January 4, 2003

COLLEGIATE WRESTLING- Northern Illinois University at Buckeye Duals / at Columbus, OH / OSU's St. John Arena / Non-conference matches / Saturday / January 4, 2003.

Release on NIU's victory over #5 Ohio State

NIU WRESTLING DEFEATS No. 5 OHIO ST., DUKE & UT-CHATTANOOGA AT BUCKEYE DUALS
COLUMBUS, OH - Going into Saturday's (January 4) Buckeye Duals, the Northern Illinois University wrestling team had its sights set on taking down a Big Ten Conference school. However, the Huskies beat the team that no one expected them to defeat. Fueled by a tiebreaker victory over fifth-ranked Ohio State University, Northern Illinois captured three triumphs at the Buckeye Duals.

The Huskies improve their record to 7-4 on the season. Northern Illinois followed its upset of the hosts with a 39-3 decision over the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga then defeated Duke University 34-9. The only blemish on the day for the Huskies was a 28-11 loss to Indiana University.

"I'm pretty happy with our performance, 104 team points is a lot," NIU mat boss Dave Grant said. "We went 3-1 against some pretty tough teams and in our one loss a lot of the matches were close. Our plan is to go out there and be dominant and some guys are starting to catch on to that."

Coming away with a perfect 4-0 record was senior Scott Owen (Carlsbad, NM). Ranked second in the country at 157 pounds, Owen won all four of his matches by either technical fall or pin. His first win of the day was an 18-1 technical fall over OSU's Jason Barnett, followed a 22-6 decision against UTC's Quentin Bell. Owen's lone pin came two minutes into his match with Ben Balmages from Duke, while Mike Engberg of Indiana was his last victim in a 19-3 victory. The win over Balmages was the 100th of his career, extended his school record.

"Scott looked pretty dominant today," Grant added. "He's been training hard and is very focused. He's a tough kid and they other guys see that and feed off of him."

Right behind Owen with a trio of wins were seniors Marlon Felton (Kankakee) and Bill Lowney (Appleton, WI / Freedom) in their first dual meet competitions of the year. Both missed the fall semester for failing to meet NCAA Satisfactory Progress Academic Guidelines. At 125 pounds, Felton recorded a team-high two pins, including one in the opening match against Ohio State, while the 174 pounder Lowney posted a major decision versus Duke.

"It's big to have both of them back in the line-up," Grant added. "They make us a more complete team. They are very competitive guys and they are in a lot of matches where they can win. We're still waiting to get everyone back in the line-up and have our first team out on the mat. I still think we can get better than this."

Other Huskies posting multiple victories were 149 pounder Oliver Vazquez (Miami, FL / Central) with a 2-1 mark, while sophomore Sam Hiatt (DeKalb) tallied a pair of victories in the 133-pound weight class. Also getting his hand raised twice in victory was 165 pounder Jeremy Benesh (Oregon).

While only he won one match, senior James Oliva (Bartlett / Streamwood) may have come up with the biggest victory of the day. Against Ohio State, the 197 pounder upset sixth-ranked Anton Talamantes, 9-7, to give the Huskies the six-point cushion they needed to ensure a win over the Buckeyes.

"When you have a day like today the big thing is that you can watch the guys wrestle four matches," Grant noted. "That allows you to see the mistakes they are making and the things they are doing right. From there we can get back in the room and improve their techniques."

Northern Illinois returns to the mat Saturday (January 11) when it travels to Cedar Falls, IA, to take on the 19th-ranked Panthers of the University of Northern Iowa, Grant's alma mater, at 6 p.m.

RECORDS TO DATE: NIU now 7-4 overall

NEXT HUSKIE MEET: Saturday, January 11 --- NIU at #19 Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA, 6 p.m.

