Sports place a premium on the longevity of success. Occasionally, however, success at the right time can be just as important.
The Bobcats have won five of their last seven dual meets, including a current winning streak of four, and are peaking at the right time in the season to make a run at the Mid-American Conference championship.
“Confidence is key at this point in the season,” coach Joel Greenlee said. “The team has some swagger right now. We’ve beaten some good teams lately, and as long as we remember who we are and where we came from, we should be fine.”
Ohio is ranked 45th in the most recent InterMat poll, and posted strong weekend results on the mat with a defeat of 28th-ranked Clarion 24-18 Friday and a rout of 47th-ranked West Virginia 29-9 Sunday afternoon. The Bobcats have now defeated four opponents ranked in InterMat’s top 50.
The Bobcats had a number of wrestlers notch wins this weekend, including four who won in both meets: Andrew Romanchik, Harrison Hightower, Cody Walters and Jeremy Johnson. Walters pushed his to 29-2 with a tenth straight victory.
With a championship meet in a less than a month, Ohio is pushing itself more now than any other point in the season. The Bobcats are in the midst of three straight dual meets on the road to end the regular season. Sunday, the Bobcats travel to North Carolina to take on the Campbell University Fighting Camels.
“Our schedule worked out so that we had a really tough and competitive run in the middle of the season, but the end was a bit of a break,” Greenlee said. “We can’t take a break and get sluggish at the end of the season, but it’s nice to be able to focus on the individuals rather than an entire team strategy.”
On Feb. 24, the Bobcats will travel north to Cleveland to take part in two dual meets in one day against Cleveland State and Gardner-Webb. Greenlee is excited for the matchup against the Vikings because of the in-state ramifications.
“It’s important to beat the schools in this state,” Greenlee says. “Aside from establishing our place, it really helps with recruiting. We recruit against CSU a lot and it’s a big deal to beat them.”
TJ790511@OHIOU.EDU
