By Tim Glon
No. 17 Ohio Northern clinched at least a share of the Ohio Athletic Conference Wrestling title with a 26-12 victory over Baldwin Wallace on Senior Night at the ONU Sports Center on Tuesday.
The Polar Bears improve to 15-2 overall and are 4-0 in Ohio Athletic Conference action, while the Yellow Jackets fall to 4-4, 1-3.
Trailing 12-7, ONU won the final four weight classes to post the victory.
Northern's win, coupled with Mount Union 24-15 victory over Heidelberg on Tuesday, leaves the Polar Bears as the lone unbeaten team in the league.
UMU and HU are both 3-1 in OAC action with one week to go in the league's round-robin schedule.
"I'm proud of our guys for hanging in there and getting the win," ONU head coach Ron Beaschler. "Our heavier weight classes came through for us again. Winning the OAC is always a goal for our program. Now our goal is to win the league outright with a victory next week."
ONU will wrap up its OAC slate with a dual meet at Heidelberg next Tuesday.
Senior Kyle Raber gave ONU a 14-12 lead with a thrilling win at 184 pounds, then junior Michael Pawlitz and sophomore Cody Lovejoy put the match away with back-to-back first period pins at 197 and 285, respectively.
Raber jumped ahead early, then got an escape with eight seconds left in the match to post a 9-8 decision at 184 pounds to give the Polar Bears a 14-12 lead.
Pawlitz then won by fall in 2:37 and Lovejoy got his team-leading 17th pin in 2:33 to end the match.
Pawlitz is now 25-5 on the year with 13 pins and Lovejoy is 26-9. Both men are 4-0 in the league.
Senior Jeremy Jones gave ONU an early 4-3 lead with a 9-1 major decision at 133 pounds. Jones improves to 22-15 on the season and is now 3-1 in OAC action.
Sophomore Kyle Brezovec gave Northern a 7-6 advantage with a solid 6-1 victory at 149 pounds. Brezovec improves to 9-7 overall and 2-0 in OAC action with the victory.
After a pair of BW decisions gave the guests a 12-7 lead, senior defending All-American and top-ranked Kyle Kwiat improved to 33-3 on the season and 4-0 in conference duals with a 12-0 major decision at 174 pounds.
The OAC title is the second straight and third in four seasons for the Polar Bears.
