The Urbana University men’s wrestling team nearly pulled out its first home win, but fell to visiting Otterbein, 30-17, at the Grimes Center.
UU claimed four straight match victories to take a 17-9 lead after suffering a forfeit and a narrow two-point loss for Alec Fulwider at 133 pounds.
Jared Ford got UU on the board with a convincing 8-1 decision over Otterbein’s Santino DiSabato in the 141-pound match to make it 9-3. It was Ford’s seventh win of the season.
Following an Otterbein forfeit at 149, UU’s Cole Houser dominated the 157-pound match with a 17-0 tech fall in 3:05 over OU’s Joey Bradberry. Houser has been a force to start the season with his record now sitting at 10-1.
Up next, UU’s Dylan Knotts provided the most entertaining victory of the night with a 9-6 decision at 165 pounds. Knotts overcame an early deficit and pulled out his third win after the match was tied 6-6 going into the third period.
The Blue Knights had opportunities in each of the next three bouts to increase their total.
Making his home debut, David Gilbert came up just short in an 11-7 decision at 174 pounds. Connor Dixon nearly topped OU’s Jared Setliff at 184 pounds before getting pinned with 10 seconds left in the match.
Then, Trevor Hankins went toe-to-toe with OU’s Corbin Bunsold, who is undefeated this season at 197 pounds, for two rounds before he went down at 4:54. Thomas Baker fell in 1:08 to OU’s Drew Kasper, who is also undefeated, in the heavyweight match.
UU will travel to the Midwest Classic, hosted by UIndy, on Saturday-Sunday in Indianapolis. The Blue Knights’ next home dual meet will be on Tuesday, Jan. 9 against Bellarmine.
