For #30 ranked John Carroll to fare well in a key showdown with #6 ranked Heidelberg Tuesday night, head coach Kerry Volkmann needed a fully loaded line-up.
Injuries, illnesses and a family situation all conspired to leave the Blue Streaks with a decidedly less-than-full starting ten in terms of experience.
That would be a bad tilt of the scales in an already heated rivalry, as the Student Princes overwhelmed the Blue Streaks, 35-7, to take over sole possession of first place in the Ohio Athletic Conference.
Minus starters Elie Naoum at 125, Dominic Spitalieri at 141, Daniel Mizener at 149#, Chris Branchen at 174 and Derrick Bendau at 285, Volkmann went with a line-up that had three wrestlers making their OAC dual meet debut.
Heidelberg, on the other hand, had four of its six nationally ranked wrestlers available, and that quartet accounted for 21 of the Students Princes' 35 points.
Greg Stolfer, in just his third collegiate match, fell by a 12-3 score to Jerrod Hoxie at 125 pounds. JCU senior Adam Pizzurro followed with a workmanlike 9-6 win over James Fischer for what was his 82nd career victory.
Defending OAC champion and ninth ranked Nick Sanchez started the Heidelberg roll with a pin at 141. Following a major decision at 149, former national champ and current #2 ranked Joe Pflug scored a technical fall at 157.
Heidelberg would seal the win with a pair of decisions at 165 and 174, the latter of which offered the night's only somewhat surprsing result as freshman Matt Findley got the better of JCU senior Steven Bagnowski by a 9-4 score that made the Student Princes lead insurmountable at 25-3.
Ben Adams put together yet another solid win, dominating Ed Bizorik for an 8-0 major decision victory. Adams is now 20-2 on the year.
Heidelberg closed with a major decision and pin by a pair of top eight nationally ranked wrestlers.
With the win, Heidelberg improves to 9-1 overall and 4-0 in the OAC. JCU falls to 6-6 and 2-1 in league action.
125 - Hoxie (H) dec. Stolfer, 12:3; 133 - Pizzuro (JCU) dec. Fisher, 6-9; 141 - Sanchez (H) fall Narducci, 5:24; 149 - Mizer (H) maj. dec. Elliot, 12-2; 157 - Pflug (H) tech. Mickely, 20-2; 165 - Jonhenry (H) dec. Jurczak, 7-3; 174 - Findley (H) dec. Bagnowski, 9-4; 184 - Adams (JCU) dec. Bizorik, 0-8; 197 - Fogliano (H) dec. Marhofer, 10-2; 285 - Bowers (H) fall Petroni, 1:20.
