Ohio heads back to The Convo this weekend with to close out its final home matches of the season. The Bobcats return with a small win streak under their belts, having beaten Central Michigan and Northern Illinois.
The Bobcats (5-4, 3-1 Mid-American Conference) host Old Dominion on Friday night and Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Saturday afternoon, and they will have their work cut out for them.
The Bobcats’ close win on Sunday against Central Michigan lifted them up in the MAC standings, swiping second place out from Old Dominion (7-5, 4-2 MAC). Old Dominion is not far behind, though, and will steal it back should Ohio slip up Friday night.
The Monarchs are not a team to be ignored this season, though. Old Dominion is 3-0 in the MAC while on the road, and all three of those wins ended within a margin of 11 points or more. Ohio has been downed by Old Dominion in the last two seasons, and with both teams with near equal records coming into this match, the dual could go either way.
Like Central Michigan last Sunday, Old Dominion has the manpower to make this dual interesting. Six Old Dominion wrestlers were named to the NCAA Coaches’ Rankings back in January, all of them ranked significantly higher than their counterparts from Ohio. Needless to say, the Bobcats will be put to the test Friday night.
SIU-Edwardsville is a different story. The Cougars (1-10, 1-5 MAC) have been straddling the bottom of the standings the entire season. SIU’s only win resulted from a 20-16 squeaker against Buffalo on Jan. 11. Since then, the team has continued its skid, getting dealt frustrating losses from Northern Illinois, Central Michigan and Old Dominion.
Ohio will look to earn two more conference wins, and two more matches to its win streak this weekend in The Convo. Old Dominion and Ohio are slated to face off on Friday at 6 p.m., while the Bobcats will take on SIU Edwardsville at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
