WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The No. 5 nationally-ranked and defending Ohio Athletic Conference champion wrestling team won an OAC match over Otterbein University by a final score of 37-6 inside the Rike Center.

BW (2-0, 2-0 OAC) who won nine off 10 matches, remained undefeated against Otterbein (0-5, 0-2 OAC), including winning sixth straight matches over the Cardinals.

The Yellow Jackets were led by sophomore 125-pounder Johnny Novak (Cleveland/St. Ignatius) and sophomore Scholar All-American 149-pounder Michael Petrella (Reynoldsburg/Bishop Hartley) as the duo pinned their opponents. Novak won in 2:34 and Petrella picked up the victory in 4:41

Bringing home the technical fall win was sophomore 133-pounder Jaden Hinton (Glassboro, N.J.) by an 18-3 decision.

Earning major decision victories were junior 141-pounder Zak Anderson (Elyria/Midview) and junior All-American and No. 10 nationally-ranked 197-pounder Doug Byrne (Wickliffe).  Anderson picked up the win by a 12-2 count.  Byrne earned a 14-2 victory.

Picking up decision victories were senior All-American 157-pounder Stanley Bleich (North Ridgeville/Elyria Catholic), senior All-American and No. 3 nationally-ranked 165-pounder Dalton Leightner (Ravenna/Rootstown), junior Scholar All-American and Academic All-OAC 174-pounder Griffin Rathburn (New Albany/Bishop Hartley) and senior 285-pounder Jarod Miller (Greenville, Pa./Reynolds). Bleich, who won his 116 career match, earned a 3-1 victory.  Leightner, who won his 87 career match, need three extra periods to secure his 7-5 win. Rathburn picked up a 7-3 victory. Miller closed out the match with a 7-0 win.

BW is back in action on Saturday, December 11 when it travels to Naperville, Illinois to compete in the 57th North Central College Invitational. Action is slated to begin at 10:00 a.m. 

The Yellow Jackets close out the 2021 portion of their schedule on Saturday, December 18 when they travel to Sandusky, Ohio to compete in the Kalahari Duals hosted by Heidelberg University at 10:00 a.m.  Also on December 18, BW travels to Olivet, Michigan for a pair of matches against Olivet College at 4:00 p.m. and NCAA Division I Michigan State University at 5:30 p.m.