JCU Wrestling takes on Cleveland State in its first home match of season

JCU and Cleveland State are underway in this battle between two teams from Northeast Ohio. Bloggers will be updating the site after each weight class, so stay tuned!

125 - Senior Elie Naoum had to go up against a youngster in Cleveland State freshman Jordan Keller. Keller hails from Wichita, Kansas - pretty far away from Cleveland! I heard from some fans that he was a true freshman, and proved to be pretty impressive. Naoum held his own in the first few minutes of the match, but Keller proved to be too much in the end. He would go on to beat Naoum, 13-6.

133 - This match had a little bit of extra meaning for the blogger. JCU's wrestler, Kevin Nycz, went to my alma mater, Holy Name, and had a very successful wrestling career for the Green Wave. He's in his first year of wrestling at JCU after taking a year off between high school and collegiate wrestling. He faced CSU sophomore Josh Paviloda. Unfortunately for Nycz, it was all Paviloda in this match-up, as he won 7-0.

141 - So far, JCU has had little luck versus the Vikings of CSU. Blue Streak Chris Romeo tried to change that in the 141 match against Lawrence Cavello. No one scored in the first period, making this a close one. Both wrestlers are quick on their feet, and the DeCarlo Center is the loudest its been for any match thus far. But as quick as it was loud, it was quiet again. Romeo could not get out a lock, and Cavello won 4-0.

149 - Won of JCU's most successful seniors is up next in senior Dan Mizener. So far, he and Cleveland State senior Antonio Nicholson are providing quite the match for spectators. After the first period, there is a tie, 4-4. You can tell that both Nicholson and Mizener have had years of experience wrestling at the collegiate level. On the bright side, Mizener has scored the only JCU points since Naoum in the 125 weight class. But he is still trailing Nicholson. But wait - he just tied it up, making this match one that will go down to the wire! With just 35 seconds left, Mizener trails by one, and has just taken the lead, 9-8. Mizener wins! He is the first Blue Streak to beat a Vikings wrestler tonight.

157 - Cleveland State freshman Corey Carlo wins by forfeit.

165 - JCU's Devon Jurczak gets the nod in this weight class, versus freshman Dustin Doty. So far, Jurczak looks like a star, leading 4-0 early on. If he can hold on, that will help JCU inch even closer to the Vikings' 15-3 lead. Things got a little fiery for a couple minutes between Doty and Jurczak, with a few swings taken between the two wrestlers. With order restored, the two are back in the ring. Wow, Jurczak has a great takedown, one that gets the crowd roaring. He easily beat Doty, 12-1.

174- Moving up a weight class for the Blue Streaks is junior Travis Hammer, and he is up against a guy that has just one year up on him - CSU senior JT Miller. After a slow start, JCU is inching back, and a win by Hammer could put them even closer. CSU's Miller looks like a pretty strong guy, and he has had some pretty solid slams of Hammer to the mat - maybe it's just me, but it makes my own body hurt a little bit. However, after two periods, neither competitor has scored a point, making this match pretty intense. Unfortunately for Hammer, Miller gets the upperhand in the final minutes, and wins 8-0.

184 - JCU freshman Bryan Steinmetz gets the forfeit, making it CSU 19, JCU 13.

197 - Sophomore Jim Nemunaitis is now facing another sophomore, CSU's Eric Schwartz. After the first period, Schwartz is awarded a point because of a violation on Nemunaitis - it looks like he walked off the mat before he was supposed to, to change his head gear. Hopefully it won't be too costly for him in the ring. He quickly is able to get that point back. In the end, that one point does not matter, as he wins be a grand margin of 14-3.

Heavyweight- I'll admit, I didn't think it would be this close. But with just the heavyweight class to wrestle, JCU trails CSU 19-17. Right now, the Blue Streaks' junior Tim Lambert is up against Viking senior Rashard Goff. This match can be a deciding factor in a Blue Streak win or loss as a team. Both of these guys are putting up quite the fight. Lambert gets taken down pretty hard, and it looks like the breath gets knocked out of him for a minute. But he's up once again, and ready to go against Goff. In the end, though, Goff's strength gets the best of Lambert, and he wins by a fall with 13.7 seconds left in the second period. Cleveland State wins, 25-17. JCU will just have to wait until next year to beat the Vikings; but several individual wrestlers had great successes today against CSU.

The Blue Streaks will travel to Mount Union on Dec. 2 for its first OAC dual meet of the season. The start time is 7:30 p.m.