The University of Northern Iowa won the first day of a two day battle between MAC opponents Northern Illinois and Buffalo. The Panthers beat the Huskies Friday night 29-6 in front of a nearly-full crowd at the West Gym.
“We had some guys who did a good job,” Head Coach Doug Schwab said after the dual, “but still finishing matches. I’m glad we scored a lot of takedowns, I’m glad our guys could come out and perform well.”
The Panthers got wins from 8 weights, dropping decisions at 157 and 174. UNI was led by Dylan Peters, who beat Derek Elmore with the pinfall in 5:44. Peters could not the move he wanted from their feet, so he worked an armbar back and then caught Elmore for the fall.
Leighton Gaul picked up a nice win at 133 over Danny Carlson. Carlson came in with some heavy left hooks, even knocking Gaul off balance once or twice, but he could not get in on any shots, and Gaul took home the 5-0 victory.
141 had one of those disappointing ends to a match that Schwab has harped on all year. Jake Hodges was in control of the match from the get-go. He nearly had the fall at the end of the second period and the West Gym exploded, but time had run out so he was stuck with a three point nearfall.
Going to the third Tyler Argue had a stall warning go against him on bottom, but he was up and out for the escape point. Hodges tried a blast double leg, but somehow Argue fought it off and Hodges wasn’t ready for that. He gave up a takedown on a scramble and got ridden out of the match.
Hodges would win 10-6, but still Schwab wants more. “It’s still finishing matches,” Schwab said, “It’s not because we’re not in shape, it’s just there’s some mental things that we’ve got to be able to control better.”
Gunnar Wolfensperger put on a show for the home crowd, blanking his opponent 10-0, before Jarrett Jensen dropped a closer then it sounds decision to Andrew Morse 5-0. Morse and Jensen were in on a scramble in the 3rd period, with Jensen down just 2-0, when head official Angel Rivera called a takedown with Morse slightly on top.
Schwab and the UNI bench challenged the call, but the call was upheld so Jensen went down 4-0 with about a minute left in the match and he fell 5-0.
The second half of the dual saw four more Panthers win, with the most exciting match of the night in 197 and Basil Minto. Minto came out strong with a nice single leg takedown for the early lead, but would give up the escape point in the first and then another in the second as Shawn Scott took the bottom position and got out.
It was tied at two going to the third and Minto took the bottom position to start when he couldn’t get out from bottom. He had racked up some riding time of his own but Scott erased it and had 58 seconds worth when Minto exploded off a restart and got the escape point with :59 on the riding time clock. Minto won the match 3-2.
Cooper Moore won his match 5-3, fighting off a great effort from Shaun’Qae McMurty. Moore did look a little bothered by his elbow during the match, and did not quite get to as many attacks as he usually does.
At 174 Curt Maas lost in sudden victory to Trace Engelkes. Engelkes tied it up with a takedown with 3 seconds left in the third period to take it to overtime. Cody Caldwell looked good for the Panthers at 184, beating Quentin Rosser 9-6, but again looked tired at the end of his match.
Blaize Cabell put on a show for the crowd with nine takedowns in his match against Arthur Bunce. He won his match by tech fall 22-7.
Check out all our photos from the dual on our flickr page!
The Panthers are next in action tomorrow at 2PM against Buffalo. It will be their second MAC opponent in as many days. We’ll have all the results here and on our Twitter, @IAWrestle!
UNI 29, Northern Illinois 6
125 – #6 Dylan Peters won by pinfall over Derek Elmore
133 – Leighton Gaul won 5-0 over Danny Carlson
141 – Jake Hodges won 10-6 over Tyler Argue
149 – Gunnar Wolfensperger won by major decision 10-0 over Austin Culton
157 – Andrew Morse (NIU) won 5-0 over Jarrett Jensen
165 – #12 Cooper Moore won 5-3 over Shaun’Qae McMurty
174 – Trace Engelkes (NIU) won 8-6 in Sudden Victory over Curt Maas
184 – Cody Caldwell won 9-6 over Quentin Rosser
197 – Basil Minto won 3-2 over Shawn Scott
285 – #15 Blaize Cabell won by tech fall, 22-7 over Arthur Bunce
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