Hours before wrestlers stepped onto the mats for the Mid-American Conference Championships, the Bobcats had already suffered a loss.
Germane Lindsey, a team captain and returning All-American, failed to make weight Saturday during the morning weigh-in at the conference tournament in DeKalb, Ill.
Lindsey, a senior, came in slightly over the limit of 141 pounds. The extra weight disqualified him from the MAC tourney and the NCAA Championships.
“I think it affected a little bit how we did on the first day,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “From a coaching standpoint, we owe it to the other nine guys on the team to walk out of the weigh-in room and put a happy face on and go from there.”
Lindsey’s disqualification came as a shock to the coaches and the wrestlers. Lindsey was the top seed at 141 pounds.
Senior Erik Schuth, redshirt junior Nick Purdue and redshirt freshman Jeremy Johnson, all of whom earned automatic bids to Nationals, will have one less teammate with them in Philadelphia on Mar. 17.
Greenlee said it isn’t rare for wrestlers to fail to make weight.
“It is what it is. It’s unfortunate, but those things happen.”
After the weigh-in, Greenlee held a meeting at the team hotel. Redshirt sophomore Gabe Ramos said he told the wrestlers to focus on what they could control and not let Lindsey’s disqualification get in their heads.
Schuth (197 pounds) and Purdue (174) finished second at their weights.
Johnson (285) placed third after Buffalo’s Brett Correll forfeited the third-place match.
Ramos advanced to the 125-pound finals, but fell short of a MAC title to Kent State’s Nicholas Bedelyon, 10-3.
Ramos ended up in second place at his weight, so he could be in line for an at-large bid to the tournament.
Freshman Brad Squire, who finished third at 149 pounds, might also receive one.
Though Lindsey couldn’t wrestle in the tournament, he shouted advice to every Bobcat during their match.
“It was definitely a bummer, but he was there, helping us out, cheering us on,” Ramos said. “He was leading off the mat, even though he wasn’t wrestling. I thought that was really good of him.”
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