestler Marcel Clopton 6-1, Lindsey fell to eventual champion Ivan Lopouchanski of North Carolina-Greensboro.
Lindsey struggled to lose weight very quickly before the match, which he said affected his performance.
After winning my first match I felt kind of tired
Lindsey added, I just don't think I was physically able to wrestle to my potential today because of the weight situation in the morning.
I think the world of that kid
Greenlee said, He's having a little trouble with his weight now
but I have no doubt he'll bounce back and get the weight situation figured out.
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Sports
Noah Meyers
