Top-ranked Kyle Kwiat registers dominating performance to lead No. 13 Wrestling at 32nd Annual ONU Invitational

By Tim Glon

| ONU Invitational Site | ONU Individual Results |

ADA — Senior All-American and defending national champion Kyle Kwiat turned in a domunating performance to lead the No. 13-ranked Ohio Northern wrestling team at the 32nd Annual ONU Invitational Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.

The Polar Bears finished fifth of 16 teams with 94.5 points in the team standings. No. 13 Olivet (Mich.) won the team title with 140.5 points, NAIA No. 3-ranked Campbellsville (Ky.) was second with 128 points and West Liberty State (W.Va.) was third with 116 points.

Five Ohio Northern wrestlers placed in the top eight of their respective weight classes.

Kwiat was named the Tournament MVP for the second consective season and sophomore Cody Lovejoy won the Most Pins Award with four in 8:42 on the day.

Kwiat won the 174-pound weight class in dominating fashion, posting a 5-0 record without giving up a point in any of his matches.

He won three times by tech, fall (15-0, 16-0 and 16-0) and won once by major decision (8-0) and was leading 13-0 when he recorded his only pin of the day.

He is the nation's top-ranked wrestler in his weight class and is now 8-0 on the season.

Junior and No. 5-ranked Michael Pawlitz placed third at 197 pounds for the Polar Bears. Pawlitz finished with a 5-1 record, including three pins, and improves to 8-1 on the season.

Freshman Tyler Gargano placed fourth at 165 pounds. He posted a 4-2 record and is now 5-2 on the season, winning four times by decision on Saturday.

Lovejoy placed fifth in the heavyweight class with a 5-2 record. He picked up four pins on the day and is now 7-2 on the year.

Senior Jeremy Jones placed seventh at 133 pounds with a 4-2 record and improves to 4-5 on the season.

The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday night with a dual meet at Mount Saint Joseph.