DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team fell to Kent State, 24-9, in the regular-season finale at Victor E. Court Friday night. 
 
"We were okay in some parts, but we just have to find a way to eventually get at least one more point than the other man," said NIU head wrestling coach Ryan Ludwig.  "Sometimes that comes down to shear will and winning the little battles that aren't so obvious to everyone like battles on the edge of the mat and battles when the whistle starts. We just have to make a little bit of an adjustment in terms of intensity heading into the MAC Tournament."
 
Caden McWhirter (Prattville, Ala./ Prattville), Bryce Gorman (Manhattan, Ill./ Lincoln-Way Central) and Brock Hudkins (Danville, Ind./Danville) all picked up victories for in their respective weight classes.
 
After NIU fell down, 9-0, after a pin at 141 and 7-1 decision at 149 in the first two matches, McWhirter put the Huskies on the board with a dominating performance at 157. The Huskie redshirt-sophomore posted a 7-2 victory over Casey Sparkman.
 
"Caden came out and set the tone against a very good wrestler," Ludwig said. "This kid was coming off a win last week where he beat a top-15 guy. That kid is really good and that's why we like what we see out of Caden. He's trending up for us and we're excited about that."
 
Gorman gutted out big victory at 184 for NIU. With the match tied, 2-2, and the riding time edge going to Kent State's Shane Mast, Gorman posted the victory after a takedown late in the third to give the Huskie redshirt-junior a 4-3 victory.
 
"I though Bryce Gorman showed a lot of resolve," Ludwig said. "He didn't look too good in the first two periods, then he woke up in the third period and started wrestling like he was capable of. He did a good job coming back and getting that takedown to win. It was a beautiful thing."
 
Hudkins was all over Jake Ferri at 125. The Huskie sophomore controlled the entire match and scored a 7-2 win to improve to 13-9 on the season.
 
Andrew Scott (Holly Mich./ Holly), Quinton Rosser (Cincinnati, Ohio/ Archbishop Moeller) and Alijah Jeffrey (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) put up a fight at 165, 174 and 133, respectively, but lost their matches. Scott took Isaac Bast into overtime, but lost his bout, 4-3, on a stall point after replay ruling, while Rosser was edged in his bout, 6-5. In the final match of the night, Jeffrey was unable to get a take down in the third period.
 
NIU returns to the mat Saturday, march 3 when the Huskies travel to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. to compete in the 2018 Mid-American Conference Wrestling Championships.
 
Kent State 24-NIU 9
 
141: Tim Rooney (KSU) over Anthony Rubino (NIU), Pin fall 0:20
149: Chance Driscoll (KSU) over Nolan Baker (NIU), Dec 7-1
157: Caden McWhirter (NIU) over Casey Sparkman (KSU), Dec 7-2
165: Isaac Bast (KSU) over Andrew Scott (NIU), SV-1 4-3)
174: Dylan Barreiro (KSU) over Quinton Rosser (NIU), Dec 6-5
184: Bryce Gorman (NIU) over Shane Mast (KSU), Dec 4-3
197: Kyle Conel (KSU) over Max Ihry (NIU), Dec 7-2
285: Stephen Suglio (KSU) over Caleb Gossett (NIU), Dec 8-3
125: Brock Hudkins (NIU) over Jake Ferri (KSU), Dec 7-2
133: Anthony Tutolo (KSU) over Alijah Jeffery (NIU), Dec 3-2
 
–NIU–