DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team held its annual Red/Black Dual on Friday night at the Victor E. Court, with the Red Team winning by a score of 19-12 after eight wrestle-off matches between the Huskies.

Following the event, NIU wrestling head coach Ryan Ludwig discussed the challenges of wrestling against teammates at his early stage of the season, which was something he felt the Huskies overcame well on Friday night.

“Up and down the lineup our guys competed well. I’m pleased with the effort and competitive spirit. It’s tough to pull that trigger sometimes when you know your opponent so well, but we didn’t see a lot of that tonight,” Ludwig said. “We saw guys going out looking to score and attack at all times, and we’re happy with that.”

The Red/Black Dual started and finished with bonus point matches. Heavyweight Arthur Bunce (Munith, Mich./Dansville) earned the Black Team six points with a pin in the second period of the night’s opening contest, while 197-pounder and returning NCAA qualifier Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly) concluded the event with a dominant technical fall victory that earned the Red Team six points and clinched the victory for his team.

Two other Huskies earned bonus points as the Red Team benefitted from redshirt freshman Steve Bleise (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) posting a 10-1 major decision at 141 pounds and Shaun’Qae McMurtry (Lockport, Ill./Nebraska) earning a 15-4 major at 165 pounds with dominant performances.

The NIU Red/Black Dual also saw Alijah Jeffery (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) and Quinton Rosser (Cincinnati, Ohio/Archbishop Moeller) post victories for the Red Team at 125 pounds and 184 pounds, respectively, while brothers Gabe Morse (Alto, Mich./Lowell) and Andrew Morse (Alto, Mich./Lowell) edged consecutive wins for the Black Team at 149 pounds and 157 pounds.

Here are the full 2015 NIU wrestling Red/Black Dual results:

HWT: Arthur Bunce (Black) pins Caleb Gossett (Red), 4:17 – Black leads, 6-0
125: Alijah Jeffery (Red) dec. Kirk Johansen (Black), 6-4 – Black leads, 6-3
141: Steve Bleise (Red) maj. dec. Sal Annoreno (Black), 10-1 – Red leads, 7-6
149: Gabe Morse (Black) dec. Austin Culton (Red), 4-1 – Black leads, 9-7
157: Andrew Morse (Black) dec. Caden McWhirter (Red), 5-2 – Black leads, 12-7
165: Shaun’Qae McMurtry (Red) maj. dec. Andrew Scott (Black), 15-4 – Black leads, 12-11
184: Quinton Rosser (Red) dec. Michael Aldrich (Black), 3-2 – Red leads, 14-12
197: Shawn Scott (Red) tech. fall Luke Greenberg (Black), 16-1 – Red wins, 19-12

Coach Ludwig also talked about what he hopes the Huskies can improve upon ahead of the start of the regular season next week.

“There are some things we have to work on technically, especially from bottom, which is a tough position to work from,” Ludwig said. “Also we need to feel out the new stalling call on the edge, which surprised a couple guys tonight, but we’ll figure that out by next week.”

The Huskies begin their 2015-16 regular season next weekend on Saturday with four contests at the EMU Duals in Ypsilanti, Mich., against Purdue of the Big Ten and Clarion, Bloomsburg and Edinboro of the Eastern Wrestling League throughout the day.

--NIU--