John Carroll walked into the Ohio Northern Sports Center Tuesday night already down 12 points, and never could make up those points in dropping a 27-12 decision to the host Polar Bears in the final Ohio Athletic Conference dual meet for both teams.

Minus four starters, the Blue Streaks did not have healthy depth to fill two of those voids at 125 and 141, and had to take forfeits. Therefore, the Blue Streaks already trailed 12-0 before stepping on the mat.

Ohio Northern was able to add to that lead thanks to a 6-2 victory by Jeff Penny over JCU spot starter Kevin Nycz (Parma, OH, Holy Name) at 133 pounds. Through 141 pounds, the Polar Bears had built a 15-0 lead.

Senior 149-pounder Daniel Mizener (Mason, OH, Mason) put the first John Carroll points on the board with his 30th win of the year, a 12-7 decision over Michael Letcher.

Ohio Northern pushed its lead up to 18 points when sophomore standout Luke Miller pinned Andrew Schaffer at the 6:10 mark of the third period.

John Carroll appeared to not only have seized the momentum, but also seemed to create a chance to win the meet when Devon Jurczak (Clinton Township, MI, Chippewa Valley) and Travis Hammer (Lancaster, NY, Lancaster) pulled out close wins at 165 and 174. Jurczak won his match by a 6-4 score in sudden victory, while Hammer used a first period takedown and a third period escape to defeat ONU senior Colin Swick, 3-2.

JCU trailed 21-9 heading into the final three matches, with three of its most experienced wrestlers lined up to make a run at a win. But all that would go up in smoke when Ben Adams (Livonia, MI, Winston Churchill) was upset at 184 pounds. The defending OAC champion with a 24-2 record heading into the match was stunned by a 3-2 loss to freshman Matthew Alexander, with the deciding point courtesy of a second period penalty.

The final two matches went to Ohio Northern at 197 and John Carroll at 285, meaning the eight bouts actually contested were an even 4-4 split between the two teams with the lone difference in points courtesy of Miller's pin at 157.

Jim Nemunaitis (Broadview Hts., OH, Brecksville-Broadview Hts.) suffered a 6-4 loss filling in for an ailing Matt Harmon (River Forest, IL, Fenwick) at 197, while Tim Lambert (Chicago, IL, Mount Carmel)returned to the starting line-up after missing last week's match against Baldwin-Wallace and won by a 6-0 score for JCU's final three points.

John Carroll wrapped up its injury-plagued dual meet season with a record of 10-6 overall and 3-3 in the OAC. Counting tonight, 18 different Blue Streaks represented the team in the six OAC dual meets, and JCU uncharacteristically had to take four forfeits.

125 - D. Penny (O) won by forfeit; 133 - J. Penny (O) dec. Nycz, 6-2; 141 - Spooner (O) won by forfeit; 149 - Mizener (J) dec. Letcher, 12-7; 157 - Miller (O) pinned Schaffer, 6:10; 165 - Jurczak (J) dec. Painter, 6-4 SV; 174 - Hammer (J) dec. Swyck, 3-2; 184 - Alexander (O) dec. Adams, 3-2; 197 - Michel (O) dec. Nemunaitis, 6-4; 285 - Lambert (J) dec. Dobransky, 6-0