Sports
Ohio Wrestling Dominates At Northern Illinois
By: Nathan Takitch
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The Ohio University wrestling team returned to Mid-American Conference competition after a 39-day hiatus in high style, handling the Northern Illinois Huskies in DeKalb, winning 32-13.
Ohio’s victory was fueled by three pins of Huskies, two of which were within the first two minutes of the contest. Additionally, the Bobcats were able to win seven of the 10 matches contested in the meet.
Redshirt freshman standout Cody Walters rebounded from suffering his first two losses of the year in the Southern Scuffle on Jan. 1 and 2, winning a tough match against Matt Mougin by a 5-2 decision. Walters improved his season record to 23-2 with the victory.
After a turbulent beginning to the match for the Bobcats that saw Northern Illinois’ Kevin Fanta take the opening decision, Ohio peeled off seven straight victories including pins courtesy of Andrew Romanchik, Harrison Hightower, and Ryan Garringer.
Two late-match victories for the Huskies narrowed the margin, but was not enough to close the gulf formed by the early success of the Bobcats, including decisions from Spartak Chino, Phil Wellington, and Jeremy Johnson.
The win proved to be significant on multiple levels as it pushed Ohio’s record above .500 overall at 4-3 as well as MAC competition at 2-1.
Additionally, the Bobcats pulled even in the all-time series against the Northern Illinois wrestling program, bringing their record to 10-10-1 in matches against the Huskies.
Ohio University will look to begin building a conference winning streak in their next match, when they travel to face the Kent State Golden Flashes on Friday, Jan. 18 at 7 p.m.