John Carroll jumped out to an 18-point lead then withstood a late charge by the host Muskingum Fighting Muskies to earn a 27-19 victory in an Ohio Athletic Conference dual meet Tuesday night in New Concord.

Despite the big early lead, John Carroll still led by just five points entering the final bout.

John Cobos (Avon Lake, OH, Lakewood St. Edward) (125) and Douglas Hayes (Parma, OH, Holy Name)(141) both earned first period pins, and Kevin Nycz (Parma, OH, Holy Name) picked up a forfeit victory to put the Blue Streaks ahead by an 18-0 count after just three matches.

The Muskies rallied behind a win at 149 and a forfeit at 157 that sliced JCU's lead in half.

John Carroll regained control of the match when Clarence Semple (Cleveland, OH, Lakewood St. Edward) upended Muskingum senior Adam Harris with an impressive 5-0 shutout. Todd Gaydosh (North Royalton, OH, Parma Padua Franciscan) followed with another victory, rallying from an early 2-0 deficit to put a further damper on "Senior Night" at Muskingum.

But victories at 184 and 197 closed the margin down to five points, which still left a glimmer of hope for Muskingum entering the 285-pound match.

Tim Lambert (Chicago, IL, Mount Carmel) needed to avoid the pin to preserve the JCU win, but he did one better and won his first match since December by a 4-3 count.

JCU is now 5-6 overall and 2-3 in the OAC.

125: John Cobos (JCU) pin Shawn Feistamel (MU), 1:57
133: Kevin Nycz (JCU) forfeit
141: Doug Hayes (JCU) pin Kyle Lewis (MU), 1:24
149: Kenny Poland (MU) maj. dec. Greg Ryan (JCU), 13-5
157: Blake Friedt (MU) forfeit
165: Clarence Semple (JCU) dec. Adam Harris (MU), 5-0
174: Todd Gaydosh (JCU) dec. Mike Frasure, 5-3 (MU)
184: Danny Dunn (MU) dec. Bryan Steinmetz (JCU), 3-0
197: Lucas Weber (MU) pin Jim Gilchrist (JCU), 1:34
285: Tim Lambert (JCU) dec. TJ McCray (MU), 4-3