The #22 John Carroll Blue Streaks arrived at the DeCarlo Varsity Center looking to get a big upset win over the #8 Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets on their Senior night. 

However, it was the Yellow Jackets who showed their experience, getting a 21-13 victory over the youth driven Blue Streaks team.

The match came down to the final bout, which was a first for the rivalry since 2015.

The 157 match was the lead match of the night, and was dominated by John Carroll's Sammy Gross as he was able to get three takedowns and two minutes of riding time to get the 7-3 decision over Dalton Leightner. 

At 165, JCU sophomore Luke Reicosky was able to get a takedown late in the first period against Benjamin Hooff to take an early lead and was able to get the second one in the third period to seal the 5-3 victory. At this point, John Carroll held a 6-0 advantage.

It took two matches for Baldwin Wallace to regain the lead for good.

After a scoreless first period in the 174 pound bout, JCU's Vittorio Santillo was able to get an escape point to take a 1-0 lead, however, Lucas Salmon got a takedown to enter the third period with a 2-1 lead.  Another takedown in the third period sealed the 6-1 victory for Salmon.

Aidan Whitis was taken down early in the first period of the 184 match and could not recover as Doug Byrne was able to fend him off to earn a 11-3 major win. For the first time, Baldwin Wallace was out in front, 7-6.

The momentum continued for the Yellow Jackets in the upper weights. In the 197 match, Zeckary Lehman took down the lone Blue Streak senior in the line-up, Christian Hipsher, multiple times and maintained control to earn the Yellow Jackets another major decision with a 10-0 victory. In the heavyweight match, Joshua Stasek and Parker Meaney went scoreless until the middle of the second period when Stasek earned an escape.  However, Baldwin Wallace's Meaney got a takedown late in the second to get the advantage and controlled the rest of the way to a 4-1 victory. The Yellow Jackets would push out to a 14-6 lead.

In a battle between two former high school teammates, John Carroll sophomore  Andrew Perelka refused to let Baldwin Wallace freshman Jack Stanley escape early and was able to get a takedown in the first period.  Stanley nearly came back but Perelka held him off for the 3-2 decision victory. JCU pulled to within 14-9.

At 133, Maximillian Turner had a tough match against Charlie Nash as Turner had to fend off Nash multiple times but ultimately fell in a 9-0 major decision. Late back points by Nash helped him ern his 100th career victory and gave the Yellow Jackets their largest lead of the night at 18-9.

Jarrod Brezovec did everything to give John Carroll a chance. In the first period he had a near fall against Connor DeBoe in the 141 match, and took an 8-2 lead after one period.  Despite not getting the pin, Brezovec still dominated the match, taking a 16-4 major decision. It made the score 18-13 in favor of Baldwin Wallace with one match remaining.

Needing a pin to win in the 149 match, Patrick McGraw found himself trailing Stanley Bleich early, 4-1, after the first period in a rematch of the 2019 Citrus Invitational 149-pound championship bout last month. Bleich's experience shone through, as he tallied four takedowns in all and fended off a late McGraw charge to earn a 10-6 decision.
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"We don't like to lose matches, but at the end of the day, we still have our eyes set for the end of the national tournament."  Assistant coach Chad Rhoades explained that "we wrestled well against good competition and we can learn from some of our mistakes and grow from them as the season progresses."

The Blue Streaks next match will be in Alliance, Ohio for the OAC Quad match against Mount Union, Wilmington, and Ohio Northern on January 25th at 10 a.m.

Baldwin Wallace 21, John Carroll 13
157: Sam Gross (JCU) over Dalton Leightner, 7-3;  165: Luke Reicosky (JCU) over Benjamin Hooff, 5-3;  174: Lucas Salmon (BWU) over Vittorio Santillo, 6-1;  184: Doug Byrne (BWU) over Aidan Whitis, MD 11-3;  197: Zeckary Lehman (BWU) over Christian Hipsher, MD 10-0;  285: Parker Meaney (BWU) over Josh Stasek, Dec 4-1;  125: Andrew Perelka (JCU) over Jack Stanley, 3-2;  133: Charles Nash (BWU) over Max Turner, MD 9-0;  141: Jarrod Brezovec (JCU) over Connor DeBoe, MD 16-4;  149: Stanley Bleich (BWU) over Patrick McGraw, 10-6