"It's nice to close the regular season with two team dual wins. For the most part, we did what we went out there to do," said head wrestling coach Ryan Ludwig. "We made some errors in the first dual, but we are closer to our peak performance as individuals and that's our goal heading into the MAC championship."
Gardner-Webb
The Huskies defeated the Runnin' Bulldogs, 22-18, and remain undefeated against Gardner-Webb.
The Huskies made a strong statement from the start, with a first-period pin from true-freshman Brock Hudkins (Danville, Ind./Danville) at 125-pounds, giving NIU an immediate 6-0 lead over Gardner-Webb.
At 141-pounds, Angel Velasquez (Modesto, Calif./John H. Pitman) returned to action for the Huskies and captured a victory in a 9-4 decision, increasing NIU's lead to 9-3.
Following Velasquez's win, Steve Bleise (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) came out and recorded a second-period technical fall at 149-pounds. That is Bleise's second technical fall in as many duals and his fourth of the season.
The Runnin' Bulldogs strung together back-to-back wins at 157 and 165, making a run at the Huskies and closing the gap, 14-12.
However, Trace Engelkes (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) answered back with a dominant 10-2 major decision win over Austin Trott. Following suit, redshirt senior Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly) recorded his 101th win of the season, a 10-1 major decision, to help secure the Huskies' win.
Cleveland State
After Cleveland State and Gardner-Webb faced off, the Huskies returned to the mats to take on Cleveland State and emerged victorious in a 36-9 dual.
Brock Hudkins recorded his second pin of the day against CSU's John Martin and, once again, gave the Huskies a 6-0 lead coming out of the gates.
Alijah Jeffery (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) allowed just one point from his opponent in his technical fall victory over Andrew Coghill, at 133-pounds. Similarly, Steve Bleise notched another technical fall, 19-4 -- his third in his last three bouts.
Recording the Huskies' third pin of the day, Caden McWhirter (Pratville, Ala./Pratville) pinned Ryan Montgomery in 2 minutes and 31 seconds.
Continuing the momentum, Trace Engelkes held his opponent scoreless and won by technical fall, 16-0. Shawn Scott went 2-0 on the day as he pinned the Viking's Collin Kelly in 2 minutes and 48 seconds, extending NIU's lead , 33-9.
Heavyweight Caleb Gossett (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell Central), rounded out the Huskie's lineup with a 4-1 win by decision, adding three points to the Huskies' final team score.
The Huskies improved to 8-8 and 2-6 in the MAC following the tri-dual. The team will take a short break before heading to Cedar Falls, Iowa for the Mid-American Conference Championships March 4th-5th.
Northern Illinois 22, Gardner-Webb 18
125: Brock Hudkins (NIU) over Landon LoAlbo (GWU) - Fall 2:03 | NIU leads, 6-0
133: Philip Anderson (GWU) over Alijah Jeffery (NIU) - 6-5 dec. | NIU leads, 6-3
141: Angel Velasquez (NIU) over Dallas Roemer (GWU) - 9-3 dec. | NIU leads, 9-3
149: Steve Bleise (NIU) over Joby Armenta (GWU) - 20-5 TF 4:35 | NIU leads, 14-3
157: Ryan Mosley (GWU) over Caden McWhirter (NIU) - 9-5 dec. | NIU leads, 14-6
165: Alex Bennett (GWU) over Shaun 'Qae McMurty (NIU) - Fall 6:32 | NIU leads, 14-12
174: Trace Engelkes (NIU) over Austin Trott (GWU) - 10-2 MD | NIU leads, 18-12
184: Hunter Gamble (GWU) over Bryce Gorman (NIU) - 5-4 dec. | NIU leads, 18-15
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) over Kyle Ash (GWU) - 10-1 MD | NIU leads, 22-15
285: Boyce Cornwell (GWU) over Caleb Gossett (NIU) - 3-1 SV | NIU wins, 22-18
Northern Illinois 36, Cleveland State 9
125: Brock Hudkins (NIU) over John Martin (CSU) - Fall 2:23 | NIU leads, 6-0
133: Alijah Jeffery (NIU) over Andrew Coghill (CSU) - 16-1 TF 5:11 | NIU leads, 11-0
141: Evan Cheek (CSU) over Angel Velasquez (NIU) - 2-0 dec. | NIU leads, 11-3
149: Steve Bleise (NIU) over Sam Matzek (CSU) - 19-4 TF 5:42 | NIU leads, 16-3
157: Caden McWhirter (NIU) over Ryan Montgomery (CSU) - Fall 2:31 | NIU leads, 22-3
165: John Vaughn (CSU) over Andrew Scott (NIU) - 6-4 SV | NIU leads, 22-6
174: Trace Engelkes (NIU) over Devon Pingel (CSU) - 16-0 TF 2:46 | NIU leads, 27-6
184: Nick Corba (CSU) over Michael Aldrich (NIU) - 4-0 dec. | NIU leads, 27-9
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) over Collin Kelly (CSU) - Fall 2:48 | NIU leads, 33-9
285: Caleb Gossett (NIU) over Michael Furbee (CSU) - 4-1 dec. | NIU wins, 36-9
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