No. 26 Wrestling drops 22-19 decision to Mt St Joseph despite Letcher's pin

By Steve Green

ADA -- Mick Letcher recorded a pin, but Mount Saint Joseph notched a 22-19 victory over No. 26 Ohio Northern Tuesday night at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears fall to 4-3 overall, while the Lions improve to 5-9.

In the 149 class, Letcher was able to rally from a 4-2 decifit to tie his match against Tommy Fehring. Letcher was then able to pin Fehring at the 6:10 mark to give Northern its first points of the night, and cutting the Mt. St. Joseph lead to 6-12.

Kyle Kwiat put on a dominating effort in the 174 match. Kwiat jumped on Matt Collins early to gain a commanding 13-0 lead after the first period, and earned an easy two points with a take down in the second to finish the match by tech. fall.

Kwiat's five team points cut the Lion's team lead to 18-11.

Matt Alexander came out aggressive, and controlled the match, picking up where Kwiat left off, earning a 13-4 major decision over Nolan Karwoski in the 184 weight class.

Alexander's major decision gave the Polar Bears four team points, to pull within three points of the Lions at 15-18.

Nathan Jones gave the Polar Bears their third straight win of the night, and second by major decision as he defeated Mark Fridley by a 13-2 score.

The major decision put Northern into a 19-18 lead going into the last match of the night.

Justin Southwick wasn't able to defeat Sean Jameson at 285 as Jameson earned a 9-1 major decision, giving Mt. St. Joseph four team points and the overall team victory 22-19.

"The guys that wrestled to win tonight, won," ONU head coach Ron Beaschler said. "The guys that didn't wrestle to win, lost. If we wrestle like this on Sunday, it will be a long day."

The Polar Bears will return to action Sunday at the Gator Duals at Longwood, Fla. Ohio Northern will face No. 12-ranked Cornell (Iowa), No. 20 Luther (Iowa), No. 23 Johnson & Wales (R.I.) and Chicago (Ill.) at the tournament.

Mount Saint Joseph 22, No. 26 Ohio Northern 19

125 -- Cody Stewart (MSJ) pinned Louis Piszker, 5:10
133 -- C.J. Pickelheimer (MSJ) dec. Ken Henault, 8-2 
141 -- Eric Meyer (MSJ) dec. Joe Spooner, 6-4
149 -- Mick Letcher (ONU) pinned Tommy Fehring, 6:10
157 -- Bryan Massong (MSJ) dec. Luke Miller, 4-2 SV
165 -- Tim Pope (MSJ) dec. Billy Painter, 7-3
174 -- Kyle Kwiat (ONU) tech. fall Matt Collins, 3:34, 16-0
184 -- Matt Alexander (ONU) maj. dec. Nolan Karwoski, 13-4
197 -- Nathan Jones (ONU) maj. dec. Mark Fridley, 13-2
285 -- Sean Jameson (MSJ) maj. dec. Justin Southwick, 9-1

Exhibition Matches

157 -- Jeff Sommers (ONU) dec. Brian Bowers, 7-2
157 -- Cory Disbennett (MSJ) dec. John Jacobs, 4-3
165 -- Adam Trimble (ONU) tech fall Justin Meineke, 6:09, 18-3
165 -- Kyler Washam (ONU) tech fall Josh Stivers, 6:27, 19-3
184 -- Drew Swick (ONU) dec. Tye Ingram, 6-0