The Lourdes' men's wrestling team won big in front of a packed home crowd in the Franciscan Center Gym on Friday's senior night; defeating Defiance 31 to 15.

The excitement in the Franciscan Center was palpable as it was this year's lone home dual for Lourdes. The stands were packed to the maximum capacity and people were even standing next to the bleachers to watch the action on the mats.

Five men's seniors - Tyler Cobb, Cole McKinley, Dominico Migliori, Luke Thornton and Nick Rodriguez - were recognized pregame by coach Kelly and coach Piszker as their family members escorted them across the gym in front of the Gray Wolves' audience. Lourdes wrestler Payton Curley was also recognized as the only senior on the women's team.

McKinley, Migliori and Cobb all won their matches against the Yellow Jackets, representing Lourdes' strong senior class. McKinley, the 20^th-ranked 141-pound NAIA wrestler in the country, defeated Defiance's Timothy Grunden in what would be the closest match of the night. McKinley pulled away with a two - to - one victory due to riding time and an escape.

"Cole McKinley has been a fixture in this program and a national qualifier for us and he wrestled well today against a tough opponent," Coach Kelly said post-match.  

Dominico Migliori dominated his match in the 174-pound weight class against Daniel Thatcher, defeating him seven - to - zero with a quick fall less than a minute in. Migliori commented postgame on his preparation for senior night and his impressive performance.

"The last couple of weeks we've been practicing hard getting ready for tonight and for the conference duals coming up," Migliori said. "We're trying to get up to nationals this year. We've been working really hard to be the best we can."

Ty Cobb, currently ranked 24^th in the NAIA in the 197 pound weight class, also dominated his match against Connor Sintobin. Cobb won with a quick fall, adding another victory to yet another impressive collegiate season with the Gray Wolves.

"Ty Cobb has been a constant for us, he's been a rock," Coach Kelly said post-match. "He goes about everything the right way with his training, his diet and how he competes. I can't say enough good things about him."

A Lourdes underclassman also had a really good evening on the mat. Freshman Mason Ducat competed in the 157-pound class and defeated Caden Moore 19 to 8 with a major decision victory.

Quinton Simmons (125-pound) and Collin Sullivan (heavyweight) also earned team points for Lourdes via Defiance forfeits. Overall, Lourdes won four out of seven matches and earned one more victory by fall than Defiance did in the meet to pull out the 31 to 15 victory.

Quoting Coach Kelly
"We were excited about this being the only home match and also doubling as senior night," Coach Kelly said. "The crowd is a huge factor here at home, they're electric. We tried to feed off their energy. We knew if we gave them something to cheer for that place was going to be rocking. I appreciate all the fans coming out and supporting us, that was huge. Northwest Ohio is wrestling country so to see the place packed was fantastic. To have our seniors come out and wrestle the way that they did with three of them coming out with wins was also huge for us. I'm proud of the way our guys worked preparing for this match tonight. Our guys showed up on a Friday night on the front end of a back-to-back and performed well."

Next Match
The back end of the back-to-back Coach Kelly was referring to is happening Saturday afternoon at 1:30 pm on the road against Cleary. After beating Rio Grande and Defiance, the Gray Wolves will look to make it three dual victories in the last week.