In a crucial match against a Mid-American Conference foe, Ohio loses to Old Dominion, 25-9.
Although the Bobcats had a chance to earn their signature win of the season and pick up their fourth consecutive Mid-American Conference win, the momentum has been temporarily halted.
Ohio (7-5, 3-4 MAC) lost to the No. 18 Old Dominion Monarchs, 25-9, on Friday.
Old Dominion (10-3, 3-2 MAC) earned four consecutive decisions over Ohio to begin the match as they quickly went up 15-0. The Monarchs’ clincher in the match seemed to come early, as Old Dominion’s Lenny Richardson earned an overtime decision over redshirt junior Tywan Claxton.
“(Claxton) just went out there did what he does,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “The guy shut him down a little bit. He was worrying about what that guy did instead of what he does. He lost a close one in overtime. (Richardson) has beat him twice before so it’s not like that was a gimmick match.”
Redshirt junior Spartak Chino won the first Bobcat bout of the evening and snapped Old Dominion’s four straight wins to begin the match, earning an 8-6 decision over TC Warner.
Another hit to the Bobcats’ momentum came during the 174-pound match, when redshirt junior Cody Walters, who is undefeated in conference play and has won his last 18 bouts, did not wrestle due to illness. Redshirt junior Andrew Romanchik wrestled in his place at 174-pounds.
Redshirt freshman Antonio Reynolds therefore took the reins at 184-pounds, his first bout in dual competition on the season. He had a tall task ahead of him, as he took on Jack Dechow, ranked second in the nation, who eventually pinned him in the second period.
“He did a good job out there until the second period,” Greenlee said. “It got away from him and he let up a takedown. He has to be conscious of that.”
After the match, Greenlee was very complimentary of Old Dominion’s strategy. He said what the Monarchs did well was taking away the Bobcats strength and capitalizing on their weaknesses.
Despite the weak performance tonight, Greenlee is quick to note that his team is much better than their performance.
He’s positive with a week’s work of practice, they’ll be ready to bounce back for next Friday’s match against Northern Iowa.
“I didn’t think it was a train wreck,” Greenlee said. “I think we are a little bit better than what we showed tonight. I have confidence in our guys and I know they’re going to work hard. We’re going to make some changes for next week.”
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