Just one look at the draw would indicate an uphill climb awaited John Carroll at the 2012 Budd Whitehill Duals.

A first round date with the #1 seed Cortland State was a certainty, and would possibly be followed by a match with a nationally ranked opponent just to stay alive in the tournament's main bracket.

That exact scenario played out, and there would be no upsets to keep John Carroll in the hunt to place in the dual meet tournament for the first time since 2009. But the Blue Streaks would rebound to finish the tournament with a 2-2 record.

JCU fell to top seeded and seventh ranked Cortland State, 26-15, in its first match Friday, then fell to ninth-seed and #26 ranked College of New Jersey, 24-12.

John Carroll then came back to defeat Ohio Athletic Conference rival Muskingum by a 32-9 count late Friday, and finished the tournament Saturday with a 24-12 win over Rochester Institute of Technology.

Only two of the John Carroll wrestlers made it through the weekend unscatched, but many others had solid records. Maurice Gonzales only appeared in two matches, but went 2-0 with two major decisions at 149 pounds. Likewise, Jim Nemunaitis was 2-0 in his two matches at 197 pounds. 

In the large group that finished better than .500, John Cobos stood out as he was was 3-1 at 125 pounds, and his only loss was by a 1-0 score. Other 3-1 wrestlers included Terner Gott at 157 and Todd Gaydosh at 174.

Bryan Steinmetz went 2-1 at 184 pounds.

With their efforts this weekend, John Carroll is now 3-2 on the year in dual meets

SUNY Cortland 26, John Carroll 15
125: John Cobos (JCU) dec. Jared Lemke, 5-0
133: Sean Kempf (Cort.) fall Kevin Nycz, 6:20
141: Brian Bistis (Cort.) maj. dec. Jake Rininger, 13-0
149: Andre Berry (Cort.) fall Greg Ryan, 6:28
157: Terner Gott (JCU) dec. Adam Willman, 8-3
165: Jonathan Conroy (Cort.) dec. Sean Gill, 10-6
174: Todd Gaydosh (JCU) fall Lou Puca, 6:49
184: Bryan Steinmetz (JCU) SV-1 Mike McGrath, 4-2
197: Jared Myhrberg (Cort.) maj. dec. Paul Dunneback, 13-2
285: Corey James (Cort.) dec. Collin Vozar, 6-1

TCNJ 25, John Carroll 12
125: Steve Godine (TCNJ) dec. John Cobos, 1-0
133: P.J. Schmidt (TCNJ) dec. Kevin Nycz, 12-6
141: Dan Herr (TCNJ) fall Jake Rininger, 5:34
149: Greg Ryan (JCU) dec. Chris Lombardi, 6-3
157: Johnny Darling (TCNJ) dec. Turner Gott, 3-2
165: Sean Gill (JCU) dec. K.C. Murphy, 6-5
174: Todd Gaydosh (JCU) dec. Omar Akil, 7-3
184: Mike Denver (TCNJ) fall Bryan Steinmetz, 5:37
197: Jim Nemunaitis (JCU) dec. Danny Brill, 6-2
285: Trevor Salvator (TCNJ) maj. dec. Collin Vozar, 8-0

John Carroll 32, Muskingum 9
125: John Cobos (JCU) by forfeit
133: Jeff Holy (JCU) dec. Pat McKernan, 2-0
141: Jake Ringer (JCU) dec. Brock Yackey, 5-1
149: Mo Gonzalez (JCU) maj. dec. Kenny Poland, 16-4
157: Terner Gott (JCU) dec. Mike Erasure, 15-8
165: Connor Suba (JCU) fall Ronnie Hepner, 1:55
174: Todd Gaydosh (JCU) dec. Mitch King, 5-3
184: Malachi Bluhm (MC) fall Danny McNamera, 4:30
197: Jim Nemunaitis (JCU) maj. dec. Luke Weber, 10-2
285: David Rice (MC) dec. Collin Vozar, 3-1

John Carroll 24, RIT 12
125: John Cobos (JCU) fall Shin Wakabayashi, 1:22
133: Rory Bruce (RIT) dec. Jeff Holy, 2-0
141: Jake Rininger (JCU) dec. Jake Harvey, 7-2
149: Mo Gonzalez (JCU) maj. dec. Adam Hugunine, 15-1
157: Terner Gott (JCU) dec. Sean Sercu, 3-2
165: Tory Cain (RIT) dec. Sean Gill, 9-3
174: Nick Fuschino (RIT) dec. Todd Gaydosh, 9-3
184: Brian Steinmetz (JCU) dec. Tyler Brent, 5-0
197: Paul Dunnenback (JCU) tech. fall Tim Thurnau, 17-2, 4:30
285: Nick Stewart (RIT) dec. Collin Vozar, 5-3