The Bison have won four straight dual matches to improve to 5-3 on the season, while Cal Poly drops to 1-11. The Mustangs wrestle at South Dakota State on Sunday. NDSU jumps back into Western Wrestling Conference action next weekend, traveling to Air Force on Friday, Jan. 30, and 18th-ranked Wyoming on Sunday, Feb. 1.
"I think we're getting some momentum heading into the middle of our (Western Wrestling) conference duals. I know we started out a little slow, but we're heading in the right direction," said NDSU assistant coach Manny Rivera.
"We're young and the experience is helping. These guys are looking better each time out. The more they wrestle, the better they are going to get."
North Dakota State recorded four straight victories after Cal Poly's Dominic Kastl posted a 6-3 decision over Kurtis Julson (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) in the 174-pound weight division. Julson drops to 12-8 overall and 4-4 in duals.
NDSU 184-pound junior Hayden Zillmer (Crosby, Minn.) fell behind 2-1 early to the Mustangs' Nick Fiegener, but used two-point takedown to take a 3-2 lead after the first period. Zillmer, who is ranked 9th nationally, outscored Fiegener 6-1 over the final two periods to post a 9-3 win. It was the eighth dual win in eight tries for Zillmer, who improved to 24-4 overall.
North Dakota State 197-pound redshirt freshman Tommy Petersen (Lakeville, Minn.) jumped out to a 10-3 lead after the first period with a pair of takedowns and two nearfalls against J.T. Goodwin. Petersen held off Goodwin's late rally to record a hard-fought 14-12 win. Petersen broke a four-match losing streak with his first dual victory in five tries and is now 9-11 on the season.
NDSU 285-pound senior Evan Knutson (Wausau, Wis.) followed with an 8-3 decision over Cal Poly's Nicolas Johnson to put the Bison ahead 9-3. Knutson improved to 18-7 overall and 6-2 in dual action.
North Dakota State received a boost when Rodriguez (Guadalupe, Calif.) recorded his first pin of the season at 6:58 over the Mustangs' Yoshito Funakoshi at 125 to extend NDSU's lead to 15-3. The 20th-ranked Rodriguez has won seven of his last nine matches to improve to 12-5 overall and 7-1 in duals.
"I was thinking before the match, I hadn't got a pin yet. I was searching for the pin. I was patient, an opportunity opened up for me and I was able to capitalize on it," said Rodriguez.
"I try to go out there with a clear mind. I always try to think positive and try to score points."
Cal Poly stopped the Bison run when Victor Trujillo outlasted redshirt freshman Kyle Gliva (Inver Grove Heights, Minn.) for a 9-7 decision. Glive drops to 5-6 overall and 0-2 in duals.
NDSU started another run with redshirt freshman Mitch Bengtson's 6-0 decision over Colton Schilling in the 141-pound weight class. Bengtson (St. Cloud, Minn.) is now 17-9 overall and 5-3 in duals.
North Dakota State 149-pounder Ream (Wentzville, Mo.) followed with his sixth pin of the season at 1:39 over Jacob Leon to put the Bison ahead 24-6. Ream, who has won six of his last eight, improve to 18-9 overall and 7-1 in duals.
"Our team is coming together right now. Our team chemistry is good. We've been focusing on individual aspects and what we need to improve on, and that's how the team has improved as a whole," said Ream.
"I feel like we've really grown and we're finally becoming college wrestlers. The beginning of the season we were a little shaky, and now we're starting to get our feet under us and grow."
NDSU redshirt freshman Grant Nehring (Kimball, Minn.) returned to the 157-pound weight division to earn an 8-2 decision over the Mustangs' Colt Shorts. Nehring, who wrestled at 165 in the last two duals, improved to 4-9 overall and 1-2 in duals.
Cal Poly's Travis Berridge recorded a takedown midway in the first overtime to defeat redshirt freshman Trevour Chavez (Bethel, Alaska) 3-1. Chavez drops to 4-8 overall and 0-2 in duals.
Results:
174: Dominic Kastl (Cal Poly) over Kurtis Julson (NDSU), Dec 6-3
184: Hayden Zillmer (NDSU) over Nick Fiegener (Cal Poly), Dec 9-3
197: Tommy Petersen (NDSU) over JT Goodwin (Cal Poly), Dec 14-12
285: Evan Knutson (NDSU) over Nicolas Johnson (Cal Poly), Dec 8-3
125: Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) over Yoshi Funakoshi (Cal Poly), Fall 6:58
133: Victor Trujillo (Cal Poly) over Kyle Gliva (NDSU), Dec 9-7
141: Mitch Bengtson (NDSU) over Colton Schilling (Cal Poly, Dec 6-0
149: Clay Ream (NDSU) over Jacob Leon (Cal Poly), Fall 1:39
157: Grant Nehring (NDSU) over Colt Shorts (Cal Poly), Dec 8-2
165: Travis Berridge (Cal Poly) over Trevour Chavez (NDSU), SV-1 3-1
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