Dragons land 10 placers at Ohio Intercollegiate Open

Tiffin University had 10 placers at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open.
Tiffin University had 10 placers at the Ohio Intercollegiate Open.

Nearly 40 teams were represented in the Heminger Center for the Ohio Intercollegiate Open, and Tiffin University finished with 10 placers in the ultra-competitive meet.

Six of the placers came in the Gold Division, with Branden Mendoza taking top marks with a third place finish at 125 pounds. 

After a medical forfeit over Glenville State, Mendoza suffered his lone loss against Ohio State 11-3. He then beat Ohio University 6-4 in the third place battle.

Three Dragons landed 4th place spots. Cam Dickman (133) got a medical forfeit over Notre Dame but lost twice to Ohio State's Will Betancourt by 15-5 and 10-1 in the final third-place match.

Matt Zuckerman (141) also was fourth, picking up a 5-1 decision over Mercyhurst and a 9-3 win over Mercyhurst. He opened with a 9-2 loss to Ohio University and lost a slim 5-3 decision in the third-place match to West Liberty.

Kian Thompson (184) was fourth, getting a pin over West Liberty in 4:03, losing by fall to Glenville State, then getting a win by medical forfeit over Ohio State.

Bryan LaVearn picked up a 5th place finish. After beating West Liberty 5-2, he lost a razor-thin match to Ohio State 9-8. He then bounced back to win three in a row, outpointing Aidan Faria 7-5, clipping Rochester 7-6, and taking 5th with a win over Robert Major 6-1.

TU's final placer in the Gold Division was Nick Mason, who took 6th. He got a forfeit win over Notre Dame, then lost to Ohio State 9-2. Mason then was forced to medically forfeit his next match against Ohio State.

Other winners in the Gold Division were Dylan Mansor at 157 pounds (4-1 over Ohio, 2-1 over Ashland), and Nicholas Smythe at 174 (5-4 over Mercyhurst).

In the White Division highlighting freshmen and sophomores, TU had four placers. Casey Barnett (149) finished 2nd, getting a win by fall over Ashland in 3:52, posting a major decision over Noah Mattin 9-0, and streaking past Rochester 13-2. He lost the championship match to West Liberty 8-1.

Elijah Hunter was 3rd at 141 pounds. He got a tech fall win over Akron 16-1, then pinned West Liberty in 5:37. He fell in a narrow battle with Rochester 8-7 before pinning Gavin Owens for third place in just 42 seconds.

Jacob Noon took 6th, getting wins by fall over Rochester in 5:21, Mercyhurst in 3:34, and Lake Erie in 1:38.

Jackson Collins also finished 8th, picking up wins over Rochester 7-2 and over TU's Joshua Lyons in sudden victory 6-4. 

Other winners in the White Division were Chase Dickerson at 125 (4-3 over Rochester), Caden Crawford at 125 (pin over Ashland 4:31), Joshua Lyons at 133 (pins over West Liberty in 4:10 and Rochester in 1 second), Clayton Ours at 197 (3-2 over Nathan Wiwckersham, 10-4 over TU's Dylan McCandless), Geraldo Moya at 197 (pin over Heidelberg in 2:06), and Dylan McCandless at 197 (pin over West Liberty in 1:58).