OAC Preview 2012

Ohio Athletic Conference – 11 qualifiers

Saturday, February 25, 2012 at Heidelberg
Returning Qualifiers/All-Americans:
Reynolds (Mt. Union, 6th, 125), Malave (Mt. Union, 141), Johnson (Heidelberg, 149), Letcher (ONU, 157), Kwiat (ONU, 5th, 174), Jenkins (Mt. Union, 184), Hesson (Mt. Union, 5th, 285)

It seems like a two team race in the OAC with Mount Union and Ohio Northern set to battle it out. #16 Mount Union won the conference last year, but #12 Ohio Northern won the OAC dual meet title in 2011-2012. Ohio Northern seems to have a little more depth while Mount Union has more top level talent, so it could be an interesting title race. Mount Union has a pair of returning All-Americans in Reynolds and Hesson, while Ohio Northern has last year’s #1 NCAA seed and 5th place finisher Kwiat. John Carroll has had a bit of resurgence this year and they have a couple of middle weights in Gott and Gill with a good chance to make it to La Crosse. Heidelberg also has a couple of guys with a chance, led by Lovins at 197. The other teams will try to reload for the future.

125 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Reynolds (Mt. Union, 7th)
Reynolds dropped back down to 125 late in the year to try to repeat his run to the semifinals from last season. He has hardly wrestled this year, so it is hard to say what sort of performance we will see, but he is certainly talented enough to win this weight and give the NCAA championships another go. The rest of the conference should not give him too much trouble, as the best of the remaining wrestlers are Cochran (ONU), Cobos (John Carroll), and Schneider (Heidelberg), and they simply do not have the firepower to hang with Reynolds.

133 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Roby (Mt. Union, HM)
Roby is the only wrestler appearing in the rankings, and that says something about the quality of this weight in the OAC. He has a .500 record, though he has wrestled a very tough schedule. Jones (ONU) may be the only wrestler to take the mat this weekend with a winning record at 133, though he has lost to Roby. Other wrestlers likely to appear include Taylor (Baldwin-Wallace), Weisman (Heidelberg), Nycz (John Carroll), and McKernan (Muskingum).

141 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Malave (Mt. Union, 6th)
Malave is another heavy Mount Union favorite, and he was a national qualifier a year ago where he lost two razor thin decisions to All-Americans. This year, he has only lost to wrestlers either ranked above him or not at this weight and is 28-4. Osborne (Heidelberg) was 3rd last year in the OAC and has won 33 matches. One of his 16 losses was a close 3-2 decision to Malave. After those two, 7-5 Kail (John Carroll) looks to be entered, while Ohio Northern has a couple of possibilities.

149 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Shadrach (Mt. Union, Contender)
This is a fourth straight weight with the top ranked wrestler from Mount Union, and Shadrach just missed out on qualifying last year. He should rectify that in 2012. Last year’s champ, Johnson (Heidelberg) has barely eked out a winning record at 9-8, though he is 8-2 against DIII competition. He missed some significant time which contributed to his lack of matches. McIntosh (B-W) has 16 wins, but he defaulted in his last match and has not competed since. Ryan (John Carroll) is 13-8, while Howes (ONU) is 14-14. A repeat of last year’s final is a very real possibility.

157 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Gott (John Carroll, Contender), Letcher (Ohio Northern, Contender)
Finally, there is a weight class with some competition at the top. It is also the first where the Mount Union wrestler is not a heavy favorite. Letcher won this weight class last year over Spooner (Mt. Union) who also returns here. Gott is 22-3 and beat Letcher twice already this year. Outside of Spooner, nobody should be able to test the top two, and Letcher should make a return trip to the finals. He will have his work cut out for him if he wants to repeat as champion.

165 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Gill (John Carroll, Contender), Painter (ONU, Contender)
Painter had some good wins against Myers of Olivet and Gibson of Whitewater, and that briefly earned him a high ranking by the NWCA. Almost immediately, however, Gill beat Painter in their dual meet and has a few nice wins of his own, but a loss to Gibson. Also in this weight and likely to be seeded is Piechuta of Mount Union. This weight is indicative of many weights in this conference where there are one or two dominant wrestlers and the rest hoping for a good day just to get on the podium.

174 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Kwiat (ONU, 3rd), Gaydosh (John Carroll, Contender)
Kwiat is looking for his third All-American award in as many years, and he is currently ranked 3rd at this weight. He is very good on top and can rack up points in a hurry. His only loss this year is to Division II Rynish at Wheaton. Even though Gaydosh also appears in the rankings, Kwiat beat him twice, one by tech fall and once by decision. Gaydosh has not wrestled in a few weeks, so he may or may not even be here, making Kwaits roll through the tournament that  much easier. Stepp from Heidelberg has 20 wins at this weight, but also 21 losses and a recent tech fall loss to Kwiat. It is hard to imagine Kwiat suffering his first DIII loss against this crowd.

184 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Jenkins (Mt. Union, Contender)
Jenkins was an NCAA qualifier last year and is likely to be one again. He defeated Steinmetz (John Carroll) 18-8, and that could be his toughest competition. Only Recknagel of Ohio Northern is even at a .500 record at 184, so it will take a good sized upset to keep Jenkins from another trip to Wisconsin. Unlike 157 and 165, which should be competitive, Jenkins has a pretty clear road.

197 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Lovins (Heidelberg, HM), Pawlitz (ONU)
With a pair of 20 match winners in Lovins and Pawlitz, this is a weight where there should be some competiton, as the senior Neumanitis (John Carroll) is also lurking. Lovins looks to be a real favorite though, as he has a pair of convincing wins over Pawlitz, though Neumanitis did take him to overtime. Pawlitz pinned Neumanitis and also has a win over 2011 All-American Latella of Whitewater. While there probably won’t be a wildcard a this weight, it should be a good one.

285 lbs.
d3wrestle.com Ranked Wrestlers: Hesson (Mt. Union, 2nd), Lovejoy (ONU, 10th), Knapp (Heidelberg, HM)
This is the only weight class with more than two wrestlers who appear in the rankings, and definitley the only one with two in the top ten. Hesson had a great tournament last year to finish fifth, and he is #2 in the country right now and has zero DIII losses. Lovejoy and Knapp are very close in record and ability, and they have had some similar results. They split their matches this year. Can either challenge Hesson? It is tough to say yes, but strange things can happen at 285.