Eight Polar Bears place as Wrestlers finish second at 28th annual ONU Invitational

Luke Miller

By Tim Glon

| ONU Invitational Site |

ADA — Ohio Northern placed wrestlers in eight of the 10 weight classes to post a second place finish at the 28th annual ONU Invitational Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.

Northern finished with 111 points in the 19-team tournament.

No. 29-ranked (Division III) Olivet (Mich.) won the meet with 128 points, No. 14 (Division II) West Liberty State (W.Va.) was third with 108 points, No. 16 (Div. II) Limestone (S.C.) was fourth and No. 28 Trine (Ind.) (Div. III) was fifth with 97 points.

Sophomores Luke Miller (10-2 season record) and Joe Fisher (11-4) each had third place finishes to lead the Polar Bears.

Miller, the No. 4 seed, finished third at 157 pounds with a 5-1 record. He got falls in his first two matches on Saturday, pinning Brian DeCormier of Cumberland (Tenn.) in 36 seconds and Nick Shappee of Lycoming in 5:53. Miller then won by decision over fifth-seeded Bryan Massong of Mount Saint Joseph 5-2 to advance to the quarterfinals.

He lost 7-5 to the tournament's top-seed and No. 1 nationally-ranked Jason Brew of Olivet (Mich.) in the quarterfinals, but came back to post a 1-0 win over Bryce Sopko of Limestone (S.C.) and a 4-1 victory over Kyle Long of Trine (Ind.) to finish third.

Seventh-seeded Fisher finished third at the heavyweight class, poting a 5-1 record.

He won by decision over Allen Runyoon of Lycoming 7-1, pinned Trey Foster of Mount Saint Joseph in 1:57 and won by decision over San Misko of Olivet 6-3 to reach the semifinals, where he fell 9-4 to third-seeded Matt Clum of Findlay.

In the consolation semifinals, Fisher edged Tony Carothers of Heidelberg 1-0 and xxxx fourth-seeded Mike Carpenter of West Liberty Salem 8-3 in the third place bout.

Top-seeded David Penny (8-3) placed fourth in the 125-pound weight class, finishing with a 3-2 mark. Penny won by decision over Jimmy Coputurian of Lycoming (Pa.) 3-1, won by tech fall over Brian Lening of Trine (Ind.) 15-0 and won by decision over Donny Herrington of Wilmington 5-3 to reach the semifinals.

He then dropped a 3-0 decision to Jimmy Nichols of Indianapolis, then fell by decision 4-0 Matt Hall of Lycoming in the third place match.

At 133 pounds, fourth-seeded Jeff Penny (8-3) placed fourth with a 3-2 record

He pinned David Overy of Cumberlands (Ky.) in 1:03, won by decision over Nathan Godsey pf Cumberland (Tenn.) 7-0, won by decision over Eric Grecco of Lycoming 9-3. In the semis, he lost by fall to top-seeded Nick Garber of Waynesburg (Pa.).

In the third place match, he fell by decision 4-3 second-seeded Thomas Pompei of Trine.

Freshman Mick Letcher (5-2) continued his hot streak at 149 pounds, placing fourth with a 4-2 record.

In his first collegiate match on Tuesday, he won by fall. In his first two matches on Saturday, he pinned Rob Holt of Wilmington in 1:28 and pinned top-seeded Kayne Melko of West Liberty State (W.Va.), who is ranked No. 7 nationally in Division II, 6:46, giving him pins in each of his first three collegiate matches.

He then won by major decision over eighth-seeded Kyle Pittman of Trine 13-2 in the quarterfinals, but fell 19-0 to fourth-seeded Mike Maurer of Lycoming in the semifinals. He rallied for a 1-0 victory over seventh-seeded Dave Harris of Mount Saint Joseph in the consolation semifinals and he lost by fall in 6:45 to Zach Frederick of Lycoming in the third place match.

Fifth-seeded Matt Alexander (8-4) finished sixth at 165 pounds with a 4-3 record, Billy Painter (9-4) finished sixth at 165 pounds with a 5-3 record and Collin Swick (5-4) placed seventh at 174 pounds with a 4-2 record.

The Polar Bears will return to action on Dec. 21 at the Desert Duals at Las Vegas, Nev.