Ohio will face Northern Iowa in a crucial MAC matchup Friday in The Convo.
With the Mid-American Conference tournament just over a month away, the Bobcats are set to take on their final conference opponent Friday.
Ohio (7-5, 3-4 MAC) is set to host Northern Iowa (6-6, 3-2 MAC), and the Bobcats hope for a shift in the conference standings. The Panthers are fourth in the standings while the Bobcats currently sit in sixth place.
Ohio is coming off its worst conference loss of the season, as it fell to Old Dominion 25-9 last Friday. Against the Monarchs, the Bobcats dropped each of their first four matchups of the evening and never seemed to recover. Ohio 149-pound redshirt junior Tywan Claxton lost just his third bout of the season, as he fell in a 4-1 overtime decision to Old Dominion’s Alexander Richardson.
Even with its latest loss, Ohio has still won three of the last four matches.
On the other side of the mat, Northern Iowa has lost its past three matches, following a three-match winning streak. Northern Iowa is coming off of its most recent 33-6 loss to the hands of Missouri — who currently leads the MAC at 6-0 in conference play (18-0 overall). Much like the Bobcats, the Panthers went down 19-0 early in that match and never recovered before they ultimately lost.
The Panthers will bring six nationally ranked wrestlers to The Convo on Friday evening, including 125-pound sophomore No. 5 Dylan Peters and heavyweight junior No. 10 Blaize Cabell.
Peters and Cabell will pose big threats to the Bobcats, as Ohio will have freshmen competing against them. Ohio redshirt freshman Zak Hassan is projected to battle against Peters at 125 pounds, while either freshman Jesse Webb or freshman Zach Parker will wrestle against Cabell as heavyweights.
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