North Central earned wins at 125-pounds, 133-pounds and 141-pound to take an 11-0 lead in the team scoring. Wheaton's first victory of the night came at 149-pounds as junior William Byrd (PICTURED LEFT) earned a 9-2 decision against Nathan Segal at 149-pounds. Byrd's victory trimmed North Central's lead to 11-3. Josh Tardy of North Central earned a decision at 157-pounds to increase the guests' lead to 14-3.
Wheaton picked up momentum with victories over the next four matches. The second victory of the night for the Thunder was a win in a 16-1 technical fall by freshman Stephen Aiello at the 6:22 mark of his match against Alex Vosburgh at 165-pounds. Aiello scored eight of his 16 points in the first period, en route to a win that cut North Central's lead to 14-8. Thunder senior Matt McCrary won an 11-5 decision against Evan Kirkman at 174-pounds to close the Cardinals' lead to 14-11.
Wheaton gained the lead for good with a decisive pin by Thunder All-American Dan Olsen at the 1:38 mark of his match against Vincent Pizzo at 184-pounds. Olsen's quick pin gave Wheaton a 17-14 advantage. Thunder senior Mitch Steed gained a closely contested 6-2 decision over North Central's Casey Greenberg at 197-pounds to extend the Wheaton lead to 20-14. Steed led Greenberg by a narrow 2-1 advantage as they entered the third period, but Steed earned four key points in the third period to emerge with the win. North Central's Dylan Mahler defeated Wheaton freshman Taylor Gohn in an 8-3 decision at 285-pounds to account for the final score of 20-17.
Wheaton is off until next weekend when the Thunder hosts the Pete Willson-Wheaton Invitational on January 31 and February 1 in King Arena. Wrestling will begin at 11 AM on January 1, as more than 30 teams visit Wheaton for the largest and oldest small-college wrestling tournament in the country.
Results:
125-pounds: Nick Santos (North Central), def. Tom Foy (Wheaton), 12-3 major decision
133-pounds: Layten Binion (North Central), def. Gregory Manfredi (Wheaton), 13-2 major decision
141-pounds: Howard Beatty (North Central) def. Jared Fekete (Wheaton), 8-7 decision
149-pounds: William Byrd (Wheaton) def. Nathan Segal (North Central), 9-2 decision
157-pounds: Josh Tardy (North Central) def. Mark Savenok (Wheaton), 9-4 decision
165-pounds: Stephen Aiello (Wheaton) def. Alex Vosburgh (North Central), 16-1 technical fall (6:22)
174-pounds: Matt McCrary (Wheaton) def. Eric Kirkman (North Central), 11-5 decision
184-pounds: Dan Olsen (Wheaton) def. Vincent Pizzo (North Central) by fall (1:38)
197-pounds: Mitch Steed (Wheaton) def. Casey Greenberg (North Central), 6-2 decision
285-pounds: Dylan Mahler (North Central) def. Taylor Gohn (Wheaton), 8-3 decision
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