Carrying a six-point advantage after 149 pounds, Old Dominion gutted out two last minute wins at 157 and 174 pounds to pull away from Central Michigan at the Ted Constant Center.
"We wrestled extremely well today," said ODU head coach Steve Martin. "Pretty much everyone was clicking. It is what we've been looking for all year. Jeske, Mecate, Warner and Curling all beat nationally ranked opponents. We started at 125, Brandon wrestled very well. 141, Chris Mecate ranked fifth in the country beat the number nine kid, Zach Horan, who was another tough opponent. At 149, Lenny Richardson beat his guy almost in a pin position, where it was pretty close. At 157, Tristan had two great wins over the weekend. Billy Curling beat the number eight ranked kid in the country. One thing about Billy is that he wrestles hard every match. We joined the MAC so we could get this tough competition. Our kids wrestled very hard and we are proud of them."
The match started at 125 pounds where Brandon Jeske gave the Monarchs the start they needed. Jeske delivered a near fall, which earned three points and scored a takedown to secure riding time and earn a 7-1 decision victory over No. 12-ranked Corey Keener. Jeske is 15-10 and 2-0 in the MAC this season.
At 141 pounds, No. 5-ranked Chris Mecate scored a first period takedown and earned riding time to win 4-2 against No. 10-ranked Zach Horan. Mecate is 22-6 and 4-1 this season in the MAC.
ODU Sophomore and No. 20-ranked Alexander Richardson (149) followed with a first period takedown and a second period near fall to earn a 5-2 decision win against Scott Mattingly to give the Monarchs a 9-3 team lead. Richardson is 21-6 and 4-1 in the MAC this year.
Redshirt junior Tristan Warner (157) came away with a reversal and near fall in the closing seconds of the third period to defeat No. 19-ranked Luke Smith 6-2. Warner is 15-8 and 4-1 in the MAC this season.
Monarchs 174-pounder Billy Curling continued the excitement with a last second takedown to score him a 5-4 decision win against No. 8-ranked Mike Ottinger. Curling is 12-7 and 4-1 in the MAC.
Redshirt freshmen Jack Dechow (184) and Kevin Beazley (197) helped Old Dominion secure the team win with decision victories of their own. Dechow defeated Craig Kelliher by a 7-3 decision and Beazley scored a sudden victory takedown to win his match by a 3-1 decision. Dechow is 12-3 and a perfect 3-0 in the MAC, while Beazley improves to 15-10 and 2-3 in the conference.
Matt Tourdot (285) closed out the match for the Monarchs with a takedown and escape to earn him the 3-1 decision win over CMU's Adam Robinson. Tourdot is 12-11 and improves to 2-2 in conference play.
Old Dominion has won four straight dual matches and three straight dual matches in the MAC. ODU has faced eight ranked teams this season.
The Monarchs (7-8, 3-2 MAC) will continue Mid-American Conference competition at Ohio University next Sunday, February 9.
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Results:
125- Brandon Jeske (ODU) dec. No. 12 Corey Keener (CMU) 7-1. ODU: 3, CMU: 0
133- No. 10 Joe Roth (CMU) dec. Michael Hayes (ODU) 8-3. ODU: 3, CMU: 3
141- No. 5 Chris Mecate (ODU) dec. No. 10 Zach Horan (CMU) 4-2. ODU: 6, CMU: 3
149- No. 20 Alexander Richardson (ODU) dec. Scott Mattingly (CMU) 5-2. ODU: 9, CMU: 3
157- Tristan Warner (ODU) dec. No. 19 Luke Smith (CMU) 6-2. ODU: 12, CMU: 3
165- Nick Becker (CMU) maj. dec. Devin Geoghegan (ODU) 10-2. ODU: 12, CMU: 7
174- Billy Curling (ODU) dec. No. 8 Mike Ottinger (CMU) 5-4 ODU: 15, CMU: 7
184- Jack Dechow (ODU) dec. Craig Kelliher (CMU) 7-3 ODU: 18, CMU: 7
197- Kevin Beazley (ODU) defeated Jackson Lewis (CMU) SV-1 3-1. ODU: 21, CMU: 7
285- Matt Tourdot (ODU) dec. Adam Robinson (CMU) 3-1. ODU: 24, CMU: 7
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