Ron Beaschler notches 200th coaching victory as Wrestlers top Wilmington in OAC opener

Head Coach Ron Beaschler

By Tim Glon

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WILMINGTON -- Head coach Ron Beaschler notched the 200th dual meet victory in his 21-year career at Ohio Northern, as the Polar Bears defeated Wilmington 34-12 Tuesday night at Fred Razik Arena.

Ohio Northern improves to 6-5 overall and is 1-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference play, while the Quakers fall to 3-2, 1-1.

Beaschler, ONU's all-time winningest wrestling coach, has guided the Polar Bears to a 200-159-4 record during his tenure. He was elected to the National Wrestling Coaches Hall of Fame in March of 2008.

"I have been very fortunate to have a great group of young men that have wrestled well and won 200 matches at Ohio Northern," Beaschler said. "It's a great honor, but I haven't scored a single point on the mat. We have had outstanding student-athletes and they deserve all the credit. We were banged up and wrestled well tonight. We had several starters out and needed others to step up, which they did." 

Back-to-back pins by freshmen Joe Spooner and Mick Letcher erased an early 9-0 deficit and started a string of seven consecutive ONU victories.

Spooner got the Polar Bears' first victory of the night wit a pin of David Evans at 2:27 in the 141-pound weight class.

Letcher gave the Bears a 12-9 lead when he followed Spooner's pin with a first-period pin of his own in the 149-pound bouut. The pin, his fifth of the season, came at the 2:17 mark against Tim Detwiller.

Freshman Adam Trimble won by decision 7-1 on the strength of two takedowns and an escape at 157 pounds, to extend ONU's lead to 15-9.

Senior A.J. Coleman then won an 8-2 decision over Thomas Bohner at 165 pounds to make it 18-9 Polar Bears.

A forfeit win by senior Collin Swick at 174 gave Ohio Northern a 24-9 lead.

Freshman Matt Alexander clinched the victory with a pin over Zack Ziegler in 4:08 at the 184-pound weight class, making it 30-9 ONU.

"We got pins from three freshman tonight, which was big," Beaschler said. "Wilmington is much improved and we knew that we would have to wrestle well to be successful."

Senior Drew Michel made it 34-9 with a major decision at 197 pounds. He used an impressive seven take downs in the 17-7 victory over Jon Wiggy.

The Polar Bears will return to action Saturday and Sunday at the National Duals at the University of Northern Iowa.

Ohio Northern 34, Wilmington 12

125 - Danny Harrington (WC) dec. David Penny, 7-4
133 - Tim Brown (WC) pinned Jason VanAtta, 1:41
141 - Joe Spooner (ONU) pinned David Evans, 2:27
149 - Mick Letcher (ONU) pinned Tim Dettwiller, 2:17
157 - Adam Trimble (ONU) dec. Mark Sedziol, 7-1
165 - A.J. Coleman (ONU) dec. Thomas Bohner, 8-2
174 - Collin Swick (ONU) won by forfeit
184 - Matt Alexander (ONU) pinned Zack Ziegler, 4:08
194 - Drew Michel (ONU) maj. dec. Cody Hamilton, 17-7
285 - Adam Salyers (WC) dec. Joe Fisher, 4-0

Exhibition Matches
149 - Ben Marks (ONU) dec. Christian Moffatt, 10-6
157 - John Jacobs (ONU) pinned Jake Davis, 2:04