Sports
Ohio Wrestling Comfortably Beats NIU
By: Rachel Cherry
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The Bobcats bounced back from their 22-12 loss to Central Michigan last Sunday to beat Northern Illinois 22-10. Ohio showed their dominance during the match, winning seven out of the 10 matchups at the Friday night dual.
There were no surprises in the somewhat predictable meet between Ohio and N. Illinois. Throughout the dual, there were two takeaways.
National rankings can be important, but it does not matter once the wrestlers come head-to-head. Three ranked wrestlers (Ohio’s Cameron Kelly (133) and NIU’s Steve Bleise (149) and Shawn Scott (197)) won with decent margins. However, 157-pounder Cullen Cummings, who is not ranked, defeated Caden McWhirter, No. 17 on Openmat.com. Ohio’s ranked 125-pounder, Shakur Laney, did not compete in the match. Hayden Lee filled in for Ohio and took down NIU’s Kirk Johansen in overtime.
It is not always about national qualifiers and ranked wrestlers. Members wrestling in the other spots must perform for the team to win its dual meets. Noah Forrider (141), one of these wrestlers, is proving to be a top wrestler for the Bobcats. Forrider hit his 20th win for the season against Angel Velasquez.
With this win, the Bobcats improve their record to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in the MAC.
Ohio takes a week break until they travel to their rival, Kent State University, on Sunday, January 22nd.
125- Hayden Lee defeated in OT Kirk Johansen 7-5
133- Cameron Kelly won against Alijah Jeffrey 13-4
141- Noah Forrider beat Angel Velasquez 4-0
149- Kade Kowalski lost 10-4 to Steve Bleise
157- Cullen Cummings won 5-3 against Caden McWhirter
165- Austin Reese defeated Andrew Scott 7-1
174- Arsen Ashughyan lost to Traces Engelkes 13-2
184- Dontae McGee beat Michael Aldrich 7-6
197- Bailey Faust lost to Shawn Scott 7-2
285- Zack Parker beats Caleb Gossett 9-5