Bobcats Fall to #8 Central Michigan 23-9
Percival, Weimer and Fowler Win Decisions for Ohio
Contact: Bob Lee
ATHENS, Ohio “Despite getting wins from seniors Jake Percival (Elyria) and Joel Weimer (Waynesville) and junior Jim Fowler (Valley City), the Ohio wrestling team lost 23-9 to No. 8 Central Michigan Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center. With the dual meet victory, the Chippewas (16-4, 5-0 Mid-American Conference) claimed their seventh straight MAC regular-season title while the Bobcats (10-12-1, 3-2 MAC) placed third in the six-team conference.
The meet began with Ohio senior Mike Allen (Springfield) losing an 8-3 decision to Mark DiSalvo, the 11th-ranked 149-pounder in the country. In the very next match, however, the Bobcats tied the score at 3-3.
Percival, ranked fourth in the nation at 157 pounds, completed his MAC regular-season career with an 8-2 decision over Chippewa freshman Eric Neil. The three-time All-American and 2004 NCAA runner-up scored three takedowns, an escape and riding time to improve to 24-2 on the season and 134-9 for his career, including 17-0 in MAC matches.
Central Michigan then reeled off three straight wins as No. 9 David Bolyard registered a 20-7 major decision over Ohio sophomore Aaron Gomoll (Bay Village) at 165 pounds, No. 7 Mitch Hancock managed an 8-2 decision over Bobcat freshman Ryan Knapp (McConnelsville) at 174 and Alex Lammers recorded an 11-0 shutout over 184-pound sophomore Brian Cesear (Amherst). Knapp was filling in for injured senior Ed Willis (Liberty Township) while Gomoll replaced ill senior Tony DeAnna (Westlake).
Following an intermission ceremony honoring Ohio’s 1976 MAC championship squad, Weimer delivered a huge win for the Bobcats by defeating Chippewa 197-pounder Wynn Michalak, who was ranked 10th in the country. Trailing 1-0, Weimer scored an escape with 55 seconds remaining and then a takedown with just six seconds left to earn the 3-1 decision and improve his season mark to 17-4 (4-0 in the MAC) and his career record to 83-47.
“That was a great match for Weimer because he’s not 100 percent yet,” said Bobcat head coach Joel Greenlee. “We had never seen this guy so we finally know a little bit about him and what he likes to do.”
“My shots weren’t working too well in the beginning,” said Weimer about his victory. “At the end, he just gave me an opening and I was able to get one at the very end. Now I have two weeks to get healthy so I should be good to go by the MAC Tournament.”
Then, in the heavyweight match, No. 9 Bill Stoufer avenged his loss in last year’s MAC Tournament finals by defeating Ohio’s Jeremiah Beltran (Olathe, Kan.) 4-2 and giving the Chippewas a 17-6 lead.
Central Michigan secured the victory with a hard-fought 3-1 decision by No. 18 Luke Smith over Bobcat freshman Caleb Metcalf (Waterville) at 125 pounds. No. 9 Jason Borrelli then tacked on a 4-0 decision over 133-pound sophomore Matt Smith (Sandyville, W.Va.) to make it a 23-6 Chippewa advantage.
In the meet’s final match, Ohio junior Jim Fowler (Valley City) suffered an early takedown but battled back with a reversal and three-point near fall before the end of the first period. He then scored an escape in the second period and kept Central Michigan’s 141-pounder, Brandon Carter, at bay with several close takedown attempts to pull out the 6-4 decision, his seventh win in the last eight duals.
“When he got the takedown, I didn’t want to give up any back points so I kicked through it,” said Fowler about his early reversal. “When I kicked over, I noticed him on his back so I just shifted my hips the other way and held him there as long as I could. I didn’t have a very good hold on him so I just squeezed as tight as I could to get some back points.”
“Jim’s on a tear right now,” said Greenlee. “He’s just flat out tough. He’s doing a great job for us and it’ll be interesting to see what happens between him and Jon Spires (Lancaster) as far as who goes to the MAC Tournament for us at that weight.”
Ohio’s next competition will be the 2005 MAC Championships on March 4-5 at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation (M.A.C.) Center in Kent, Ohio. Matches will begin Friday, March 4, at 1 p.m. The 2005 NCAA Championships will be held March 17-19 in St. Louis.
#8 Central Michigan 23, Ohio 9
149 “#11 Mark DiSalvo (CMU) dec. Mike Allen (Ohio), 8-3
157 “#4 Jake Percival (Ohio) dec. Eric Neil (26-10), 8-2
165 “#9 David Bolyard (CMU) major dec. Aaron Gomoll (Ohio), 20-7
174 “#7 Mitch Hancock (CMU) dec. Ryan Knapp (Ohio), 8-2
184 ““Alex Lammers (CMU) major dec. Brian Cesear (Ohio), 11-0
197 “Joel Weimer (Ohio) dec. #10 Wynn Michalak (CMU), 3-1
HWT “#9 Bill Stouffer (CMU) dec. Jeremiah Beltran (Ohio), 4-2
125 “#18 Luke Smith (CMU) dec. Caleb Metcalf (Ohio), 3-1
133 “#9 Jason Borrelli (CMU) dec. Matt Smith (Ohio), 4-0
141 “Jim Fowler (Ohio) dec. Brandon Carter (CMU), 6-4
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