Ohio opened its season with back-to-back meets; the Michigan State Open and the Mountaineer Invitational at Appalachian State.
At Michigan State, the Bobcats won big in the freshman and sophomore divisions. The team had 11 top-six finishes with freshman Derek Raike and redshirt freshman Peyton Kellar finishing first in their respective weight classes.
The Mountaineer Invitational provided similar results for the Bobcats, as they finished with six wrestlers in the top six of their respective weight classes in the invitational division.
Four Bobcats finished in third place in the invitational division, including two more outstanding freshmen in Austin Starr and, once again, Peyten Kellar.
In the open division, the Bobcats had three more wrestlers finish in the top six along with another first-place finish by sophomore Dan Segura.
Neither event involved a team score. However, the Bobcats saw a plethora of teams that they will be seeing again later in the season as they begin head-to-head matches along with getting a feel for what the team will look like this year.
At the Mountaineer Invitational, Ohio’s Alec Hagan fell to Kent State's Kody Komora in the 149-pound weight class. This matchup is set to repeat on Feb. 4, when Kent State comes to Athens to take on the Bobcats in a head-to-head match.
At the end of both of these meets, the Bobcats were ranked second in the Mid-American Conference rankings. Sophomore Sal Perrine was also ranked No. 1 in the MAC for the 174-pound weight class.
Both meets were headlined by successful young talent with freshmen and sophomores finishing atop the leaderboards all around.
Ohio’s next match will be Saturday at the Navy Classic where it will see more MAC competitors like Kent State.
