EST LANSING, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team turned in a solid afternoon as the Huskies hit the mat for the first time this season at the Michigan State Open Saturday.
"It was great to get out and compete," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "The men have been training hard for a long time. We saw some good things and grabbed some quality wins.
"We also saw many things to sharpen up. We scrapped and hustled today through and that's where it starts, with competitive fire."
Alijah Jeffery (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) battled to a third-place finish at 133 in the Open bracket. He defeated teammate Drew West (Solon, Iowa/Solon), by a 12-4 major decision in his first match, before falling to Michigan State's Anthony Tutolo, 3-2. He then defeated Central Michigan's Brock Bergelin, 9-2, before scoring an 11-1 major decision victory over Tony Madrigal of Oklahoma in the third-place bout.
McCoy Kent (Modesto, Calif./Enochs) defeated a pair of Mid-American Conference opponents as he went 3-2 before falling in the third-place match at 149. Kent posted a 10-2 major decision win over Ohio's Kade Kowalski in his opening match and beat Dresden Simon of Central Michigan, 5-2. After a 6-3 setback in the semifinals, Kent defeated Kowalski, 4-1, in a rematch.
It was an all NIU match up in the title bout at 165. Kenny Moore (San Diego, Calif./Hoover) rolled to a title. The Huskie redshirt-sophomore won his first match of the day before knocking off Central Michigan's Blake Montrie, 8-4. Wins over Pennsylvania's Evan DeLuise and Jeremy Thomas of Oklahoma, placed Kent in the championship match with teammate Caden McWhirter (Prattville, Ala./Prattville).
McWhirter was equally impressive in the bottom half of the bracket. He defeated a Big Ten foe in his first match, scored a major decision victory (14-2) in his second bout, and a pin fall win over Notre Dame's Zach Kelly. A victory of Edinboro's Fritz Hoehn set up the championship match with Moore. Moore edged out McWhirter, 4-3, to take home the title.
Brit Wilson made a run at the title at 174, winning his first three matches, including a 9-3 decision over MAC foe Collin Lieber of Central Michigan. Unfortunately, Wilson suffered an 8-6 setback to Darden Schurg of Washburn.
Carlos Champagne (Griffin, Ind./Marion Catholic [Ill.]) and Gage Braun (Springfield, Ohio/Graham) made runs at titles in the Fresh/Soph bracket.
Champagne went 3-1 at 133, advancing to the championship match. The Huskie freshmen posted a pair of major decision victories, including a 12-4 win over Central Michigan's Robert Rogers, in his first career collegiate match. He fell to Notre Dame's Hunter Bray, 7-4, in the championship match.
Braun went 3-0 to win the championship at 187. Following a bye, Braun pinned Jacob Holmes of Davenport in 2:02 before scoring a 5-2 decision over Pennsylvania's Greg Bensley. He capped his day with a 19-4 technical fall victory over Purdue's David Eli to win his weight class.
The Huskies return to action Thursday, Nov. 8 when NIU travels to North Dakota for a duel with the Bison. The match begins at 7 p.m.
-NIU-
