Nov. 1, 2006

DeKALB, Ill. - The Red defeated the Black 25-12 in the NIU Wrestle Offs Wednesday night at Victor E. Court. Wins by Pat McLemore and Duke Burk highlighted the performances from an impressive group of Huskie newcomers.

"Overall we had good intensity and a very competitive intrasquad match," said head coach Dave Grant. "There were a lot of even matches. We got a good performances out of our younger guys, who competed very well. Our redshirt class from last year is really coming into play."

The Red stormed out to 9-0 and 18-3 leads. Freshman Pat McLemore posted a 13-4 victory over senior Justin Metcalfe at 141 and fellow freshman Duke Burk notched a 15-4 victory over Derick Lalowski in a major decision.

Burk's brother, Danny, scored an 11-7 tech fall victory over Bryan Deutsch at 165 to help contribute to the Red team's win.

Pat Castillo, ranked as high as 12th nationally at 125, posted an 8-5 win for the Black team over John Weinart.

NIU opens its regular season on Nov. 11 at the Pointer Open in Stevens Point, Wis.

NIU Wrestle Off Results
Exhibition: Chad Vallone (R) def. Jared Rueda (B), 3-1, Red led 3-0
Exhibition: Mike Smith (R) def. Will McDermott (B), 9-5, Red led 6-0
133: Chad Vandiver (R) def. Tristen DeShazer (B), 4-2, Red led 9-0
157: Kalen Knull (B) def. Josh Terrell (R), 5-3, Red led 9-3
165: Danny Burk (R) def. Bryan Deutsch (B), 11-7, Red led 14-3
184: Duke Burk (R) def. Derick Lalowski (B), 15-4, Red led 18-3
197: Dave Herrera (B) def. Dakota Greenhaw (R), 8-2, Red led 18-6
HWT: Jeff Burdoff (B) def. Dave Benner (R), 3-2, Red led 18-9
141: Pat McLemore (R) def. Justin Metcalfe (B), Red led 21-9
125: Pat Castillo (B) def. John Weinart (R), 8-5, Red led 22-12
149: Joe Cornejo (R) def. Mike Grimes (B), 2-1, Red won 25-12