Penny celebrates Senior Night with pin as Wrestling tops B-W 31-13 to clinch a share of OAC Regular Season crown
By Steve Green
ADA — The Ohio Northern wrestling team clinched a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference regular season title in the final home match of the season as ONU defeated Baldwin-Wallace 31-13 Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.
The win moves the Polar Bears 15-10 overall and 5-0 in the OAC with one match remaining, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 4-13 overall and 0-5 in the OAC.
Jeff Penny celebrated Senior Night with a pin of Tyler Erwin 1:18 into the match in the 125-pound weight class.
Penny, one of two seniors on this year's Polar Bear roster along with John Jacobs, returned to action just four days ago after suffering a hand injury in the preseason.
The win was Penny's third win of the season, earning two of his three wins by fall.
Mick Letcher added his own win by fall, pinning Grant Steward in 1:55 for his 16th pin of the season at 149 pounds.
Letcher's pin kept him undefeated in the OAC at 4-0 and gave Northern to a 12-6 lead it would not relinquish.
No. 3 ranked All-American Luke Miller put forth a dominating effort at 157, winning the 12-0 major decision over Korey Leonhard.
Miller, a junior, improves to 32-4 on the season, and is 5-0 in OAC regular season action.
Billy Painter continued Northern's winning streak with a 16-0 tech. fall over Michael Hosta at 165 pounds.
Painter's tech. fall increased the Polar Bear lead to 21-6.
No. 2 ranked freshman Kyle Kwiat added his team leading 18th win by fall over Andrew Scavuzzo in 3:41 at 174 pounds.
Kwiat moves to 35-4 on the season, and remains undefeated in the OAC at 5-0.
Matt Alexander made it five Polar Bears victories in a row as he registered a 17-4 major decision over Cody Quick at 184.
The six wins were all the Polar Bears would need as they moved on to a 31-13 victory.
"It was a good win for us tonight," ONU head coach Ron Beaschler said, "We have to continue to get better and get ready for a big match next week."
Northern returns to action next Tuesday as they travel Alliance for their final OAC regular season match to take on the No. 28-ranked Purple Raiders of Mt. Union for an opportunity to clinch the conference title outright with a win. The match starts at 7:30 pm at the Timken PE Center.
Ohio Northern 31, Baldwin-Wallace 13
125 -- Jeff Penny (ONU) pinned Tyler Erwin, 1:18
133 -- Phillip Payne (BW) dec. Jeremy Jones, 14-7
141 -- Eric Schubert (BW) dec. Garrett Freeman, 9-2
149 -- Mick Letcher (ONU) pinned Grant Steward, 1:55
157 -- Luke Miller (ONU) maj. dec. Korey Leonhard, 12-0
165 -- Billy Painter (ONU) tech. fall Michael Hosta, 5:46, 16-0
174 -- Kyle Kwiat (ONU) pinned Andrew Scavuzzo, 3:41
184 -- Matt Alexander (ONU) maj. dec. Cody Quick, 17-4
197 -- Tristan Stoll (BW) maj. dec. Drew Swick, 20-7
285 -- Ryan Jones (BW) dec. Justin Southwick, 5-2