Jan. 22, 2010

DEKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois University wrestling team suffered a 29-9 defeat to No. 17 Kent State Friday night in Victor E. Court at the Convocation Center in a match up of Mid-American Conference foes.

"I thought we had some good performances right out of the gate," NIU head coach Dave Grant said. "They were good hard-fought matches. They [Kent State] have some weights in which they are very good at, which helps them in a dual meet setting."

The Huskies (7-7, 0-2) got off to a fast start, winning the first three matches of the evening. Vince Castillo (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) started things for NIU with an 8-1 decision over Kent State's Chase Skonieczny at 141. Castillo did the bulk of his scoring in the second period, scoring a takedown to open the period, then scoring three points off penalty, caution and stalling calls on Skonieczny.

Senior Dan Ruettiger (Joliet, Ill./Providence), who has wrestled well of late for the Huskies at 149, gave NIU its second-straight victory of the night. Ruettiger jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period on a takedown and near fall. He recorded a second takedown in the third period to coast to a 6-1 decision over Tommy Sasfy.

"Dan Ruettiger has really made a big change in his style this year," Grant said. "He's being a little more gritty and coming after people."

Bryan Deutsch (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) earned a hard-fought victory at 157. He opened his match with Mallie Shuster with a takedown and led 2-1 after the first period. An escape to open the second period gave the redshirt junior a 3-1 advantage over his opponent from Kent State. Shuster scored his second point of the match on an escape in the third period, but Deutsch was able to keep him at bay the rest of the period to post a 3-2 decision.

Unfortunately for the Huskies, that would their final victory of the evening. Kent State (12-3, 1-0) went onto win the final seven bouts of the night to take the match.

Dakota Greenhaw (Monett, Mo./Monett) continues to impress the coaching staff. He had a solid performance in a 5-1 loss against No. 17 Brendan Barlow at Heavyweight.

"I still see big improvements from Dakota," Grant said. "That was a tight match with a guy that was ranked 17th. He's getting way more physical."

The Huskies return to the mat Friday, Jan. 29 when NIU welcomes SIU-Edwardsville to Victor E. Court at the Convocation Center. The match begins at 7 p.m.

Kent State 29, Northern Illinois 9
141: Vince Castillo (NIU) dec. Chase Skonieczny (KSU), 8-1
149: Dan Ruettiger (NIU) dec. Tommy Sasfy (KSU), 7-1
157: Bryan Deutsch (NIU) dec. Mallie Shuster (KSU), 3-2
165: Obie Simpson (KSU) pin fall John Odeen (NIU), 2:16
174: Keith Witt (KSU) dec. Mason True (NIU), 5-0
184: No. 4 Dustin Kilgore (KSU) Maj, dec. Zach Benzio (NIU), 22-8
197: Casey Newburg (KSU) pin fall Scott Penny (NIU), 4:52
285: No. 17 Brendan Barlow (KSU) dec. Dakota Greenhaw (NIU), 5-1
125: Troy Opfer (KSU) dec. Izzy Montemayor (NIU), 2-1
133: No. 10 Danny Mitcheff Maj. dec. Zach Taylor, 17-5

-NIU-