"We believe in our guys and we are confident in all of them," said third year head coach Ned Shuck.
Heidelberg's only loss last season was to the Purple Raiders in Alliance that forced a three-way tie for the OAC regular season championship. However, after tonight's performance, the Berg grapplers need only knock off Muskingum University and Ohio Northern to claim OAC supremacy.
The battle in Seiberling Gymnasium began at 149-pounds, which featured sophomore Damon Cheek for the Berg. Cheek put the Berg ahead, 3-0 with a slim decision, 4-3. Cheek trailed late in the third period before scoring a critical takedown in the final minute.
Mount Union tied the match as their 157-pounder, Jon Garrison, who is ranked fifth by d3wrestle.com, defeated sophomore Aaron Banko, 9-3.
Senior Jeremy Stepp returned to the mat in proper fashion as he handed his Mount Union counterpart, Joe Schindel, a 9-4 loss. The 165-pounder jumped out to a 6-3 lead in the first period and cruised in the final two periods to push the Berg ahead, 6-3.
Junior Brennan Kelly wrestled a tough back and fourth match at 174-pounds with Mount's Brogan Endres. Kelly downed the Purple Raider with a crucial reversal in the second period and an escape in the third to move the Student Princes ahead, 9-3 in the team score.
Richard Dowdley kept the Berg's winning streak rolling at 184-pounds with a narrow 6-4 decision. Dowdley dominated the first period scoring two takedowns to take a comfortable lead into the later periods. He held off the Purple Raider in the third period to earn a decision victory.
Senior Jason Russell surrendered the second Heidelberg loss of the evening at 197-pounds. Russell suffered a 5-2 loss at the hands of Mount Union's Nick Rajcsak.
Regardless of the loss at 197-pounds, the energy in Seiberling remained high as sophomore heavyweight Nino Majoy stepped onto the mat. Majoy scored a 4-0 shutout to extend the Berg's lead to 15-6.
"We started well at 149-pounds with Damon and even with a few losses, after the intermission we kept the energy up," said Shuck. "The bench and crowd kept feeding the team with their energy for Nino at 285-pounds and then Delian at 125-pounds as he picked up the deciding win."
125-pounder Delian Schneider put the match out of the Purple Raiders reach with a decisive 13-3 major decision.
Sophomore Colin McDermitt picked up a huge victory at 133-pounds over Jeremy Border, who is fifth in the country. McDermitt scored a commanding 9-5 decision to push the Berg ahead 22-6.
Senior Ian Gillespie suffered a loss in the final mach of the evening at 141-pounds, 13-5 to Mount Union's Bryant Roby.
"I am proud of the heart and the fight that our guys showed in front of a huge crowd," said Shuck. "That is what you always ask out of a team is to fight and show heart. We have to build off of this victory and finish our season strong," Shuck concluded.
The Student Princes will return to the mat on Thursday, February 13, when the Fighting Muskies of Muskingum come to Seiberling Gymnasium. Wrestling will begin at 7:30 p.m.
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