In their first meet of the season, the Bobcat wrestlers hit the mats in the Hokie Open at Virginia Tech on Sunday.
Ohio was lead by heavyweights Jeremy Johnson and Andy Hartshorn in the 285-pound weight class. Johnson took second overall after losing in the championship finals to Virginia Tech wrestler Dave Marone. Hartshorn took third place in the same class.
“I think our heavyweight guys wrestled very well,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “However, some of our other wrestlers lost to some guys I think they’re better than.”
Other standouts for the Bobcats were Miles Chapman — recording a record of 5-2 in the 165-pound class — and Michael Duckworth, who won three of his five matches in the 174-pound class.
Other than Johnson and Hartshorn, Chapman was the only Bobcat to compete in the consolation semifinals and finals matches. He placed fifth after losing his bout against Kyle Blevins from Appalachian State who ended up finishing third in the class.
“As a whole, we looked like we were in good shape, but we need to learn how to compete better,” Greenlee said. “We need to have a swagger about ourselves that we know we can win.”
Ohio had the third-most wrestlers who competed as a team in the open with 15 men in 10 different weight classes. Other notable schools that competed were North Carolina, Duke, Virginia, North Carolina State and Old Dominion.
Despite having three wrestlers place, the majority of the Bobcats were eliminated early and lost more of their matches than they won.
The fourth annual Hokie Open hosted more than 20 schools and featured 276 wrestlers. Since the meet was an open, teams do not have final overall scores, just individual scores.
The Hokie Open is one of only two meets Ohio will compete in November. The other will be the Michigan State Open next Saturday.
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