Mario Guillen made quick work of Jacob Blaha to push the Bobcats to victory from a near loss to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville on Saturday afternoon.
Ohio finished strong against SIUE, dominating the final two bouts and ending on top 22-15. The Bobcats were down 15-14 to the Cougars after dropping four straight bouts, including a fall by sophomore Aaron Naples to Chris Dulaney.
Saturday’s most important wins came from redshirt junior Shakur Laney and Guillen. Both stepped up and took control. Laney defeated Gage Datlovsky 9-3 to give Ohio the 17-15 lead. Guillen went in to his bout with a fury, and won by technical fall 94 seconds into the first period.
“It’s always nice wrestling after Shakur (Laney), he always puts on a show out there and gets me fired up,” Guillen said
The Bobcats had started off strong, winning the first four bouts, including a win by technical fall for senior Cam Kelly. Kelly’s win Saturday marked a 5-0 record in the MAC.
“It’ll help with seeding going into the MAC tournament.” Kelly said, “I definitely have to capitalize off today, we’ve got one more conference dual and I’m looking to close out undefeated.”
Saturday also marked Ohio’s Senior Day, when the eight senior Bobcats were honored in a short ceremony before the match. It was also was the celebration of four national champions to have played for the Bobcats.
“To have three of our former national champions back for the day and to see their banners hung from the rafters, what a way to honor them,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “It’s good for the current guys to see that it can be done at Ohio. I felt good going into those last two matches, I knew we were gonna be okay.”
The Bobcats will hit the road to face Bloomsburg on Feb. 15, in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m.
