The Bobcats (5-5, 1-1 MAC) got decisions from Terry Jackson at 133 pounds, Jake Frerichs at 157 and Brian Cesear at 184 for their nine points in the meet.
The Huskies (5-4, 2-0 MAC) got wins from all five of their nationally ranked wrestlers - #19 Joe Sapp at heavyweight, #10 Pat Castillo at 125, #11 Josh Wooton at 141, #13 Mike Grimes at 149 and #20 Danny Burk at 174 - in addition to a pair of victories by Derick Hunsinger at 197 and Johnny Galloway at 165.
The meet started with a 7-5 decision by Hunsinger over Ohio's Nick Terbay who was competing for the first time since injuring his knee on Dec. 29 and undergoing surgery on Jan. 4. The Bobcat junior from Dayton, Ohio, scored an early takedown and was leading 4-2 following a second-period escape but a three-point near fall in the third period sealed his defeat.
"Nick went out there and took a bunch of shot early but got tired and ran out of gas," said Ohio head coach Joel Greenlee about his 197-pounder. "I'll take the blame on that one because we should have wrestled Larry (Reichard). I thought Nick had a good week of practice and maybe knee-wise he was ready to go out there but conditioning-wise he wasn't."
In a close heavyweight bout, Sapp registered the first points with a reversal of Bobcat junior Marcus Adelman with only six seconds remaining in the second period. Adelman, the preseason MAC heavyweight favorite from Alliance, Ohio, managed an escape in the third period but a takedown by Sapp with 11 seconds left gave the 19th-ranked heavyweight in the country a 4-1 victory.
At 125 pounds, Castillo showed why he is ranked 10th in the nation by scoring a 13-4 major decision over Ohio sophomore Caleb Metcalf (Waterville, Ohio). The Huskie sophomore was leading 5-0 before performing a takedown-and-release routine for the duration of the third period.
The Bobcats finally got on the board with a 2-0 decision by Jackson at 133 pounds. After a scoreless first period, the redshirt freshman from Uhrichsville, Ohio, managed to ride NIU junior Andy Hiatt for the entire second period. An escape early in the third period gave him his first point and riding time resulted in a 2-0 decision.
"I knew going into the match that (Hiatt) was tough because he placed at Midlands but I just went out there and got in his face and wrestled my match," said Jackson, who improved to 7-4 this season, including 5-0 in duals and 2-0 in the conference. "I planned on beating him on my feet but unfortunately I didn't get a takedown in the first period. In the second period, I just rode him out, stayed tough on him and beat him mentally."
At 141 pounds, Wooton took it to Ohio redshirt freshman Albert Madsen (Strongsville, Ohio). The defending MAC champ led 8-1 following a second-period reversal and two-point near fall. He recorded two more takedowns in the third for the eventual 14-2 major decision.
Grimes followed that up with another major decision for the Huskies in the next match. In a feisty contest against Bobcat junior Aaron Gomoll (Bay Village, Ohio), the 13th-ranked 149-pounder led 5-0 before Gomoll scored an escape late in the second period. A series of takedowns and releases in the third resulted in the 12-4 final score.
In his first match in exactly six weeks, Frerichs bounced back from a knee injury to defeat Huskie 157-pounder Kalen Knull. The Ohio redshirt freshman from Uniontown, Ohio, used a three-point near fall in the second period and a reversal early in the third to cruise to a 6-2 decision.
"It felt really good to be back on the mat," said Frerichs, who upped his record to 8-3 and 6-1 in duals. "I thought I should have got a takedown in the first period but every shot I hit was out of bounds. I gave up a stupid reversal at the very end but I've been out for so long that I was just happy to be back on the mat."
At 165 pounds, Bobcat true freshman Kent Smith (Bowling Green, Ohio) suffered a 21-6 technical fall to Galloway, who earned the bonus points with a late takedown, two-point near fall and riding time.
In Ohio's final shot at defeating one of NIU's ranked wrestlers, sophomore 174-pounder Ryan Knapp (McConnelsville, Ohio) recorded an early takedown and was tied with Burk at 4-4 in the second period when both grapplers took a shot at the same time and knocked heads. The collision opened a cut above Knapp's right eye that required stitches. After waiting for over 15 minutes to see if the procedure could be performed just off the mat, Greenlee decided to have Knapp injury default when swelling became obvious.
"Right above his eyebrow, he split about a three-inch gash in his head," Greenlee said about the injury. "It was pretty deep but I thought if we could stitch it up right away, he could wrestle. After about 10 minutes, though, it became too sore and swollen."
In the night's final match, Cesear improved his record to 15-8 and 8-2 in duals with a 6-3 decision over Huskie 184-pounder Nick McClone. The junior from Amherst, Ohio, scored an early takedown but gave up a reversal late in the first period. After an illegal hold call gave him a 3-2 lead in the second period, Cesear registered an escape and takedown in the third to pull out the win.
The Bobcats will next travel to Ashland, Ohio, for the 17th Annual Wendy's Big Classic Duals on Sunday. Ohio will face Cleveland State at 10 a.m., Lock Haven at 2 p.m. and host Ashland at 4 p.m. in the eight-team event.
Ohio 9, Northern Illinois 29
197 - Derick Hunsinger (NIU) dec. Nick Terbay, 7-5
HWT - #19 Joe Sapp (NIU) dec. Marcus Adelman, 4-1
125 - #10 Pat Castillo (NIU) major dec. Caleb Metcalf, 13-4
133 - Terry Jackson (Ohio) dec. Andy Hiatt, 2-0
141 - #11 Josh Wooton (NIU) major dec. Albert Madsen, 14-2
149 - #13 Mike Grimes (NIU) major dec. Aaron Gomoll, 12-4
157 - Jake Frerichs (Ohio) dec. Kalen Knull, 6-2
165 - Johnny Galloway (NIU) tech. fall Kent Smith, 21-6
174 - #20 Danny Burk (NIU) injury default Ryan Knapp, 3:59
184 - Brian Cesear (Ohio) dec. Nick McClone, 6-3
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