Cody Lovejoy wins Heavyweight crown, leads Wrestling to 7th place finish at 34th Annual ONU Invitational

By Tim Glon

| Tournament Site | ONU Individual Results |

ADA — The Ohio Northern wrestling team finished seventh of 15 teams at the 34th Annual ONU Invitational tournament Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.

Seven Polar Bears placed in their respective weight classes, led by senior All-American Cody Lovejoy.

Ranked No. 4 nationally in NCAA Division III in the heavyweight weight class, the third-seeded Lovejoy defeated top-seeded and No. 7-ranked (NCAA Division II) Garrett Gray of Tiffin 8-5 in the finals.

Lovejoy went 5-0 on the day and is now 14-0 with a team-high 11 pins on the year.

He also topped No. 3-ranked Mackenzie Green of Trine (Ind.) 8-4 in the semifinals.

Northern finished with 88 points. Olivet (Mich.) won the team title with 148 points, Alma (Mich.) was second with 143 points and No. 20-ranked (NCAA Division II) Tiffin was third with 132 points.

Junior Colt Lovejoy, who is ranked 18th nationally by D3Wrestle.com and was seeded fourth in the tournament, posted a 5-2 record and placed fourth at 165 pounds. Both of his losses came to fifth-seeded and No. 12-ranked Nolan Barger of Lycoming (Pa.)

Lovejoy improves to 13-3 on the season.

Junior Tyler Gargano, who was seeded sixth in the tournament and is ranked No. 16 nationally at 174 pounds, placed fourth with a 4-2 record and improves to 9-2 on the season.

Also at 174 pounds, freshman Alex Bair went 5-2 and placed fifth in his weight class. Bair improves to 7-6 on the season.

Freshman Evan Morgan placed sixth at 149 pounds with a 3-3 mark with one pin. Morgan improves to 10-7 on the campaign.

Freshman Brad Taton placed seventh at 125 pounds with a 3-2 record. He is now 7-5 on the season.

Junior Greg Biben placed seventh at heavyweight. He posted a 3-2 record and is now 5-4 on the season.

The Polar Bears will return to action Thursday when they host Manchester (Ind.) in a dual at 7:30 pm at the ONU Sports Center.