Rediscovering an offensive mindset that was lacking just one week ago, John Carroll scored points in bunches to subdue Mount Union, 33-9, in the final Ohio Athletic Conference dual meet of the 2007-08 regular season for both squads Tuesday evening at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

Click here to watch video of the entire match

Each team earned six points with forfeits at 125 pounds (accepted by JCU's Elie Naoum) and 184 pounds (accepted by Mount Union's Nick Allerding), which left eight bouts to be contested on the mat. The Blue Streaks would prevail in seven of those, winning by the identical score with which it lost last Tuesday's match against Ohio Northern.

Adam Pizzurro joined the all-time top ten victory list with his 89th career win as the senior rolled to an 11-3 major decision over freshman Kyle Jordan.

Fellow senior Dominic Spitalieri followed suit with an 11-1 major decision at 141 pounds over Shawn O'Neill (both wrestlers were 4-0 in OAC action entering the match). It was Spitalieri's 20th win of the season, marking the first time in his four years that he reached 20 wins in a single season.

In more workmanlike fashion, both junior 149-pounder Daniel Mizener and freshman 157-pounder Tyler Mickley posted victories by decision. Mizener defeated Sean Dreger, 3-1, while Mickley outlasted Robert Creatore, 8-3.   

Mount Union would get on the scoreboard when Mike Mannypenny used four takedowns off counterattacks to defeat Devon Jurczak 9-5 at 165 pounds. JCU freshman Travis Hammer would stem the tide with a 14-5 major decision victory at 174 pounds. That victory would give John Carroll an insurmountable 24-3 lead.

After Allerding accepted his forfeit at 184, Mount Union's Adam Lange seemed ready to make it two in a row for the Purple Raiders when he took a 2-1 lead in the final 30 seconds of the 197-pound match. But with two seconds remaining, freshman Jim Nemunaitis surprised Lange with a takedown and won the match by a 3-2 score.

Senior Derrick Bendau, who was making just his second home appearance of his career, improved to 9-0 this season and 21-1 lifetime by pinning Ike Okoli in 42 seconds. Bendau is ranked #5 in the nation.

Tuesday night's match marked the return of Mark Hawald to John Carroll. The former Blue Streak All-American wrestler who is the co-holder of the school record for most career victories (122), was a four-time OAC champion and earned an NCAA postgraduate scholarship, is in his first year as head coach of the Mount Union wrestling program. His top assistant coach is Rich Eslich, John Carroll's national champion at 285 pounds in 1999.

With the win, John Carroll finishes its dual meet season with a record of 8-7 overall and 4-2 (3rd place) in the OAC). Mount Union falls to 3-12 and 2-4 in league action

125 - Naoum (J) won by forfeit;  133 - Pizzurro (J) maj. dec. Jordan, 14-5;  141 - Spitalieri (J) maj. dec. O'Neill, 11-1;  149 - Mizener (J) dec. Dreger, 3-1;  157 - Mickley (J) dec. Creatore, 8-3;  165 - Mannypenny (M) dec. Jurczak, 9-5;  174 - Hammer (J) maj. dec. Campbell, 14-5;  184 - Allerding (M) won by forfeit;  197 - Nemunaitis (J) dec. Lange, 3-2;  285 - Bendau (J) pinned Okoli, 0:42