UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OHIO -- The Baldwin Wallace University wrestling team won the last five matches with four coming by decision as it defeated Ohio Athletic Conference and Cleveland cross-town rival John Carroll University, 21-18, tonight (Tuesday, January 11, 2011) in the Tony DeCarlo Varsity Center in University Heights. But the final outcome of the match was not without great controversy.
With JCU leading 18-15 entering the 285-pound and final match of the evening, an unusual situation occurred. The original Blue Streak wrestler who participated in the pre-meet weigh-in's did not compete and a substitution who had not weighed-in competed. When BW Head Coach Rich Fleming brought the situation to the attention of the referee, the referee stated that the mistake constituted a forfeit. The resulting six points gave BW its final margin of victory.
With its win, Baldwin Wallace improved to 5-7 overall and 1-0 in the OAC. The win marked the second straight and third overall against JCU in program history as well recording the first victory at the DeCarlo Varsity Center. With its loss, John Carroll is now 1-1 overall and 0-1 in the OAC.
Following losses at 141, 149 and 157-pounds, BW trailed 18-3 before senior 165-pounder Korey Leonhard (Kinsman/ Pymatuning Valley) began a five-match winning streak when he won by a 3-2 decision. Then senior 174-pounder Andrew Scavuzzo (Cuyahoga Falls/ Woodridge) followed with a win by a score of 4-2. The two wins closed the team score to 18-9 with three matches to go.
Sophomore 184-pounder Joe Georgian (Eastlake/ Villa Angela-St. Joseph) continued the streak with a 6-3 decision to close the gap to 18-12. Senior Tristan Stoll (Milan/ Edison) then followed with the team's fourth consecutive win by a score of 5-3 to close the team score to 18-15 heading into the 285-pound match where junior Ryan Jones (Uniontown/ Lake)received the unfortunate forfeit win to secure the Yellow Jacket victory.
Scavuzzo's win tonight improves his overall record to 19-1. He entered the match ranked sixth in the latest Brute-adidas Division III Coaches Association poll at his weight class. Stoll's win improves his overall record this season to 11-3.
The Yellow Jackets are back in action this Saturday, January 15 when they travel to Waynesburg, Pennsylvania where they will participate in the Waynesburg University Tournament. Action begins at 9:30 a.m. The next BW home match is on Tuesday, February 1 when it hosts OAC-rival Muskingum University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium in the Lou Higgins Center at 7:30 p.m. That match will be televised by regional cable network SportsTime Ohio.
FOR MORE BW Sports Information, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu. or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and email at jefmille@bw.edu Fans can access the latest BW athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bwyellowjackets and Twitter athttp://twitter.com/bwathletics.
Baldwin Wallace 21, John Carroll 18
125 lbs: John Cobos (JCU) decision Jeremy Dombrady (BW) , 6-2
133 lbs: Phillip Payne (BW) decision Kevin Nycz (JCU), 7-1
141 lbs: Greg Ryan (JCU) decision Grant Steward (BW), 5-2
149 lbs: Ken Locsei (JCU) pinned Andrew Taylor (BW), 2:46
157 lbs: Connor Suba (JCU) by forfeit
165 lbs: Korey Leonhard (BW) decision Sean Gill (JCU), 3-2
174 lbs: Andrew Scavuzzo (BW) decision Todd Gaydosh (JCU), 4-2
184 lbs: Joe Georgian (BW) decision Bryan Steinmetz (JCU), 6-4
197 lbs: Tristan Stoll (BW) decision Jim Gilcrist (JCU), 5-3
285 lbs: Ryan Jones (BW) by forfeit
