ALLIANCE, Ohio – The ninth-nationally ranked Baldwin Wallace University wrestling team won its second consecutive Ohio Athletic Conference Championship as it defeated the University of Mount Union by a score of 29-7 in its final regular season match.
BW (22-3, 6-0 OAC), who won their seventh OAC wrestling title, increased its single-season school-record victory total victory and went undefeated in league action for the second straight season. The Yellow Jackets also won their 13th straight OAC dual match and their 57th victory in the past three seasons. Mount Union (7-11, 2-3 OAC) closes out its regular season on Saturday against Otterbein University.
"We are extremely proud of our entire wrestling team," said sixth-year Head Coach Jamie Gibbs, who has led BW to a school-record win total each of the past three seasons. "Every member of our program, from the student-athletes to the coaches to the support staff to the BW administration should be proud. We have all worked together to make this happen."
BW was led by freshman 133-pounder Charlie Nash (Norwalk), sophomore All-OAC 165-pounder Anthony Arroyo (Maumee) and junior 285-pounder Gabe Mahaney (Green). Nash pinned his opponent at the 4:00 minute mark, Arroyo earned a fall at the 5:20 mark and Mahaney closed out the match with a 16-0 technical fall.
Senior All-OAC 141-pounder Josh Decatur (Akron/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy), sophomore 149-pounder Richie Burke (Ithaca, N.Y.), sophomore 157-pounder Benjamin Hooff (Worthington/Thomas Worthington), sophomore 184-pounder Zeckary Lehman (Akron/Revere) and junior All-OAC 197-pounder Tyler Maclellan (Medina/Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy) each won by decision. Decatur earned a victory with by a score of 5-3. Burke won by a count of 8-4 and improves to 8-0 against OAC opponents in his career, Hooff won by a score of 11-5, Lehman earned an 8-2 victory and Maclellan won by a count of 3-1,
BW returns to action on February 25-26 when it travels to York, Pennsylvania to participate in the NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Championships hosted by York College. The NCAA Division III National Championships will be contested on March 10-11 hosted by University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse at the Lacrosse Center.
