The Bobcats won the last match of the evening to tie up the team score at 18. Ohio had done everything it could do. But it wasn't enough.
Old Dominion prevailed based off of its 68 match points compared to Ohio’s 67 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Virginia.
Ohio (7-6, 4-4 Mid-American Conference) started off Friday night’s dual red-hot with three consecutive victories from its usual starters in Shakur Laney (125 lbs), Cameron Kelly (133) and Noah Forrider (141). Laney, Kelly and Forrider defeated their opponents by a combined score of 41-10
From there, however, things took a turn for the worst for the Bobcats. With a commanding lead, as well as momentum, Ohio was unable to keep either of those things on its side as it suffered three consecutive losses. Kyle Kaminski (149) and Cullen Cummings (157) both lost on decisions to their opponents.
The match at 165 proved to be one of the toughest for either team as it was scoreless between Ohio’s Austin Reese and Old Dominion’s Seldon Wright for the first two periods of the match. The match headed into a sudden death overtime, with Wright getting the victory 4-2 from a takedown.
The remaining bouts were more similar to a boxing match rather than a wrestling meet; trading blows in a boxing match equated to trading wins in the dual. Arsen Ashughyan got the Bobcats back on track with a 9-5 win to put the score at 15-10 Ohio.
Then came Old Dominion’s punch, winning the next two matches by a combined 25-6, ultimately giving them the lead at 18-15.
With its back against the wall, Ohio looked to its heavyweight in Zack Parker to give the Bobcats a victory. With a takedown and two escapes, Parker prevailed to win the match 4-3 and tie up the dual score at 18.
While achieving a personal victory, Parker was unable to give the team a victory as Old Dominion scored more match points than Ohio by one single point.
This loss puts Ohio at .500 in conference play and it potentially will finish either fourth or fifth in regular season MAC standings.
mp109115@ohio.edu
