Ohio traveled to East Lansing this weekend to compete in the Michigan State Open, its last tournament before winter break.
Nick Purdue finished second in the 174-pound open division while a trio of Bobcats won their weight classes in the freshman/sophomore division.
Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee said the tournament was a good tune-up for his team and that it provided quality experience for the younger wrestlers.
We've got a pretty tough part of our schedule coming up with going to the Reno Tournament of Champions
he said. We just wanted to get them started off and have some success and get them feel good about it and hopefully that carries over.
Purdue won decisively through the first three rounds before falling to Ohio State's Nick Heflin in an 8-5 decision in the final. It's the type of performance Greenlee has come to expect from the redshirt junior.
He's obviously one of our most successful guys he said. We expect him contend for championships no matter where we go.
Greenlee was especially impressed with his team's performance in the freshman/sophomore division. Ryan Garringer, Kyle Sanders and Brad Squire won in the 184, 197 and 149-pound weight classes respectively, while Gavin Moore and Neal Williams both finished second in their divisions.
It's a great opportunity for us to wrestle some of those younger guys with guys their own age (and) maybe get more success than they might have in the open and get them a little bit of confidence Greenlee said.
All-American Germane Lindsey did not compete. Greenlee decided to rest the senior in preparation for next weekend's National Wrestling Coaches Association All-Star Classic in Fresno, Calif.
The Bobcats will not compete again as a team until Dec. 3 when they travel to Appalachian State. Greenlee said it is important for his squad to continue to build off the momentum from the strong performance.
Heck
I think we're on the right track. We're training our guys the right way and they're doing the right things
he said. It's just a positive to go into finals week felling good about what we've done so far and know that we have a lot of other challenges in front of us.
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Bart Logan
