by Press Release Per Jeff Miller of BW Communications
WESTERVILLE, Ohio – The defending Ohio Athletic Conference Baldwin Wallace University wrestling team has been selected to repeat as league champions in the OAC Coaches Preseason Poll.
BW, who won its fifth title in the past six seasons during the spring season, was selected first with 49 points and seven first place votes. Crosstown rival John Carroll University was picked second with 38 points.
The University of Mount Union was tabbed in third with 36 points and one first place vote. Rounding out the top five was Ohio Northern University in fourth with 35 points and Heidelberg University in fifth with 25 points.
The Yellow Jackets under the direction of the veteran head coach Jamie Gibbs, who earned his fifth OAC Coach of the Year accolade a season ago, returns 27 letterwinners, seven Academic All-OAC performers, six All-OAC selections and three All-Americans from last year’s squad that was a perfect 6-0.
“Our staff and student-athletes are excited for the challenges that lie ahead and look forward to meeting them head on within the conference, region and nationally,” said Gibbs. “Our team understands that polls are for the fans and that there is a lot of work to be done and they have not earned anything yet.
We have a room full of eager guys that are looking forward to performing at a high level day in and day out to achieve their goals of earning championships. We have a team that will be fun to watch and can score points in all three positions which is exciting wrestling to watch.”
BW opens the 2021-22 season on November 5 and 6 when it travels to Ithaca, New York to compete in the Ithaca College Invitational. Action is slated to begin on Friday at 3:30 p.m. and at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday. Fans can follow all of the action live at https://bit.ly/2Zv7S5z.
The Yellow Jackets open the home and OAC portion of their schedule on Tuesday, November 16 when they host an OAC match against Mount Union in the Ursprung Gymnasium inside the Lou Higgins Center at 7 p.m.
