FINAL RESULTS - PHOTO GALLERY

WESTERVILLE, Ohio – A tall order was on the slate for Otterbein inside the Rike Center Tuesday night, as the Cardinals welcomed No. 15 (dual rankings) John Carroll for an Ohio Athletic Conference duals.

Otterbein opened the night strong before the Blue Streaks (alro ranked sixth in the NWCA tournament poll) kicked into gear midway through, pulling away for a 34-9 win after the varsity slate culminated. JCU emerged by the same exact count last year up in University Heights.

Freshman Andrew Sas (141) got the night started with a nice victory during the first of four exhibition bouts, pinning his opponent at the 4:11 mark in the second period. He gets back over .500 on the season as a result.

Otterbein then won two of the initial three bouts as the varsity dual began, starting with Noah Houchins (125) getting his hand raised via forfeit. After JCU standout Andrew Perelka knotted the score back up, the Cards regained control behind a valiant effort from senior Joey Buckland…

The 141-pounder trailed 5-4 near the end of regulation after a back-and-forth jostling, but held a key point for riding time that ultimately forced an extra session. Buckland secured a nice takedown early into the sudden victory format for a nice 7-5 decision.

Nathan Leko (149) had a few strong moments but dropped a tough 7-2 decision in the next bout, and Ryan Whitten somehow came up just short in a nationally-ranked showdown with Luke Reicosky at 165 pounds.

Both Whitten and Reicosky were deadlocked at 1-1 near the end of the third period, where Whitten was called for a narrow/controversial stalling penalty (near the edge of the mat) that awarded his opponent the decisive margin… 2-1.

Kyle De Moss (184) and Jarrod Setliff (197) came up shy in decisions heading down the stretch, while a pair of technical falls helped JCU widen the final gap.

Otterbein will get back into action this weekend at the Ohio Northern Invitational, with start time from Ada set for roughly 9 a.m.