"It was nice for Wooton to go out with a pin during his last home dual meet," said NIU mat boss Dave Grant. "He has been a guy we can count on for four years and this is nice for him. Overall I thought a lot of guys hustled and wrestled hard."
The Bison opened up an early lead when NDSU's Matt Wetterling pinned Derick Lalowski at 2:08 in the 184-pound match up. The Huskies fell further in the hole when Derek Hunsinger (El Paso) dropped a close fought 3-2 decision to Jacob Bryce. Northern Illinois trailed 9-0 when No. 20 ranked Joe Sapp (Mahomet / Mahomet-Seymour) earned an overtime decision in the heavyweight match. Tied at 4-4 at the end of regulation Sapp earned an escape and a takedown on the way to a 7-5 victory that put the Huskies on the board for the first time in the afternoon.
No. 12 ranked Pat Castillo (Western Springs / LaGrange Lyons Twp.) earned NIU's second victory of the afternoon picking a 6-5 decision in the 125-pound bout. Castillo held a one point lead late in the third when Mike Meger escaped to tie the match. Castillo was able to accumulate 1:16 of riding time and cut the Bison lead to 9-6. In his second match back from injury Chad Vandiver (Roscoe / Harlem) held on for a 7-5 decision over Eric Sanders in the 133-pound match to tie the dual at 9-9 heading into intermission.
After the intermission Wooton came out on fire and held an 11-3 lead when he pinned Cunningham to give the Huskies a 15-9 advantage over the Bison.
"I wanted to take the guy down some more times, but Coach wanted the pin," said Wooton. "I had a couple of tough duals the last few weeks so it feels good to keep my win streak alive (six)."
Junior No. 12 ranked Mike Grimes (Villa Park / Lombard Montini) continued the Huskies inspired second half performance earning a 10-3 decision and narrowly missing a major decision after surrendering a point for stalling in the closing minute of the 149-pound bout.
"Coming off of Central Michigan (Feb. 10) we wanted to go out and get these guys," added Grimes. "(Wooton and I) are the team leaders and we have a lot of confidence right now. When the team is flat and we need to show them by our actions. We need to pick the guys and lead by example when the guys are dragging."
NIU continued to roll when 157-pounder Aaron Owen (Carlsbad, NM) earned his first dual meet victory of the season defeating Andrew Quittschreiber 8-2. Owen finally broke out of his funk and pushed the NIU lead to 21-9. 165-pounder Johnny Galloway (Iowa City, IA) scored a late takedown in the third period to give him a 5-1 lead over Zach Molitor. Galloway held on for the 6-2 decision and secured the Northern Illinois victory. In the afternoon's final match 174-pounder Danny Burk (Peoria / Notre Dame) earned the final victory of the day for Northern Illinois picking up a 7-3 decision as the Huskies won 27-9.
The No. 24 ranked Huskies hit the mats for the final MAC dual meet of the year Thursday Feb. 16, when they travel to Ypsilanti, MI for a 7:00 P.M. (EST) showdown with Eastern Michigan University.
No. 24 Northern Illinois 27 vs. North Dakota State 9
184: Matt Wetterling (NDSU), pins Derick Lalowski (NIU), 2:08, 6-0 NDSU
197: Jacob Bryce (NDSU), dec. Derek Hunsinger (NIU), 3-2, 9-0 NDSU
Hwt: #20 Joe Sapp (NIU), dec. sv-ot Mike Maresh (NDSU), 7-5, 9-3 NDSU
125: #12 Pat Castillo (NIU), dec. Mike Meger (NDSU), 6-5, 9-6 NDSU
133: Chad Vandiver (NIU), dec. Eric Sanders (NDSU), 7-5, 9-9
141: #11 Josh Wooton (NIU), pins David Cunningham (NDSU), 2:49, 15-9 NIU
149: #12 Mike Grimes (NIU), dec. Gabe Mooney (NDSU), 10-3, 18-9 NIU
157: Aaron Owen (NIU), dec. Andrew Quittschreiber (NDSU), 8-2, 21-9 NIU
165: Johnny Galloway (NIU), dec. Zach Molitor (NDSU), 6-2, 24-9 NIU
174: Danny Burk (NIU), dec. Matt Hermann (NDSU), 7-3, 27-9 NIU
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