Feb. 21, 2010

YPSILANTI, Mich.- Ohio Wrestling won its last dual meet of the 2009-10 regular season on Sunday, taking a 26-13 victory at Eastern Michigan. The Bobcats won seven of the day’s ten bouts, as Gabe Ramos, Germane Lindsey, Seth Morton, Clay Tucker, Jacob Ison, Erik Schuth and Andy Hartshorn all emerged victorious. Ramos and Morton both came away with major decisions for Ohio, while Schuth was able to pin his opponent for an important six points.

The dual meet began with back-to-back major decisions, as Ramos (Hopatcong, N.J.) came out of the gate quickly, earning a 10-2 win over Eagle 125-pounder Greg Egbert. This was Ramos’s tenth win of the season for Ohio. Eastern Michigan was then able to tie up the scores at four apiece when Chris Jenkins took a 13-2 matching major over Bobcat Michael Fennell (Commack, N.Y.).

“Gabe looked pretty good today,” said head coach Joel Greenlee. “The last six or seven times out he has had some great performances.”

Lindsey (Cincinnati, Ohio) rebounded from his loss by decision at No. 6 Central Michigan on Friday by coming away with a 6-5 victory over Corey Phillips to begin a three-bout winning streak for the Bobcats. Morton (Canal Winchester, Ohio) followed this with a 13-2 major decision and teammate Tucker (Martins Ferry, Ohio) took a 3-0 shutout decision at 157 pounds to put the Bobcats up 14-4.

The Eagles (10-12-1, 0-5 Mid-American Conference) stormed back, taking two of the next three bouts to pull within four points at 17-13. Alex Ortman took a 5-3 decision over Kevin Christensen at 157 pounds at Phillip Joseph was able to pin Brian Driscoll (Avon Lake, Ohio) in the first period of the 184 pound clash. Ison (Batavia, Ohio), was the bright spot of those three weight classes, winning a 9-3 decision over Justin Brandel for his 20th victory of the season.

The Bobcats (12-5, 3-2 MAC) won the final two bouts of the day as Schuth (Spencerport, N.Y.) pinned his opponent in the first period and Hartshorn (Reynoldsburg, Ohio) came away with a close 3-2 decision over Wes Schroeder.

“Schuth looked good today,” added Greenlee. “He’s tough on top. He got an early takedown and just took the bout from there.”

Ohio will have a few days away from competition before it heads back up to Mount Pleasant, Michigan, for the MAC Championships on March 6 and 7.

“I feel pretty good (about the upcoming Championships)”, said Greenlee. “We accomplished what we needed to in order to finish third in the regular season, and now we need to perform at the Championships to see if we can send five or six guys to Nationals.”

OHIO 26, EASTERN MICHIGAN 13

125 lbs.: Gabe Ramos (OU) maj. dec. Greg Egbert (EMU), 10-2   OU 4, EMU 0

133 lbs.: Chris Jenkins (EMU) maj. dec. Michael Fennell (OU), 13-2   EMU 4, OU 4

141 lbs.: No. 11 Germaine Lindsey (OU) dec. Corey Phillips (EMU), 5-4   OU 7, EMU 4

149 lbs.: Seth Morton (OU) maj. dec.  David Pienaar (EMU), 13-2   OU 11, EMU 4

157 lbs.: Clay Tucker (OU) dec. Aaron Sulzer (EMU), 3-0   OU 14, EMU 4

165 lbs.: Alex Ortman (EMU) dec. Kevin Christensen (OU), 5-3   OU 14, EMU 7

174 lbs.: Jacob Ison (OU) dec. Justin Brandel (EMU), 9-3   OU 17, EMU 7

184 lbs.: Phillip Joseph (EMU) pin Brian Driscoll (OU) , 2:42   OU 17, EMU 13

197 lbs.: No. 20 Erik Schuth (OU) pin Travis Stanback (EMU), 2:38   OU 23, EMU 13

HWT: Andy Hartshorn (OU) dec. Wes Schroeder (EMU), 3-2   OU 26, EMU 13