Sports
Ohio Wrestling Places Six, Finishes Sixth at Navy Classic
< < Back to ohio-wrestling-places-six-finishes-sixth-at-navy-classicThe Ohio Bobcats wrestled in Annapolis, Maryland, on Saturday to take part in the 2015 Navy Classic, and the ‘Cats placed six athletes and finished sixth with 79.5 team points
Cody Walters, 174 pounds, and Phil Wellington, 197, competed in the championship match in their respective brackets, but the redshirt seniors and former Classic champions fell in close matches to Princeton grapplers, and took second place. Walters dropped a 4-3 decision, and Wellington lost a 3-2 bout. Both started their days with byes and recorded a pin to go 3-1. Their losses prevented the Bobcats from claiming an individual champion for the first time in the past four seasons of competition in Annapolis.
Next best for the ‘Cats was 125-pounder Shakur Laney’s third-place finish. The true freshman recorded three wins with bonus points, with two majors and a 21-5 tech fall. He beat his teammate and fellow freshman, Hayden Lee, in the consolation semifinals in a 3-1 decision, and won another 3-1 decision in his final match to go 5-1 on the day.
After losing to Laney, Lee lost his fifth place match on a last-second pin to take sixth.
In the 157-pound bracket, redshirt senior Sparty Chino took fourth place. He started his run with an 18-3 tech fall victory. He also recorded a first-period pin in the consolation semifinals, but ultimately lost 3-1 in overtime in his last match of the day.
At 133, Zak Hassan claimed sixth. He recorded two pins and an 11-2 major decision in his wins, but he lost his last two bouts.
In the same bracket, true freshman Cam Kelly took his first losses of the 2015 season in a 1-2 showing. He looked poised for a big day with a 16-0 tech fall in his first match, but he then lost to Kent State’s Mark McGuire and Campbell’s Nathan Kraisser, who is ranked 20th in the nation by InterMat.
After sitting out Ohio’s first two competitions because of injury, 184-pounder Andrew Romanchik saw his first mat action of the season. The redshirt senior lost his opener, then won a 5-4 decision. He was eliminated when he lost 4-2 by sudden victory.
Romanchik went 1-2 in competition. Trae Jackson competed in the same bracket, and went 2-2. Like Romanchik: Tom Williams, Austin Reese, Arsen Ashughyan, Dakota Sizemore and Jesse Webb finished with 1-2 records.
Grayson Davis and Devin King were the only Bobcats that didn’t post a win.
Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee opted not to wrestle anyone at 141 and 149 pounds.
The Bobcats have now competed in three consecutive weekends, but they will now be off for the next two. Their next competition will be in Columbia, Missouri, for a dual meet with the Missouri Tigers on Dec. 13.