Miller, Kwiat win crowns as Wrestlers place third at OAC Championships
ALLIANCE -- Junior All-American Luke Miller and freshman Kyle Kwiat each won individual titles and Ohio Northern finished third as a team Saturday at the 2010 Ohio Athletic Conference Wrestling Championships at Mount Union's McPherson Academic and Athletic Complex.
Miller and Kwiat each earned automatic bids to compete at the NCAA III Wrestling Championships March 5-6 at Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Polar Bears placed wrestlers in eight of the 10 weight classes and had four wrestlers earn All-Conference accolades by reaching the finals.
The 10 champions and one at-large selection receiving bids to compete at the NCAA Championships.
Top-seeded and No. 5-ranked Miller won his second consecutive OAC Championship at 157 pounds by virtue of a hard-fought, 3-0 victory over second-seeded and No. 3-ranked Zach Mizer of Heidelberg.
Miller reached the finals with an 18-0 tech fall over fourth-seeded Vince Pizzuli of John Carroll in the semifinals.
Top-seeded and No. 4-ranked Kwiat won his first OAC title at 174 pounds with an 8-2 victory over second-seeded Dan Johnhenry of Heidelberg in the finals.
Kwiat reached the finals with an 11-2 major decision over fourth-seeded Mike Moneypenny of Mount Union in the semifinals.
Second-seeded Billy Painter advanced to the finals at 165 pounds and earned All-Conference accolades with a runner-up finish.
He got to the finals with a 4-2 decision over Korey Leonard of Baldwin-Wallace and a 5-4 decision over third-seeded John Piechuta of Mount Union 5-4 before falling 13-2 to top-seeded Matt Curley of Heidelberg.
Freshman Jeremy Jones entered as the No. 3 seed at 133 pounds and earned All-Conference accolades with a runner-up finish.
Afte a first-round bye, Jones defeated Christopher Heiss of Wilmington 6-2 in the semifinals before falling in the finals to top-seeded Tom D'Alessandro of Heidelberg.
Senior Jeff Penny placed third at 125 pounds with a 2-1 record, marking his fourth consecutive top-4 finish at the OAC Championships. Wrestling his first three seasons at 133, Penny finished third, third and fourth as a junior, sophomore and freshman, respectively.
Sophomore top-seed Mick Letcher placed fourth at 149 pounds with a 1-2 record.
Sophomore Matt Alexander and junior Justin Southwick each placed fourth at 184 and 285 pounds, respectively.
Northern finished with 71 points in the team standings. No. 24-ranked Heidelberg won the team title with 101 points, No. 30-ranked Mount Union was second with 89.5 points and John Carroll was fourth with 48.5 points.
Team Standings
1. Heidelberg 101, 2. Mount Union 89.5, 3. Ohio Northern 71, 4. John Carroll 48.5, 5. Wilmington 32.5, 6. Baldwin-Wallace 22, 7. Muskingum 8.