The John Carroll wrestling team entered Tuesday night with a chance to gain key momentum heading into the home stretch.

They walked away with their first conference win.

John Carroll defeated Heidelberg, 25-9, earning their first win over the Student Princes since Jan. 10, 2012.


The match was a solid rebound after the team suffered a defeat against Baldwin Wallace last week. It is also the first career OAC dual victory at the DeCarlo Center for head coach Mark Hawald.

Heidelberg won the first match of the night, as Ty Price (125) defeated Mitch Tikkanen, 8-4.

Sal Corrao (133) electrified the DeCarlo Center crowd with a victory over Ryan Hornack (fall, 2:41). The match win gave John Carroll a 6-3 advantage in the early stages of the meet.

Dan Mirman dominated the 149 pound class (Dec., 6-3) to keep the Blue and Gold ahead by three, 9-6. Mirman improves to 18-2 on the season. Moments later, Blake Dixon (157) defeated Mark Carosella in convincing fashion (MD., 9-1) to expand JCU's lead to seven.

John Carroll continued to gain momentum thanks to wins by Tyler Hardtke (Dec., 3-2), Tom McNulty (Dec., 8-5), Isen Vajusi (Dec., 3-1), and Will Porter (Dec., 4-1) The quartet of wins moved the final score to 25-9 in favor of the Blue Streaks.

Next up for JCU is the Pete Willson Invitational in Wheaton, IL on Friday at 11 a.m. and Saturday at 9 a.m.

FINAL RESULTS

125    Ty Price (Heidelberg) over Mitch Tikkanen (John Carroll) (Dec 8-4)

133    Sal Corrao (John Carroll) over Ryan Hornack (Heidelberg) (Fall 2:41)

141    Justin Kihn (Heidelberg) over John Connick (John Carroll) (Dec 6-2)

149    Dan Mirman (John Carroll) over Damon Cheek (Heidelberg) (Dec 6-3)

157    Blake Dixon (John Carroll) over Mark Carosella (Heidelberg) (MD 9-1)

165    Tyler Hardtke (John Carroll) over Aaron Banko (Heidelberg) (Dec 3-2)

174    Tom McNulty (John Carroll) over Darren Decker (Heidelberg) (Dec 8-5)

184    Dillen Decker (Heidelberg) over Jimmy Suhayda (John Carroll) (Dec 8-5)

197    Isen Vajusi (John Carroll) over Gage Finegan (Heidelberg) (Dec 3-1)

285    Will Porter (John Carroll) over John Eckroth (Heidelberg) (Dec 4-1)