Tuesday night's showdown of second place teams in the Ohio Athletic Conference wrestling standings ended in anticlimactic fashion, as Ohio Northern dominated the proceedings to the tune of a 33-9 victory against John Carroll at the DeCarlo Varsity Center.

The Polar Bears won eight of the nine bouts actually contested, with only a somewhat hobbled Adam Pizzurro claiming a victory for the Blue Streaks.

The night began on an ominous note as John Carroll wrestled its first dual meet in 21 years without head coach Kerry Volkmann on the sideline. Volkmann was attending to a serious family matter and had to bypass Tuesday's contest.

Whether Volkmann's absence had an effect on the Blue Streaks is debatable. The effect of Ohio Northern's three defending OAC champions on the final result was not, as all three produced big points for the visitors. David Penny picked up a major decision at 125, as did A.J. Coleman at 165 and Ben Plowman at 174.

It was two freshman, however, that stole the show. Lucas Miller did not have a takedown, yet managed to pin JCU senior Kevin Keough at the 2:00 mark. Nate Allen, wrestling up two weight classes, pinned emergency starter Justin Sachse at the end of the second period to ice the match at 184. Sachse was filling in for 23-match winner Ben Adams.

In the most entertaining match of the night, ONU sophomore Jeff Sommers got a takedown at the edge of the mat in the final 15 seconds for an 8-7 win over Greg Elliott to win at 149 pounds. Elliott was filling in for an injured Daniel Mizener.

Pizzurro was the lone bright spot, and even his win came with trepidation. The senior 133-pounder shook off a bum knee to record a 3-1 victory over Jeff Penny. It was Pizzurro's 20th win of the year and the 88th of his career.

John Carroll's other six points came by virtue of an accepted forfeit by Dominic Spitalieri at 141.

Ohio Northern improved to 10-8 overall and 5-1 in the OAC. JCU falls to 7-7 and 3-2 in league action.

125 - D. Penny (O) maj. dec. Naoum, 10-2;  133 - Pizzurro (J) dec. J. Penny, 3-1;  141 - Spitalieri (J) wins by forfeit; 149 - Sommers (O) dec. Elliott, 8-7;  157 - Miller (O) pinned Keough, 2:00;  165 - Coleman (O) maj. dec. Jurczak, 14-5;  174 - Plowman (O) maj. dec. Bagnowski, 11-3;  184 - Allen (O) pinned Sachse, 5:00;  197 - Michael (O) dec. Marhofer, 6-5;  285 - Fisher (O) dec. Lambert, 4-2