Feb. 20, 2011
BUFFALO - The Northern Illinois University wrestling team suffered a 22-9 setback at the hands of Mid-American Conference foe Buffalo Sunday afternoon at Alumni Arena in the Huskies' final regular season dual.
The dual started out promising for the Northern Illinois (5-11, 1-4) as the Huskies won two of the first three matches. After dropping the opening bout, 3-2, NIU senior Dakota Greenhaw (Monett, Mo./Monett) put the Huskies on the board with a 7-4 victory over Buffalo's Brett Correll at 285. Freshman Nick Smith (Ida, Mich./Ida) gave NIU a 6-3 advantage with an 8-6 win over Sean Walton at 125.
"He is having an outstanding freshman year, dual meet-wise," NIU head coach Dave Grant said of Smith. "He's wrestled like a senior for us."
However, the Bulls (9-8, 2-3) stormed back winning the next six matches. Of those victories, four were by three points of less. Brad Dieckhaus (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell Central) won his fourth straight match, defeating Jimmy Hamel, 3-1, at 184.
"There were a lot of tight matches we could have won," NIU head coach Dave Grant said. "Brad Dieckhaus had a huge win. There were just some matches in there that we should have and could have won."
The Huskies return to the mat March 5-6 when Northern Illinois plays host to the 2011 MAC Wrestling Championships. Door open to the public at 12 p.m. CST and the preliminary matches begin at 1 p.m. CST. Fans can purchase a two-day pass for $15 for adults and $10 for children. Single day tickets are $10 and $6 for adults and children respectively. Fans can purchase tickets by calling the NIU ticket office at 815-752-6800 or by logging onto NIUHuskies.com.
Buffalo def. Northern Illinois, 22-9
197: Brian Sheehan (UB) dec Mike Lukowski (NIU), 3-2
285: Dakota Greenhaw (NIU) dec. Brett Correll (UB), 7-4
125: Nick Smith (NIU) dec. Sean Walton (UB), 8-6
133: Kevin Smith (UB) dec. Kevin Fanta (NIU), 7-2
141: Andrew Schutt (UB) dec. Tristen DeShazer (NIU), 6-4
149: Desi Green (UB) dec. Vince Castillo (NIU), 4-0
157: Casey Gordon (UB) dec. Bryan Deutsch (NIU), 8-6
165: John-Martin Cannon (UB) dec. Matt Mougin (NIU), 7-5
174: Ron Majerus (UB) dec. Caleb Busson (NIU), 9-6
184: Brad Dieckhaus (NIU) dec. Jimmy Hamel (UB), 3-1
-NIU-
