The Bobcats were pushed by strong performances to a third place finish from five national qualifying wrestlers.
Ohio finished third in the Mid-American Conference Championships this weekend, which ended with five Bobcats punching their tickets to the National Championships in two weeks in St. Louis, Missouri.
The five Bobcat wrestlers heading to nationals include Spartak Chino, Tywan Claxton, Harrison Hightower, Cody Walters and Phil Wellington.
“I think all those guys can score points at the national tournament, and I think they’ve proved that they can score points at the national tournament,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “They’ll do as well as they can, and hopefully we’ll get into the top 25 as a team.”
The host of the tournament, Missouri, also ranked No. 1 nationally, won the tournament scoring 139.5 points, followed by Old Dominion with 97.5, and then Ohio with 85.5. Missouri won five of the possible 10 weight classes, and finished second in three other.
On the second and last day of the tournament, Walters, a redshirt junior ranked ninth nationally, earned the 174-pound championship for the third straight season. He holds a record of 30-1 heading into the national tournament.
“He does what it takes to win,” Greenlee said. “He didn’t necessarily have a great finals match, but he found a way to win it.”
Wellington, a redshirt junior, lost in the 197-pound championship bout, but still punched his ticket to nationals by placing second.
Hightower, a redshirt senior, and Chino, a redshirt junior, both placed third; Claxton, a redshirt junior, finished fourth.
“I think we wrestled great,” Greenlee said.
For others on the team, this weekend marked the end of the road for the 2014-15 season. Greenlee believes the MAC Championships can be used as a learning experience for the other wrestlers.
“I think Kagan Squire surprised and wrestled well and won a match,” Greenlee said. “Jesse Webb did a great job all weekend. Tywan Claxton avenged losses, Spartak Chino avenged losses, and Harrison HIghtower avenged losses. I’d say we wrestled real well.”
The Bobcats’ third place finish is an improvement over last year’s fourth place finish, something Greenlee hopes the team can build on for the future.
“It shows we’re getting better,” Greenlee said. “We were fourth last year, third this year, and we qualified five guys for the national tournament. We’re doing the right things, and hopefully we’ll get a MAC Championship someday.”
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