The Triangle

Issue date: 2/27/09 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Karl Kuchs

The men's wrestling team was hoping to end its regular season with five straight wins.

But a questionable injury timeout in the last match of the evening, and Jon Oplinger's inability to earn an escape prevented the Dragons from completing the comeback.

The men's wrestling team split 10 matches but lost an 18-17 dual to George Mason Feb. 20 at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

"I was frustrated because I knew it was my last match here at Drexel," Oplinger said. "It would have been nice to go out with a win, but overall it doesn't matter. All that matters is next week in conferences. That's when you need to have your best performance."

The Dragons (10-15-1, 2-5 Colonial Athletic Association) got out to an early 9-4 lead but fell behind 15-12 with only two matches remaining.

Drexel still had a chance to win, but in the 197-pound match, Cayle Byers defeated Oplinger 6-3 and Kyle Frey was only able to get a technical fall against GMU's Mike Peterson.

"We knew when we lost Jon's match, their heavyweight was just going to try to not get pinned," wrestling coach Jack Childs said.

The heavyweight match was not without some controversy, however.

Late into the match, Frey had Peterson in a cradle, and it looked like he was going to be able to record the pin and earn Drexel a tie for the meet.

But with Peterson in obvious pain, the referee called an injury timeout, giving the GMU heavyweight time to rest, which tremendously hurt Frey's momentum.

"The referees are taught and trained to look out for the wrestlers themselves," Childs said. "It was justifiably so. [But] I thought points should have been awarded because he was going to be turned, if not pinned."

Oplinger's last home match of his career was the most anticipated of the dual meet, and while he did not win, the hype certainly lived up to its expectations.

After getting a takedown and forcing a technical violation to give Oplinger a 3-0 lead early in the match, Byers earned an escape to close out the first period.

In the second, the GMU wrestler chose to start in the down position and got an escape followed by a takedown shortly after to give him a 4-3 lead. Oplinger was not able to get an escape to tie the match in the second.

Continued...

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