Last offseason, three wrestling powers officially made their entry into the Mid-American Conference, instantly making it one of the most competitive wrestling conferences in the country and arguably second only to the Big Ten Conference.
And even with those additions, Ohio was still the team picked to win the conference entering the 2013-2014 campaign.
What followed was a roller-coaster season in every sense of the term for the Bobcats. They were forced to keep a defending All-American on the sidelines for most of the season and went just 4-4 in their conference matches.
They also saw two wrestlers win MAC titles, one of whom also earned All-American status and broke the program’s all-time wins record. Ohio also sent a school-record six wrestlers to the NCAA Championships. All of this happened to a team which had just two seniors in its regular starting lineup, with six sophomores and freshmen.
The team finished fourth at the MAC Tournament, and its six representatives at the national tournament were tied with Old Dominion for third in most of the conference.
“If you go back and look at the six teams that were in this conference last year, we won the regular season title, and we won the tournament title,” Ohio coach Joel Greenlee said. “But we didn’t beat Missouri, Northern Iowa and Old Dominion, the three new teams. So we have to kind of go back to the drawing board and look at what changes we need to make in our program, what changes we need to make in our training — all those things to try to catch up with them.”
The Bobcats’ most impressive accomplishments can be attributed to redshirt senior heavyweight Jeremy Johnson, who won a MAC title and placed seventh at the national tournament to earn the second All-American honor of his career. He also went a perfect 17-0 in dual competition and broke the record for career victories at the national tournament two weekends ago, finishing his Ohio career with an incredible 143-37 record.
Each of Ohio’s two starting juniors also earned national tournament berths, as 149-pound Tywan Claxton (27-9) and 165-pound Harrison Hightower (31-13) each put together the best years of the Bobcats careers.
Claxton’s season was highlighted by a victory over Missouri’s No. 1 ranked Drake Houdashelt in a dual match. He was the only wrestler in the country to defeat Houdashelt before the national tournament. Meanwhile, Hightower gained plenty of notoriety for compiling the third highest pin count out of all Division I wrestlers.
“It’s exciting to see Tywan be able to compete so well against the best guys in the country,” Greenlee said. “And I think Harry (Hightower) has gained a lot more confidence now just wrestling in the tournament. I think if he keeps getting more confidence, he can be a top-ten wrestler in the country.”
Redshirt sophomore Phil Wellington was another Bobcats wrestler who had a career best 34-5 record and finished second in the MAC Tournament’s 197-pound bracket. Redshirt sophomore Cody Walters’ season was hampered considerably by injuries, yet he still found a way to earn his second straight MAC title in the 174-pound class, finishing with a 13-4 record. Redshirt sophomore Spartak Chino earned his second NCAA Tournament berth of his career, and finished the season 19-13 as a 157-pound contender.
Aside from its national tournament qualifiers, Ohio saw 125-pound sophomore KeVon Powell see a bit of a sophomore slump, finishing with a 14-13 record. Noah Forrider, a 141-pound true freshman, put together a fine season in his first trip through the college circuit, finishing with a 23-16 record. Redshirt senior Ryan Garringer also finished his final college season with a 13-20 record as a 184-pounder.
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