Ohio hosted and defeated George Mason, 29-6, on Friday in its MAC home opener. The Bobcats moved to 5-3 overall and 1-1 in conference play, breaking a two-match losing streak.
The majority of Ohio’s wins came from regular decisions, with an additional technical fall by Zayne Lehman. The lone defeat of the evening came when Dominic Hoffarth was pinned.
125-pound class:
Ryan Meek started slow in his match with JB Dragovich; he picked it up in the second period and put the first three points on the board for the Bobcats. He closed out in the third, won 7-0, and moved to 1-6 in duals.
133-pound class:
Following up Meek was Mason Brugh, who wrestled a nailbiter: the first two periods left him leading 5-4 when early in the third Brandon Wittenberg tied it up through an escape. As the clock winded down with 15 seconds to go and extra wrestling was on the table, Brugh flipped Wittenberg and put him on the mat, much to the delight of the whole arena and the section of reserves. Brugh won 8-5 and got his dual record back to an even 3-3.
141-pound class:
Aidan Waszak was next in line to take center stage, facing Dominic Hargrove. Waszak was working from behind for much of the dual, having trailed after the first period and only tying it up just before the second-period buzzer. He then earned an early 2 points in the final period and ran out the clock for the duration of the dual.
Waszak rounded out a great lightweight showing, which has been one of the weaker spots for the team up to this point, and Head Coach Joel Greenlee had compliments for their performances.
“I think the lightweights are getting better and better each time out and I think that’s what they need, a little bit of confidence,” Greenlee said. “Hopefully they got a little bit of that tonight.”
149-pound class:
Hoffarth and Kaden Cassidy had both the fastest speed of play and the fastest match, with Cassidy pinning Hoffarth after 1:58.
157-pound class:
Both Peyten Kellar and DJ McGee entered their matchup ranked nationally and No. 1 and No. 2 in the MAC, respectively. It was a slow battle of attrition and it was Kellar who emerged victorious 3-0 thanks to a reversal and an escape. He remains undefeated in duals, at 6-0.
165-pound class:
MAC No. 1 Garrett Thompson faced No. 4 Evan Maag after Kellar’s showing. The highest-scoring affair of the evening found Thompson atop 8-3 after one, 11-9 after two and the final was 12-10. Thompson now stands at 6-2 in duals.
174-pound class:
Sal Perrine, the nationally ranked No. 30 wrestler in his weight class, continued Ohio’s string of wins against Paul Pierce, 4-2.
184-pound class:
National No. 28 and MAC No. 1 Zayne Lehman had the most impressive performance of the night against Malachi DuVall, who is No. 4 in the MAC. Lehman nearly had a pin in the first period, which put him up 7-0 after one. He continued his dominance and extended his lead by 4 in the second, and closed out with a technical fall in the third. He’s Now 5-1 in duals.
After the match, Lehman said he was pleased with his performance.
“Yeah he (DuVall) was MAC wrestler of the week but that’s just a good way for me to prove that I’m still (up there),“ Lehman said. “It’s a good win for me to prove that I’m still up there, I’m still the top dog.”
197-pound class:
Austin Starr and Ruben Karapetyan had an uneventful affair, with Starr outmatching Karapetyan, and he proved that with an 8-1 final. He is No. 3 in the MAC and 6-2 in duals.
285-pound class:
Jordan Greer had the most dominant play of the night when he picked up Chad Nix by his leg, lifted, turned him over and threw him right on his neck. It led to a medical timeout, where Nix was examined for a concussion. Despite trailing on both scoreboards, he retook the mat and finished out his loss, as well as George Mason’s.
Greer’s victory finished Ohio’s 29-6 win.
The Bobcats are back in action next Friday — they’ll drive up to Cleveland for a MAC dual with Cleveland State.
