ARKADELPHIA, Ark.- The Ouachita Tiger wrestling team hosted their second home meet of the season on Wednesday, bringing the Oklahoma City University Stars to town. The Tigers wrestled competitively with the Stars but were unable to defeat the No. 4 ranked team in NAIA, as the Stars took the duel by a final score of 30-10.

"They have a tough team, no question," said head coach Kevin Ward. "But I thought for the most part our guys fought hard."

The Tigers' Garrett Evans was unable to start things off on the right foot for Ouachita in the 125 pound weight class, falling to OCU's Kidd Gomez by a score of 3-1 in a very high-paced battle. Seth Hutchison rebounded for the Tigers though, taking the 133 pound class over Alvie Killingsworth in his first match in some time, winning by a score of 11-5.

Josh Myers gave the Tigers their only lead in the running team score, taking the 141 pound weight class match by a score of 17-5 over OCU's Eric Waggoner. The momentum was taken away soon after though, as Oklahoma City would go on to win the next four match-ups. In the 149 pound weight class, Dexter Carter was beaten by Hunter Muskrat by a final score of 5-3. Nik Williams from OCU took a 10-1 decision over Ouachita's Bobby Williams in the 157 pound weight class, stretching the lead for the Stars.

The 165 pound class saw the first win by fall of the evening, as Oklahoma City's Kevin Hardy pinned OBU's Tyler Graham at the 2:16 mark of the match. The Tigers were defeated in the 174 pound class as well, as Gabe Musser was unable to defeat OCU's Derek Peperas, eventually losing the match-up by a score of 10-4.

Ouachita's Dallas Smith continued to impress and wow the crowd, breaking the trend of the previous four matches and capturing a victory for the Tigers in his 11-4 decision over OCU's Andrew Pontikes. In the 195 pound weight class, C.J. Hays was defeated by technical fall, with Oklahoma City's Mitchell Eichenauer taking the win. The heavyweight class saw Ouachita's Taylor Poe matched up with OCU's Michael Brown. Poe was unable to steal a late victory away from OCU though, as Brown pinned him at the 2:49 mark of the match.

In closing, Coach Ward pointed out that the match was much closer than it seems at first glance, saying, "If we win at 125 and 149, it's a one point dual going into heavyweight. That changes things. So, winning tough matches. That's what we have to do. We will have to win them for this team to reach it's goals."

The Tigers return to action on Friday, January 27, when they travel to Little Rock Central High School to face off with Central Missouri University. That contest will begin at 7 p.m.

-Josh Fink, Sports Information Director