SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team found itself in an early hole Saturday inside the Prairie Capital Convention Center, but came back to claim a 19-15 win over SIU Edwardsville.
 
Trailing 15-9 with three matches to go, the Huskies (8-8, 0-2 MAC) got wins from Andrew Morse (Alto, Mich./Lowell), Shaun’Qae McMurtry (Lockport, Ill./Lockport Twp.) and Trace Engelkes (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) to defeat the Cougars (3-13, 0-1 SoCon).
 
“Those are the guys that we intend to lean on and we need to lean on,” said NIU Head Coach Ryan Ludwig. “We did that tonight and they came through big for us. Anytime you can get the leaders on your team to step up and turn matches around that they lost to earlier in the year, that’s a testament to their work ethic, where they were at the beginning of the year and where they are now.”
 
The Cougars drew first blood in the dual, as Quinton Rosser’s (Cincinnati, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) late rally at 184 pounds came up short in a 5-2 decision against Derek Nagel. NIU, though, knotted the dual back up at 3-3 thanks to Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly), who scored a 6-2 decision over Jake Tindle at 197.
 
Arthur Bunce (Munith, Mich./Dansville) had a spirited heavyweight bout with Chris Johnson. After both sides battled to a 1-1 tie in regulation and went scoreless in sudden victory, Johnson took the lead in the first half of the tiebreaker period with an escape. Yet, Bunce couldn’t counter and dropped a 2-1 overtime decision. The Huskies moved back into the lead at 9-6 with a forfeit win by Derek Elmore (Loves Park, Ill./Harlem) at 125.
 
However, SIUE knotted the dual back up at 9-9 with a win at 133. After surrendering two early takedowns, Danny Carlson (Chicago, Ill./Lane Tech) tried to battle back to a tie against Patrick Myers. Myers, though emerged with an 8-3 decision.
 
The Cougars moved back into the lead at 141, where Sal Annoreno (Hanover Park, Ill./Bartlett) lost a 4-1 decision against Angelo Silvestro. The Huskie redshirt freshman opened the scoring in the second period with an escape, but an escape and takedown, plus the riding time bonus, pushed Silvestro to the win.
 
NIU took another tough loss at 149, as Austin Culton (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) lost in heartbreaking fashion to Karsten Van Velsor. With a pair of takedowns, Culton opened up a 4-2 lead over Van Velsor midway through the second. However, an escape followed by a takedown gave the Cougar a 5-4 lead. Culton countered with a reversal with 30 seconds left to take back the lead, but another escape/takedown combo with under 10 ticks remaining pushed Val Velsor to an 8-6 decision.
 
The Huskies moved back within two at 157 with Morse’s dominating 12-3 major decision over Erik Travers. Following a quick first period takedown, the junior blew open the bout in the second period with a takedown, reversal and three nearfall points. Another reversal in the third added to the lead and helped NIU clinch a much-needed bonus point win.
 
McMurtry put NIU in the lead with a 7-4 decision over Connor McMahon. After notching a takedown in each of the first two periods en route to a 4-2 lead, the redshirt sophomore clinched the win with a third takedown in the third, pushing the Huskies ahead, 16-15, to set up the winner-take-all bout at 174.
 
Engelkes and Jake Residori battled to a scoreless tie in the first period, but the Huskie redshirt sophomore got a reversal to open the second, then nailed a takedown with seconds left to open up a 4-1 lead. Residori battled back to tie the bout at 4-4 late in the third, but a quick reversal by Engelkes with 20 seconds remaining pushed the Huskies to a 7-4 win at 174 and the dual victory.
 
NIU 19, SIU Edwardsville 15
184: Derek Nagel (SIUE) dec. Quinton Rosser (NIU), 5-2
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) dec. Jake Tindle (SIUE), 6-2
285: Chris Johnson (SIUE) dec. Arthur Bunce (NIU), 2-1 (OT)
125: Derek Elmore (NIU) wins by forfeit.
133: Patrick Myers (SIUE) dec. Danny Carlson (NIU), 8-3
141: Angelo Silvestro (SIUE) dec. Sal Annoreno (NIU), 4-1
149: Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) dec. Austin Culton (NIU), 8-6
157: Andrew Morse (NIU) maj. dec. Erik Travers (SIUE), 12-3
165: Shaun’Qae McMurtry (NIU) dec. Connor McMahon (SIUE), 7-4
174: Trace Engelkes (NIU) dec. Jake Residori (SIUE), 7-4
 
The Huskies return to the mats next weekend for two Mid-American Conference duals. They start Friday night when they host Ohio at 7 p.m. in the NIU Convocation Center, the make a quick turnaround Sunday to face #3 Missouri in Columbia.