Wrestling | November 20

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team went 1-2 at the Boilermaker Duals Sunday. NIU beat Cleveland State to record its first Mid-American Conference win of the season, but fell to Purdue and UT-Chattanooga at Halloway Gymnasium.

"We had nice performances from some individuals today," said head NIU wrestling coach Ryan Ludwig. "Anthony Cheloni and Izzak Olejnik led the way with 3-0 days and bonus point matches,"

How it Happened | Chattanooga: Redshirt freshman Blake West started things off on a high note for the Huskies at 125, recording a 6-1 win over Logan Ashton. In the 141 matchup, redshirt junior Jaivon Jones put NIU up 6-3 with a 3-1 triumph over Dayne Dalrymple. After graduate student Anthony Cheloni gave NIU three points at 149, redshirt senior Izzak Olejnik posted the Huskies' sole fall of the dual, pinning Caleb Waddell.

With a 15-6 advantage and the upper-weight classes on deck, it looked as if NIU would open the event with a victory over the Mocs, but UTC had other plans. Chattanooga quickly erased its nine-point deficit and won the final four bouts, claiming the narrow 18-15 win.

How it Happened | Purdue: NIU lost its first three bouts before, at 149, Cheloni put the Huskies on the scoreboard with a big 10-1 major decision win over Jaden Reynolds. Later at 165, Olejnik cut Purdue's lead to 14-8 with another major decision win over Cooper Noehre.

At 174, redshirt freshman Hayden Pummel made it a three-point dual (14-11) with his 10-6 win over Brody Baumann, but that would be NIU's final win of the matchup as Purdue won the ensuing three matchups, winning the dual 23-11.

"The score is not indicative of how competitive the bout was. Blake West wrestled well today despite the loss to Ramos,"

How it Happened | Cleveland State: Down but not out, the Huskies finished the Boilermaker Duals strong with a big 33-13 conference win over the Vikings.

Back-to-back pins from the Wests gave NIU a fast 12-0 lead in the dual. Redshirt senior Caleb Brooks had a major decision loss at 141, but Cheloni, Gibson and Olejnik pined their foes to put the Huskies in front 30-4. Pummel followed with a 6-3 win over Tate Geiser before CSU made a push late in the dual. The Viking won the 184, 197 and 285 bouts, but NIU had built a big enough lead for it to have no effect on the outcome.

"We came together better in the last dual with Cleveland State as there were lots of bonus point wins on our end. We have to continue to compete every second of every match as a team to make progress."

Up Next: The Huskies will take on conference-foe SIUE in Edwardsville on Sunday, Dec. 4.