Polar Bears celebrate Senior Night with 24-9 win over BW |
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Jan. 22, 2008 By Tim Glon ADA — The Ohio Northern wrestling team celebrated Senior Night in style with a 24-9 Ohio Athletic Conference dual victory over Baldwin-Wallace Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center. The Polar Bears improve to 5-7 overall and are 3-1 in OAC action, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 6-17, 1-3. Ohio Northern honored its three seniors, Ben Plowman, Adam Kosch and Scott Neuenschwander, in a ceremony before the match. Plowman, a two-time defending OAC champion, then went out and led the Bears with a 20-7 major decision over Jeremy Feador at 174 pounds. Plowman improves to 12-7 overall and remains undefeated in OAC action with a 4-0 mark. Neither Kosch, who has missed most of the season with a knee injury, and Neuenschwander, who placed third at the Manchester (Ind.) Spartan Mat Classic last week, wrestled tonight. Kosch will likely wrap up his career as a Polar Bear with 42 career victories. Neuenschwander currently has a career mark of 34-28 in four seasons on the mat. Northern controlled the match from the onset, winning six consecutive bouts to turn a 3-3 tie into a commanding 20-3 advantage with just three weight classes to go. Jason VanAtta got things rolling for ONU with a 7-2 decision over Tyler Erwin at 125 pounds. VanAtta wrestled in the place of No. 8-ranked David Penny, who will return to action this weekend after sitting out with a minor injury. With the score tied at 3-3, Nick Hoopes got an 11-2 major decision over Eric Schubert at 141 to make it 7-3 ONU. Jeff Sommers then won by decision over Mo Salem 9-5 at 149, Luke Miller topped Joe Incorvaia 2-0 at 157 and A.J. Coleman won 6-2 over Korey Leonhard 6-2 to give the Bears a 16-3 advantage. Plowman’s major decision gave ONU a 20-3 lead and Joe Fisher put a cap on a fine evening for the Polar Bears with a 13-0 major decision over Mike Pelton at heavyweight. “We came out strong and took care of business tonight,” ONU head coach Ron Beaschler said. “We took control of the match early and wrestled well throughout. This was a nice OAC victory for us. Now we need to take that momentum to Wabash this weekend and finish the season strong heading into the Conference championships.” The Polar Bears compete at the Wabash (Ind.) Classic on Saturday and will return to OAC action next Tuesday with a dual at Mount Union. |