NIU vs. EMU
After honoring Seniors Mike Grimes, Johnny Galloway, Danny Burk and Justin Metcalfe it was time for the Huskie wrestlers to get down to business against conference opponent Eastern Michigan.
MAC wrestler of the week Pat Castillo, ranked seventeenth in the nation, roared out of the gates for the Huskies, picking up a 20-4 technical fall over EMU's Jack Cassidy in the first match of the day. It would be Castillo's first of three consecutive technical fall victories on the day and gave the Huskies an early 5-0 lead.
EMU came back strong in the next two matches recording consecutive decisions to take a 6-5 overall lead.
Then, it was time for Mike Grimes, ranked tenth in the nation, to pick up his first win of the day as he defeated the third ranked MAC wrestler at 149-pouns in Jermain Thompson with a key 5-1 decision to put the Huskies back on top 8-6.
The Huskies found themselves in a dogfight with the Eagles who posted a decision in the very next match to take the lead back. It was up NIU's Johnny Galloway, ranked nineth in the nation, to once again give NIU the lead as he escaped with a 6-5 win over the third ranked MAC wrestler at 165-pounds in Nick Conklin.
Danny and Duke Burk, ranked eighteenth in the nation, picked up consecutive decisions to give the Huskies some breathing room as they went up 17-10 on EMU. Eastern Michigan closed the gap to four points with a decision at 197-pounds but then Dave Benner battled his way to a 5-1 decision over EMU's Charlie Walker to seal the 20-13 win for the Huskies.
NIU vs. SIUE
In the second match of the day NIU faced off against Southern Illinois - Edwardsville in the first of two intra-state battles for the Huskies.
NIU's Pat Castillo overwhelmed his second opponent of the day in SIUE's Tommy Hill en route to a second 20-5 technical fall victory, once again giving the Huskies a 5-0 lead.
After an SIUE forfeit James Aschenbrenner of SIUE bested NIU's Will McDermotte with a 12-5 major decision to close the gap to 11-4 in favor of the Huskies.
But, that would be as close as SIUE would get, after yet another forfeit Kalen Knull won a hard fought 3-1 decision to give NIU a 20-4 lead with five matches left.
NIU's Johnny Galloway then began a sequence three impressive victories for the Huskies with a 12-4 major decision over SIUE's John Ficht. NIU's Danny Burk pinned his opponent at the 1:44 mark and Duke Burk scored a 16-5 major decision over SIUE's Jacob Petrie to give the Huskies an insurmountable 34-4 lead with two matches left.
At 197-pounds NIU's Nick McClone outlasted SIUE's Tony Lyssiotis for a 1-0 decision and in the final match Dave Benner won by forfeit to give the Huskies a 43-4 win over Southern Illinois - Edwardsville.
NIU vs. EIU
If the Huskies were tired after wrestling back-to-back matches they certainly did not show it against Eastern Illinois.
Pat Castillo looked fresh and well rested as he wrestled his way to a third technical fall victory. John Weinart of NIU followed Castillo's performance by recording a solid 6-2 decision over EIU's Lenny Grodoski.
Eastern Illinios forfeited at 141-pounds then Mike Grimes showed that Pat Castillo was not the only Huskie who could get a technical fall as Grimes picked up on of his own against EIU's Tommy Reamer.
Kalen Knull won his second match of the day with a 7-3 decision over EIU's Kyle O'Tool to give the Huskies a 22-0 overall lead.
Johnny Galloway then wasted no time in expanding NIU's lead by pinning his opponent with 2:36 left in the first period. The victory gave Galloway three on the day and improved his record to 17-2 this season.
In the match of the day Danny Burk found himself trailing 3-1 at the end of the first period against EIU's Kenny Robertson. Burk fought back to tie the score at 4-4 going into the third period. The two warriors battled to a 6-6 tie at the end of regulation and were forced to settle the matter in overtime, where Burk ended it quickly with a takedown to make the senior a perfect 3-0 on the day and give the Huskies a 30-0 overall lead. At 184-pounds a hobbled Duke Burk was not able keep NIU's shutout intact as Greg Perz of EIU got the better of Burk with a 3-1 decision.
The Panthers forfeited at 197-pounds and EIU's Joe Trinka outlasted NIU's Dave Benner to end the days action with a 9-7 win for EIU. While Trinka won the heavyweight battle, Benner and the Huskies won the war with an impressive 36-6 victory over Eastern Illinois and a sterling 3-0 record on the day.
Head coach Dave Grant said, "It was a pretty good day, our guys wrestled tough. The seniors each went out 3-0. I'm proud of their commitment they have shown this year and every year they have been in our program."
The Huskies are off this week as they prepare for the MAC Championships to be held March 3-4 in Buffalo New York.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now