March 7, 2010

Full Brackets

MT. PLEASANT, Mich.- Erik Schuth became Ohio’s 101st Mid-American Conference Champion wrestler on Sunday, winning the 197 pound bracket at the MAC Championships. The junior headlines an impressive group of three wrestlers that qualified for the 2010 NCAA Championships, as teammates Seth Morton and Nick Purdue will be joining him in Omaha, Nebraska on March 18-20. Germane Lindsey and Jacob Ison also have a shot at being selected to go to the Championships when the final picks are made on Tuesday. The Bobcats finished third overall in the tournament, scoring 62 team points.

“We had a great day today,” said head coach Joel Greenlee. “We beat a guy in the finals of 197 who had beaten us before; Tucker beat Stella of Buffalo…we won the head-to-head matches when we had to today.”

The Bobcats ended the tournament with seven wrestlers finishing in the top four of their respective weight divisions. Schuth (Spencerport, N.Y.) took first at 197; Morton (Canal Winchester, Ohio) and Purdue (Genoa, Ohio) earned second at 149 and 184 pounds, respectively and Gabe Ramos (125), Germane Lindsey (141), Clay Tucker (157) and Jacob Ison (174) all earned third place.

With his first-place finish at 197 pounds, Schuth has been named to the All-MAC First Team. Morton and Purdue earned All-MAC Honorable Mention with their runner-up performances.

Ramos (Hopatcong, N.J.) had a solid final day on Sunday, winning his only bout. He earned an overtime pin over Kent State’s Troy Opfer, taking the 125-pounder down in 8:21. The redshirt freshman finished the year with a final record of 13-7, winning eight of his last 12 contests.

Germane Lindsey took a 7-2 decision over Kent State’s Chase Skonieczny in his final bout of the season. The junior finished with an impressive 26-6 record at season’s end on his path to third place in the MAC.

Morton followed up his huge win over on Central Michigan’s No. 13 Tony D’Alie on Saturday with an exciting 3-2 decision loss to Buffalo’s No. 19 Desi Green in the final. The senior’s season is not over yet, as he will compete in the 2010 NCAA Championships.

Fellow senior Tucker went 1-0 on the final day of the tournament, winning a 6-4 decision over Buffalo’s Andrew Stella to finish third at 157 pounds. The senior captain finishes his career with an impressive 71-66 career record, a mark that includes his 25-15 ledger this season.

After losing his first bout of the tournament, Ison (Batavia, Ohio) came back in a big way. He took a 12-3 major decision over Eastern Michigan’s Justin Brandel to conclude Saturday’s action before pinning Buffalo’s Brian Sheehan in just 67 seconds to earn third place. The senior ends a stellar career wearing the Green and White, finishing with a lifetime record of 76-30 (22-6 this season).

Purdue faced off against Kent State’s No. 5 Dustin Kilgore in the final match of the 184 pound bracket. Kilgore proved to be too much in the end, taking a 13-5 major decision over Purdue. Nonetheless, Purdue’s big Saturday win over Central Michigan’s No. 14 Mike Miller punched his ticket to the NCAA Championships.

“Kilgore is pretty tough,” added Grenlee. “Purdue beat (Central Michigan’s) Mike Miller, a national finalist last year, to get into the final match. It was a great tournament for him.”

Schuth won the title by shutting out Buffalo’s Jimmy Hammel, 2-0. The junior did not allow a point to be scored against him throughout the tournament, taking two decisions by a combined score of 3-0.

“He’s had a great year,” said Greenlee. “For him I think the move up (in weight class) was great from the standpoint of being durable. He didn’t have to concentrate on cutting weight this year, rather he could concentrate on wrestling and getting better. He pulled through when he had to.”

Host Central Michigan took the overall team title, earning 94 points. Kent State came in second with 73, just 11 ahead of Ohio. Buffalo (60.5), Northern Illinois (24.5) and Eastern Michigan (18) rounded out the rest of the conference.

For full results of the entire tournament, please see the bracket at the top of the story.