Grapplers Finish Third at ONU Invitational

A third place finish at the Ohio Northern Invitational was warmly welcomed by the Heidelberg College wrestling team who braved the weather to travel to Ada, Ohio and compete against an elite group of 18 teams from various divisions and states. Nine of the teams are ranked in the nation, including the Berg which sits at fourth in Division III. The Student Princes finished highest out of all the teams present from Division III, placing only behind Division II no. 15 Limestone (S.C.) and West Liberty State (W.Va.). The men placed ahead of all of their Ohio Athletic Conference opponents that were present, the list included Ohio Northern, Muskingum, and Wilmington.

Ryan Bowers (Lima, Ohio / Elida) won the tournament for Heidelberg at heavyweight, defeating first seed Trey Moss of Limestone College by a major decision, 9-1. Moss is ranked sixth in the nation in Division II. Also placing in the top two of his weight class for the Berg was Boomer Fechko (Brunswick, Ohio / Brunswick) who lost to no. 6 ranked Matt Mossor from West Liberty by a score of 2-0 at 133.
 
Placing third for the Student Princes were Aaron Jonhenry (Berea, Ohio / Berea) at 165 and Brad Rice (West Jefferson, Ohio / West Jefferson) at 184. Bruce Hicks (Butler, Ohio / Clearfork) and Zach Mizer (Canton, Ohio / Perry) came in fourth at the 125 pound and 149 pound weight classes respectively.
 
Altogether the Berg saw 12 of its wrestlers finish the tournament in the top eight of their weight classes. The wrestlers compete next at the Sunshine Open in Lakeland, Fla. The tournament begins on December 28 at 1 p.m. and concludes the following day.