Wrestling aficiandos will often say the third period is where competitors will find their gold or their ruin.

On Tuesday night at the DeCarlo Varsity Center, Heidelberg's gold was John Carroll's ruin as the third period proved lethal to the Blue Streaks over the course of a 27-12 loss to the Student Princes in an Ohio Athletic Conference showdown between nationally ranked teams.

In the first three matches of the night, the score was either tied or in John Carroll's favor in the final period, and in all three occasions, it was the Student Princes who came away with the victory.

At 125 pounds, senior Elie Naoum has a 5-2 lead in the second period and still led 6-4 entering the final two minutes. But defending OAC champion Jerrad Hoxie scored a takedown with a minute to go, then recorded a three-point near fall move in the final 30 seconds to turn a 7-4 deficit into a 9-7 lead. An added point from rifing time gave Hoxie a 10-7 decision.

Adam Kriwinsky made his DeCarlo Center and looked solid in the early going by registering three takedowns in the first 65 seconds. Although he built a 6-2 lead, the inactivity of the past two weeks due to injury appeared to take its toll. Tony Lawler came back from the early deficit and took a 7-6 lead in the third on an escape. He would score six more points in the final period plus riding time for a decisive 14-8 victory.

Clarence Semple had the biggest fall from grace. Leading 2-1 after on eperiod and tied with Boomer Fechko at 2-2 after two periods, he chose down to start the third period. Semple would never get back up, as he was rolled to his back six times and suffered a 17-2 technical fall loss.

In three matches that could have gone either way, #12 ranked Heidelberg had already built an 11-0 lead over #23 ranked John Carroll.

The Blue Streaks got on the board thanks to a Dan Mizener 7-4 victory over Josh Levy at 149, but the Student Princes needed just 30 seconds to regain the momentum when Zach Mizer recorded a pin in that amount of time to win at 157 pounds.

Following a major decision at 165 and a decision at 174, Heidelberg built an insurmountable 24-3 advantage.

The Blue Streaks gained some measure of respect following a Ben Adams pins at 184 pounds and a solid win by Matt Harmon at 197 to pull to within 24-12, but Tony Carothers sealed the Heidelberg win with an 8-2 win at heavyweight.

Heidelberg (8-3, 5-0 OAC), which won its 14th consecutive OAC dual meet, is one win away from wrapping up a second consecutive OAC title and third in the last four years.

John Carroll (9-5, 2-2 OAC) had its six-match winning streak snapped with the loss.

125 - Hoxie (H) dec. Naoum, 10-7;  133 - Lawler (H) dec. Kriwinsky, 14-8;  141 - Fechko (H) tech fall Semple, 17-2 (6:33); 149 - Mizener (J) dec. Levy, 7-4;  157 - Mizer (H) pinned Schaffer, 0:30;  165 - Curley (H) maj. dec. Jurczak, 12-3;  174 - Henry (H) dec. Hammer, 5-2;  184 - Adams (J) pinned Bizorik, 1:52;  197 - Harmon (J) dec. Rice, 5-3;  285 - Carothers (H) dec. Lambert, 8-2