Jan. 28, 2011

CEDAR FALLS, Iowa - Northern Illinois University wrestling team fell to Northern Iowa, 23-15, at UNI's West Gym Friday night.

Freshman Nick Smith (Ida, Mich./Ida), who had sat out the Huskies (2-10, 0-4) previous two matches with an injury, posted a 10-8 win over Panther senior Caleb Flores at 125. Smith's victory gave NIU a 3-0 lead to open the contest.

"It was good to get Nick Smith back in the line up," said NIU head coach Dave Grant. "He's a real good spark for us."

After UNI took a 4-3 advantage after a 9-0 major decision victory at 133, senior Tristen DeShazer (Wichita, Kan./Wichita West) gave NIU the lead back when he dispatched of Joey Lazor with a pin fall victory 48 seconds into the match at 141.

Northern Iowa took command of the meet after winning the next five bouts. Mike Lukowski (East Dundee, Ill./Dundee-Crown) posted NIU's final win of the night recording a pin fall victory over Jarion Beets, who was an All-American last year at 174 pounds, in 6:30 at 197.

"Mike went out there ready to wrestle tonight," Grant said. "He's been close in a lot of matches. He was able to get his hand raised tonight, which was a good thing.

"I thought we had some other matches that could have gone either way. I was really impressed with the all out effort from our team. We've wrestled a long streak of pretty tough teams."

The Huskies return to the mat Friday night when Northern Illinois returns home to face MAC foe Eastern Michigan. First match begins at 7 p.m.

Friday night is a special night for NIU Wrestling. Not only is it Senior Night, at which time the Huskies will honor their five departing seniors, they will also be recognizing their head coach in his final home match at Northern Illinois University. Grant will be retiring at the end of the season after 15 years of service to NIU.

Northern Iowa 23, Northern Illinois 15
125: Nick Smith (NIU) dec. Caleb Flores (UNI), 10-8
133: Ryan Jauch (UNI) maj. dec. Izzy Montemayor (NIU), 9-0
141: Tristen DeShazer (NIU) pin fall Joey Lazor (UNI), 0:48
149: Brett Robbins (UNI) dec. Vince Castillo (NIU), 8-2
157: David Bonin (UNI) maj. dec. Bryan Deutsch (NIU), 14-4
165: Nick Pickerell (UNI) dec. Matt Mougin (NIU), 3-0
174: Brice Wolf (UNI) dec. Caleb Busson (NIU), 6-2
184: Ryan Loder (UNI) dec. Brad Dieckhaus (NIU), 7-1
197: Mike Lukowski (NIU) pin fall Jarion Beets (UNI), 6:30
285: Christian Brantley (UNI) dec. Dakota Greenhaw (NIU), 5-3

-NIU-