Sports
Two Wrestlers Place at the Midlands Championship
By: Rachel Cherry
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Ohio Wrestling ended the two-day Midlands Championship with two wrestlers placing in the top seven. In the team race, Ohio finished 24th out of 30 teams with 27.5 team points from their 10 starters. In addition to those scoring team members, five additional Bobcats competed in the tournament.
Sophomores Shakur Laney and Cameron Kelly were the only Bobcats to place, let alone continue onto the second day of competition.
The 125-pounder, Laney, led the way with a fifth-place finish. During the first day, Laney totaled one major decision and two decision wins. He eventually lost to Sebastian Rivera (Northwestern) in the quarterfinals, 10-8.
On Friday, Laney bounced back with an 8-6 win against Brock Hudkins (Northern Illinois), and a 7-2 win against Johnny Jimenez (Wisconsin). In the consolation semifinals, Laney lost to Josh Terao (American) 2-0, with Terao getting both an escape point in the third period and a riding time point. Laney finished the tournament with a 9-1 win against Lucas Malmberg (Messiah).
Cameron Kelly followed Laney’s trend of one major and two decision wins, and a loss in the 133-pound quarterfinals on the first day. Kelly fell to the eventual champion, Eric Montoya (Nebraska), 7-0 in the championship bracket. In Friday’s matches, Kelly pinned Tyson Dippery (Rutgers), lost 7-3 to Earl Hall (Iowa State), and went on to beat Eli Stickley (Wisconsin) 5-3 to place 7th.
Even though only two out of the 15 Ohio wrestlers placed, this was an improvement from Ohio’s individual results in last year’s MIdlands tournament. In 2015, the Bobcats left with only one wrestler placing, Cody Walters, who took the championship at 174-pounds. As a team, Ohio did the exact opposite. Ohio dropped down nine places from their 15th place finish last year.
The Bobcats continue Mid-American Conference competition Jan. 6 against Eastern Michigan in Ypsilanti, Mich. Two days later, Ohio returns to Athens to compete against Central Michigan.