The Bobcats raised their MAC record to .500 after defeating Buffalo and dominating in the early rounds.
Tywan Claxton set the tone of Sunday’s match against Buffalo at The Convo within the first period of his opening matchup after slamming his opponent to the ground.
The No. 8, 149-pound redshirt junior earned a major decision, putting Ohio up 4-0 early. The Bobcats would continue to put up points, earning wins in the first seven matches of the day. The lead would eventually reach 24-0, ending in a 24-13 Ohio victory.
The victory raised the Bobcats to •7-4 on the season, pushing their Mid-American Conference record to •3-3. The loss dropped Buffalo to 5-10 and 0-5 in the MAC.
Ohio Coach Joel Greenlee was extremely pleased with his team, as they earned the victory during the middle of a stretch where they wrestled two matches in three days.
“This was one of the only times we went out and dominated people from start to finish,” Greenlee said. “I’m proud of our guys for coming back and wrestling tough today.”
Spartak “Sparty” Chino, a 157-pound redshirt junior, followed Claxton’s major decision with one of his own, pushing the Bobcats’ lead to 8-0.
“I feel like wrestling is such a sport of emotion, and you can really feed off of each other,” Chino said. “You see your teammate get a big win and give it his all, it really motivates you and helps you dig down to a place you really didn’t think you’d be able to.”
Ohio also earned victories from No. 8, 174-pound redshirt junior •Cody Walters, and No. 16, 197-pound redshirt junior •Phil Wellington in the middle of their seven-match-winning streak.
“I’d put them up against anyone in the country and we’d have great matches,” Greenlee said of the middle of the lineup.
Another victory earned was one by 184-pound redshirt junior •Andrew Romanchik. “Romo’s” victory pushed the Bobcats lead to 17-0.
“He goes out there and figures out a way to win against every guy,” Greenlee said of Romanchik. “He’s a competitor, he wrestles hard and good things happen to him.”
The match took an interesting turn halfway through as John Stutzman, Buffalo’s coach, took offense to something said from the crowd and called for a timeout.
After a brief meeting between Greenlee and the referee, the match resumed.
“Have I ever seen fans get in the head of someone else like that? Not like that. It was interesting,” Greenlee said.
After falling down 24-0, the Bulls rallied to take 13 straight points in the final three matches, but could not muster any more.
The Bobcats will hope that this match gets them on a roll, as the team has now won three straight matches — all in the MAC.
“I feel like we’re hitting our stride a little bit,” Greenlee said. “I feel like a couple of those dual meets, if we could have them back now, we’d probably win them.”
The Bobcats, fighting the sick bug throughout the match, will head to Virginia to take on Old Dominion Friday. Ohio will have an eye on the finish line for the match, knowing the season is drawing closer to its conclusion.
“One win is all it takes,” Chino said. “March is what really matters.”
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