-Copy by Michael Smoose

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FINAL SCORE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS 20, #5 OHIO STATE 20 (NIU wins via criteria) NIU-OSU
125-POUNDS: Marlon Felton (NIU) pinned Nathan Costello (OSU), 4:25 6-0
133-POUNDS: Sam Hiatt (NIU) decisioned Jesse Leng (OSU), 3-2 9-0
141-POUNDS: #18 Jeff Ratliff (OSU) major decisioned Josh Wooton (NIU), 14-3 9-4
149-POUNDS: Josh Daugherty (OSU) decisioned Oliver Vazquez (NIU), 8-3 9-7
157-POUNDS: #2 Scott Owen (NIU) won by technical fall over Jason Barnett (OSU), 18-1 14-7
165-POUNDS: #6 John Clark (OSU) major decisioned Jeremy Benesh (NIU), 18-6 14-11
174-POUNDS: Bill Lowney (NIU) decisioned Anthony Magistrelli (OSU), 3-2 17-11
184-POUNDS: Nick Stepanovich (OSU) decisioned Andy Hamelet (NIU), 5-3 17-14
197-POUNDS: James Oliva (NIU) decisioned #6 Anton Talamantes (OSU), 9-7 20-14
HEAVYWEIGHT: #3 Tommy Rowlands (OSU) pinned Seth Livingston (NIU), 6:21 20-20

FINAL SCORE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS 39, UT-CHATTANOOGA 3 NIU-UTC
125-POUNDS: Marlon Felton (NIU) pinned Adam Rains (UTC), 3:48 6-0
133-POUNDS: Sam Hiatt (NIU) major decisioned B.J. Malone (UTC), 11-3 10-0
141-POUNDS: Jared Sullivan (UTC) decisioned Josh Wooton (NIU), 10-8 10-3
149-POUNDS: Oliver Vazquez (NIU) decisioned Jacob Harris (UTC), 8-6 13-3
157-POUNDS: #2 Scott Owen (NIU) won by technical fall over Quentin Bell (22-6) 18-3
165-POUNDS: Jeremy Benesh (NIU) decisioned Craig Johnson (UTC), 3-2 21-3
174-POUNDS: Bill Lowney (NIU) decisioned Quantel Langford (UTC), 3-2 24-3
184-POUNDS: Andreas Hamelet (NIU) decisioned Brandon Artiles (UTC), 6-4 27-3
197-POUNDS: Brandon Check (NIU) pinned Drew Roberts (UTC), 1:33 33-3
HEAVYWEIGHT: Seth Livingston (NIU) pinned Matt Seaberg (UTC), 0:55 39-3

FINAL SCORE: NORTHERN ILLINOIS 34, DUKE 9 NIU-DU
125-POUNDS: Marlon Felton (NIU) won by forfeit 6-0
133-POUNDS: Matt Kucala (NIU) pinned Stu Holzer (DU), 4:05 12-0
141-POUNDS: Josh Wooton (NIU) major decisioned Adam Benitez (DU) 16-0
149-POUNDS: John O'Malley (NIU) decisioned Brandon Foose (DU) 19-0
157-POUNDS: #2 Scott Owen (NIU) pinned Ben Balmages (DU), 2:00 25-0
165-POUNDS: Mike Mitchell (DU) decisioned George Kirgan (NIU), 3-2 25-3
174-POUNDS: Bill Lowney (NIU) major decisioned Tim Marcantonir (DU) 29-3
184-POUNDS: Tom Cass (DU) decisioned Andreas Hamelet (NIU), 9-5 29-6
197-POUNDS: Mark Thompson (DU) decisioned Brandon Check (NIU), 11-8 29-9
HEAVYWEIGHT: Jack Dennis (NIU) won by technical fall over Roy Williams (DU), 15-0 34-9

FINAL SCORE: INDIANA 28, NORTHERN ILLINOIS 11 IU-NIU
125-POUNDS: #15 Joe DuBuque (IU) major decisioned Marlon Felton (NIU), 21-6 4-0
133-POUNDS: Greg Schaefer (IU) decisioned Sam Hiatt (NIU), 3-2 7-0
141-POUNDS: #6 Coyte Cooper (IU) major decisioned Josh Wooton (NIU), 13-4 11-0
149-POUNDS: Oliver Vazquez (NIU) decisioned Matt Cooper (IU), 4-3 11-3
157-POUNDS: #2 Scott Owen (NIU) won by technical fall over Mike Engberg (IU), 19-3 11-8
165-POUNDS: Jeremy Benesh (NIU) decisioned Alex Lapointe (IU), 3-2 11-11
174-POUNDS: Andrew Wolf (IU) decisioned Bill Lowney (NIU), 3-2 14-11
184-POUNDS: #16 Ty Matthews (IU) major decisioned Andreas Hamelet (NIU), 12-1 18-11
197-POUNDS: #10 Pat De Gain (IU) pinned James Oliva (NIU), 2:13 24-11
HEAVYWEIGHT: Joel Powers (IU) decisioned Seth Livingston (NIU), 2-0 27-11