Top-ranked Kyle Kwiat registers dominating performance to lead No. 13 wrestling at 32nd annual ONU Invitational
Senior All-American and defending national champion Kyle Kwiat turned in a domunating performance to lead the No. 13-ranked Ohio Northern wrestling team at the 32nd Annual ONU Invitational Saturday at the ONU Sports Center.
The Polar Bears finished fifth of 16 teams with 94.5 points in the team standings.
No. 13 Olivet (Mich.) won the team title with 140.5 points, NAIA No. 3-ranked Campbellsville (Ky.) was second with 128 points and West Liberty State (W.Va.) was third with 116 points.
Five Ohio Northern wrestlers placed in the top eight of their respective weight classes.
Kwiat was named the Tournament MVP for the second consective season and sophomore Cody Lovejoy won the Most Pins Award with four in 8:42 on the day.
Kwiat won the 174-pound weight class in dominating fashion, posting a 5-0 record without giving up a point in any of his matches.
He won three times by tech, fall (15-0, 16-0 and 16-0) and won once by major decision (8-0) and was leading 13-0 when he recorded his only pin of the day.
He is the nation's top-ranked wrestler in his weight class and is now 8-0 on the season.
Junior and No. 5-ranked Michael Pawlitz placed third at 197 pounds for the Polar Bears.
Pawlitz finished with a 5-1 record, including three pins, and improves to 8-1 on the season.
Freshman Tyler Gargano placed fourth at 165 pounds. He posted a 4-2 record and is now 5-2 on the season, winning four times by decision on Saturday.
Lovejoy placed fifth in the heavyweight class with a 5-2 record. He picked up four pins on the day and is now 7-2 on the year.
Senior Jeremy Jones placed seventh at 133 pounds with a 4-2 record and improves to 4-5 on the season.
The Polar Bears will return to action Tuesday night with a dual meet at Mount Saint Joseph.
Stories Posted This Week
Thursday, October 29, 2026
- Bluffton Icon headlines, October 29
- Kenton missing person investigation leads to arrests and discovery of deceased individual
- Ada Council meeting rescheduled for November 10
- District Governor urges Ada Rotary to make lasting impact
- Apollo Career Center honored as Gold Star Institution
- Leading fish expert to deliver Keiser Lecture at Ohio Northern on Nov. 3
- Down Memory Lane: ONU Homecoming celebration in 1925
- Test-to-Treat not Trick-or-Treat
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Tuesday, October 27, 2026
- Bulldogs Allen, Rush voted 1st team by NCOSA coaches
- Ada girls soccer eliminated by Grove in district semis
- Northwest Ohio field reports from the Ohio Division of Wildlife
- Can you look up Rotarian in the dictionary?
- Vancrest of Ada to host purse bingo in Kenton
- Karen Kier named to Soroptimist International Gender Medicine Working Group
- Ada ballot for Nov. 3 includes ambulance district, public library and two park district tax levy issues
Monday, October 26, 2026
- Polar Bears sports roundup, October 19-25
- Bluffton Icon headlines October 26
- Jerry R. Wolber, 88, owned Associated Plastics
- Blanchard Valley Health System Announces Updates to Board of Trustees
- Bingo with Officer Penny, October 27
- Farms, Barns & Rural Heritage event celebrates WCOLC 20th anniversary