The No. 25-ranked Panthers improved to 7-8-2 on the season, while SDSU dropped to 7-10 and UNC fell to 5-6.
UNI had six wrestlers win both of their matches on the evening and that list included Moza Fay, Chris Bitetto, Nick Baima, Tyler Rhodes, Seth Wright and Chris Helgeson.
UNI will complete its dual season tomorrow night against the North Dakota State Bison at 7 p.m. in the West Gym. UNI will honor three seniors (Chris Bitetto, Chris Helgeson, Michael Shedek) prior to the match.
UNI 36, SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 9
The Panthers began the evening with a 36-9 victory over the visiting South Dakota State Jackrabbits. UNI jumped to a commanding 17-0 lead after four matches and never looked back.
Redshirt freshman Moza Fay (157 lbs.) recorded an injury default over Andy Everson in the second period. Fay tallied a takedown only 11 seconds into the match and in doing so Everson pulled up lame. Fay continued to dominate the match and Everson had to default while trailing 8-0.
Senior Chris Bitetto (165 lbs.) continued the Panthers' early assault with a 22-8 major decision over SDSU's Justin Retallic. Bitetto led 4-1 at the end of the first period but turned it on in the second period and led 15-4 with only the final period to go. Bitetto was looking for the technical fall late in the period but could not score the final takedown as time ran out.
No. 5-ranked junior Nick Baima (174 lbs.) won his 29th match of the season and his ninth straight with a 19-7 major decision over SDSU's Travis Gottschalk. Baima was wrestling up a weight as the Panthers were without the services of Curt Zinnel, who is nursing a sore hamstring.
Redshirt freshman De'Andre Nunn (184 lbs.) notched his 10th win of the season with an 8-4 triumph over the Jackrabbits' Levi Krehmeyer.
SDSU senior Cody Nehl put the visitors on the scoreboard next with 7-3 win over UNI's Andrew Anderson. Anderson led 2-1 after one period but netted only an escape the rest of way.
UNI heavyweight Tyler Rhodes socred a 4-1 win over the Jacks' Jason Stripling.
But that was the calm before the storm as the action heated up quickly on a bitterly cold night in northeastern Iowa.
Junior Seth Wright (125 lbs.) and SDSU's Marcus Waters had a highlight-filled first period that saw each grappler score a 3-point nearfall. At the end of one period, Wright and Waters had battled to a 7-7 tie. Wright came out blazing in the second period and took a 12-7 lead before giving up a quick reversal with 53 seconds left in the period. But Wright wasted no time in gaining another reversal and put Waters to his back for the pin at the 4:26 mark of the match. Wright's fall gave UNI a 26-3 lead in the dual.
Senior Chris Helgeson (133 lbs.) recorded a forfreit win to up the UNI advantage to 32-3.
SDSU's Derek Pirner then notched the upset of the evening as he took UNI sophomore C.J. Ettelson to his back less than a minute into the match and got the fall at the 48-second mark. Ettelson came into the match ranked as high as No. 14 in the nation, while Pirner was 10-10 on the season.
UNI's Colby Goetsch (149 lbs.) finished off the Jacks with a 12-2 major decision over Brad Gregory. Goetsch's win improved his mark to 10-16 on the year.
UNI 36, NORTHERN COLORADO 9
After a short break to give the Panthers a chance to catch their breath, UNI took on the Northern Colorado Bears.
While UNI jumped out early in the dual against SDSU, the match against UNC proved to be a little tighter before the Panthers pulled away for the 36-9 victory.
Senior Chris Bitetto (157 lbs.) started the dual with a hard-fought 4-0 win over UNC's Nathan Gerrard. Bitetto led 2-0 going into the third period. Gerrard chose to have both wrestlers neutral to start the period as he looked to tie the match with a takedown. But Bitetto proved otherwise as he was able to withstand some shots and scored a takedown of his own with only seven seconds left in the match.
Junior Nick Baima (165 lbs.) garnered his 30th win of the season and his 10th straight victory with a 20-3 technical fall over UNC's Devan Lewis.
Redshirt freshman Moza Fay moved up two weights to take on UNC's 174-pounder Ryan Johnson. Fay again showed how valuable he is to head coach Brad Penrith's squad as he was able to score a 15-2 major decision. Fay racked up over five minutes of riding time in the match.
UNC's Shawn Hart used a four-point move in the final five seconds to score a 6-4 win over UNI's Dan Dunning at 184 pounds. Dunning led 4-1 as the closing seconds ticked away, but Hart was able to score a reversal and scored a two-point nearfall as the buzzer sounded. Hart had ridden out Dunning in the second period to secure a riding time point to account for the 6-4 margin.
The Bears' Reece Hopkin showed why he is the No. 19-ranked wrestler at 197 pounds in the NWCA's rankigns. Hopkin tallied a first-period pin over UNI's Jeff Knoll. Hopkin imporoved to 24-5 on the season. After Hopkin's fall, UNI's lead was trimmed to 12-9.
But the Panthers found their rhythm quickly and own the final five matches in the dual.
UNI's junior heavyweight Tyler Rhodes pinned the UNC freshman Justin Tuell in 1:39 and junior Seth Wright (125 lbs.) scored a 12-5 victory over UNC's Beau Hessler to put the Panthers on top 21-9.
Senior Chris Helgeson (133 lbs.) recorded his second forfeit victory of the evening and moved to 24-15 on the year.
Sophomore C.J. Ettelson (141 lbs.) bounced back from getting stuck against SDSU and scored a pin of his own against UNC's Richard Lohr. Ettelson got the pin at the 3:28 mark of the match and moved his season record to 24-10.
Sophomore Justin Swafford (149 lbs.) finished off the Bears with a 10-3 decision over UNC's Kyle LeValley. Swafford led 4-1 after the first period and added two more takedowns, an escape and a riding time point to notch his 12th win of the year.
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