Ohio had a chance to put itself back in the midst of the Mid-American Conference standings on Friday night, but with its loss to Kent State, it now finds itself near the bottom of the conference standings.
The Bobcats’ problem with capitalizing on opportunities was none more evident in the match between 165-pounders redshirt senior No. 19 Harrison Hightower and Kent State’s Tyler Buckwalter.
With the Golden Flashes leading 16-6, Hightower needed a victory to keep the Bobcats in the dual. Buckwalter had a takedown early in the first period and then shutout Hightower for the rest of the match, winning 4-0 and putting Kent State up, 18-6.
“That was a critical match for us,” head coach Joel Greenlee said. “He just went out and lost. Honestly though, it was a close decision.”
Kent State went on to defeat Ohio, 24-12.
Individually, the Bobcats did pick up some important victories. 149-pound redshirt junior Tywan Claxton earned his 20th win of the season with a 9-4 decision over Michael Depalma. Also, 194-pound redshirt junior Cody Walters picked up his 21st win on the season with a 5-0 decision over Mike Vollant. Walters’ 21 wins are the most on the team.
Still in search of the elusive first conference win, Ohio heads to Ypsilanti, Michigan on Sunday for an afternoon dual with the Eastern Michigan Eagles, who are also in search of their first conference win.
“It’s big,” Greenlee said of Sunday’s matchup. “You’ve got to go out there and wrestle. Eastern Michigan’s definitely big for us.”
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