Head coach Brad Penrith said he was pleased with his team's effort in earning the two victories.
"We performed well and it was a good challenge to have back-to-back duals," Penrith said. "It was nice to get some new guys in there and get those guys some wins."
A couple of the 'new' guys Penrith referred to really aren't new to the Panther program as both senior Alex Dolly (184 lbs.) and junior Brett Robbins (149 lbs.) returned to the mat for the first time this season. Dolly was wrestling for the first time since earning a sixth year of eligibility from the NCAA, while Robbins was wrestling for the first time in nearly two years after elbow surgery and a knee injury sidelined him.
Dolly picked up a pair of dual wins as he scored a 7-2 victory over Buffalo's Mickey Moran and a then notched a 22-6 technical fall over Cleveland State's Derek Cummins.
Robbins' win came at 149 pounds against Cleveland State when he secured a 7-1 victory over the Vikings' Antonio Nicholson. Robbins was impressive in his debut as the only point he allowed was a third period escape after he had already steadied himself with a 6-0 lead.
UNI senior Moza Fay recorded a pair of falls on the day at 165 pounds to improve to 16-1 on the season. Fay scored a first-period fall over Buffalo's Ron Majerus at the 1:48 mark. Fay then came back with a second-period pin of Cleveland State's Rob Michaels at the 4:52 mark of the second dual.
Sophomore Caleb Flores (125 lbs.) also tallied two wins on the day but he had to work a little longer than Fay for his victories. Flores scored a 6-3 win over Buffalo's Dan Bishop, but then had to rally late against Cleveland State's Jordan Keller. Keller led 1-0 in the final seconds before Flores was able to score a takedown and claim the 2-1 win.
Sophomore Trevor Kittleson (157 lbs.) earned two dual wins. Kittleson scored a 15-2 major decision over Buffalo's John-Martin Cannon and followed it up with a 10-5 decision over Cleveland State's Carey Carlo.
The Panthers were also scheduled to take on Gardner-Webb in their third dual of the day. However, Gardner-Webb could not make the trip to Cleveland because of inclement weather in North Carolina.
The Panthers improved to 4-2 on the season. UNI will be in action Jan. 10-11 as it hosts the 2009 NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals presented by Hibiclens.
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