ATHENS, Ohio- In front of an enthusiastic senior night crowd of over seven hundred Friday night at the Convocation Center, Ohio Wrestling lost a close dual meet to the No. 20 Kent State Golden Flashes. Each team won five of the ten bouts but the visitors were able to escape Athens with a 17-16 win.

Gabe Ramos (Hopatcong, N.J.) started off the meet the right way for the Bobcats (10-4, 2-1 Mid-American Conference), taking a 5-1 decision over Troy Opfer. The victory was Ramos’s eighth of the season and his first over Opfer, a wrestler who took a 5-2 decision over him on January 9.

Kent State’s nationally-ranked (No. 9) Danny Mitcheff came back in a big way in the 133 pound class, taking a 16-0 technical fall victory over Michael Fennell. Fennell, a redshirt sophomore from Commack, N.Y., fought hard through the first period, only conceding two points. Mitcheff then got aggressive in the second frame, earning an escape, a takedown and two three-point near-falls en route to winning the bout.

With the Golden Flashes (14-3, 3-0 MAC) holding a 5-3 lead, Germane Lindsey (Cincinnati, Ohio) was able to help his squad regain the lead by taking a 13-4 major decision over Kent’s 141-pounder. The bout was tied 2-2 at the end of the second period, after which Lindsey went on an 11-2 point run in two minutes to earn four big points for the Green and White. The win was Lindsey’s 50th career victory as a Bobcat, his second consecutive major decision and his fifth victory in a row.  

“That was huge,” said head coach Joel Greenlee. “That was what he had planned. His plan was to get the guy tired and then get on it from there, which is what he did.”

Seth Morton (Canal Winchester, Ohio), the first Bobcat senior to take the mat, was able to win a 5-1 decision over Kent’s Tommy Sasfy. Morton held a 2-1 lead going into the third and final frame, a period in which he earned a two-point reversal and a bonus point for his 2:58 riding time.

Fellow seniors Clay Tucker (Martins Ferry, Ohio) and Kevin Christensen (Fairborn, Ohio) were not able to achieve victories Friday, as Tucker lost a 2-1 double-overtime decision and Christensen ended up on the wrong side of a 4-0 decision. Redshirt Senior Jacob Ison (Batavia, Ohio) followed up at 174 pounds by taking a 4-2 decision over Keith Witt. Ison gave the Bobcats a 13-11 lead with the victory, which was the 72nd of his impressive career.

The teams split the next two bouts, as Kent State’s nationally-ranked (No. 5) Dustin Kilgoure won a 6-3 decision over No. 18 Nick Purdue (Genoa, Ohio) in the 184 pound class. Junior Erik Schuth (Spencerport, N.Y.) then took a 4-0 shutout decision in the 197 pound class, setting the stage for a winner-take-all heavyweight bout as the Bobcats were on the sunny side of a 16-14 score.

The evening’s final bout was a microcosm of the entire dual meet, as it involved the same intensity and excitement that the other nine had provided. Kent State’s Joe Tymosuzuk took an early 5-2 lead into the second period after stringing together a takedown, an escape and a two-point near-fall. Andy Hartshorn (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) came back in a big way, earning three of the next five points to push the score to 7-5. Hartshorn added two takedowns in the third period, the second of which tied the score at 10-10 with no time remaining. The only thing separating this final bout from overtime was the 81 seconds of riding time that Kent’s heavyweight had accumulated throughout the match. This final point propelled the Flashes to an 11-10 win in the bout and a 17-16 victory in the dual meet.

“We put ourselves in a position to win,” said Greenlee. “Every guy worked his tail off but we just didn’t do it. It doesn’t mean our chances are over. It means we go back, work harder, work a little bit smarter, work at getting better techniqueâ€"the whole nine yardsâ€"and try to get them at the MAC Championships.”  

The Bobcats will next be in action when they host West Virginia at Ohio University Eastern in St. Clairsville on Sunday. First bout is set for 3 p.m. with a youth wrestling clinic beginning at noon.

Ohio (16), No. 20 Kent State (17)

125: Gabe Ramos (Ohio) 5-1 dec. Troy Opfer (KSU)   OHIO 3-0

133: No. 9 Dan Mitcheff (KSU) 16-0 TF Michael Fennell (Ohio)    KENT 5-3

141: No. 11 Germane Lindsey (Ohio) 13-4 MD Chase Skonieczny (KSU)    OHIO 7-5

149: Seth Morton (Ohio) 5-1 dec. Tommy Sasfy (KSU)    OHIO 10-5

157: Mallie Shuster (KSU) 2-1 SV-2 Clay Tucker (Ohio)    OHIO 10-8

165: Ross Tice (KSU) 4-0 dec. Kevin Christensen (Ohio)    KENT 11-10

174: Jacob Ison (Ohio) 4-2 dec. Keith Witt (KSU)    OHIO 13-11

184: No. 5 Dustin Kilgoure (KSU) 6-3 dec. No. 18 Nick Purdue (Ohio)    KENT 14-13

197: No. 16 Erik Schuth (Ohio) 4-0 dec. Adam Cogar (KSU)    OHIO 16-14

HWT: Joe Tymosuzuk (KSU) 11-10 dec. Andy Hartshorn (Ohio)    KENT 17-16