“I feel like we gave a couple away,” said head coach Dough Schwab. “I still would have liked to see a doughnut on their side, but we had some guys who did really well.”
UNI got bonus point wins from Dylan Peters at 125 pounds, Gunnar Wolfensperger at 149 pounds and Blaize Cabell at heavyweight.
UNI improves to 5-3 overall and 2-0 in the MAC. UNI has won 11 straight home duals dating back to the start of last season. Northern Illinois falls to 7-8 overall, 0-2 in the MAC.
No. 6 Peters got a little closer to making UNI’s top 10 for most career falls when he pinned Derek Elmore in 5 minutes, 44 seconds. Peters grabbed his eighth pin of the season and has 26 career falls.
At 133 pounds, the match was scoreless after two periods, but Leighton Gaul came back with a lot of fight to draw a stall point and riding time to beat Danny Carlson, 5-0.
The Panthers continued to roll with Jake Hodges at 141. Hodges won his first MAC dual, beating Tyler Argue 10-6 with 1:29 in riding time.
After a scoreless first period, Wolfensperger earned two nearfall points midway through the second period against Austin Culton. He topped off the period with another set. An early escape in the third and a quick takedown put Wolfensperger up 7-0. He grabbed another set of nearfall points in the third and amassed 3:36 in riding time to win the Panthers’ first major decision of the night, 10-0.
“Gunnar is wrestling well, especially on top,” said Schwab. “He’s starting to get where he feels he can ride anyone.”
Andrew Morse grabbed NIU’s first win at 157 pounds with a 4-0 decision over Jarrett Jensen.
No. 12 Cooper Moore battled out a close match at 165 pounds to win 5-3 over NIU’s Shaun’Qae McMurty. McMurty is ranked fourth in the MAC. Moore is the MAC’s top seed.
NIU’s Trace Engelkes last-second takedown sent the 174 match into overtime. Engelkes grabbed the takedown to beat Curt Maas 8-6 in sudden victory.
At 184 pounds, Cody Caldwell came out tough and led the match until the end and amassed 2:35 in riding time.
Basil Minto escaped Shawn Scott’s multiple takedown attempts to counter with his own, but the match was still 2-2 deep into the third. Minto escaped from Scott, shorting him riding time by a second and winning 3-2. The win gives Minto his first MAC dual win and a victory over the MAC’s fourth-ranked wrestler.
“(Basil) scrambled out of a few positions I haven’t seen him do,” said Schwab.
A series of offensive moves kept Cabell in control at heavyweight where he earned nine takedowns to beat Arthur Bunce.
“Blaize did a great job of smelling that blood,” said Schwab. “You don’t see many heavyweights scoring that many takedowns. So when he competes like that, he sets the mark for our team to compete a certain way.”
Cabell earned UNI’s only technical fall of the night, winning 22-7.
“We have to have a killer instinct as competitives, and we have to put that in our guys. Tomorrow is another chance to do that,” said Schwab.
UP NEXT
UNI has a quick turnaround with a second home dual at 2 p.m. Saturday in the West Gym. The Panthers host the Buffalo Bulls at 2 p.m.
Buffalo is looking for its first MAC win. They are 4-5 overall and 0-2 in the MAC.
The first 500 fans will receive Panther Train T-shirts courtesy of Hy-Vee.
Results:
125-Dylan Peters (UNI) pinned Derek Elmer (NIU) 5:44
133-Leighton Gaul (UNI) dec. Danny Carlson (NIU) 5-0
141-Jake Hodges (UNI) dec. Tyler Argue (NIU) 10-6
149-Gunnar Wolfensperger (UNI) maj. dec. Austin Culton (NIU) 10-0
157-Andrew Morse (UNI) Jarrett Jensen (NIU) 4-0
165-Cooper Moore (UNI) dec. Shaun’Qae McMurty 5-3
174-Trace Engelkes (NIU) dec. Curt Maas (UNI) 8-6 SV1
184-Cody Caldwell (UNI) dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU) 9-6
197-Basil Minto (UNI) dec. Shawn Scott (NIU) 3-2
285-Blaize Cabell (UNI) minor tech. fall Arthur Bunce (NIU) 22-7
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