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NIU Beats Kent State Behind Three Bonus-Point Bouts

Jaivon Jones
Amanda Springer

Wrestling | December 18

KENT, Ohio. – After trailing 9-3, the Northern Illinois University wrestling team battled-from-behind and took down Kent State 18-15 on the road Sunday inside the Kent State Field House. The Huskies are now 2-0 in Mid-American Conference action.

"Always happy to walk away with the team 'W'," said head NIU coach Ryan Ludwig. "As a coach, if we're not taking all 10 matches, you certainly want more, but I was proud of the way that after the first half of the lower weights, we had guys step up and 'right the ship', throw some bonus-point matches together, and do some damage for us up top to get the team win,"

The action kicked off with a ranked match at 125 between No. 30 redshirt freshman Blake West and No. 26 Jake Ferri. West battled hard, but Ferri edged West 9-5 and gave Kent State (0-2) the early three-point lead. The Golden Flashes increased their lead to 6-0 after winning the 133 weight-class, but redshirt junior Jaivon Jones put NIU (4-2) on the board after winning a narrow 3-0 decision, his ninth triumph of the season.

Kent State rebounded quickly with a win at 157 and went up 9-3 in the dual, but redshirt senior Anthony Gibson, who started his second dual of the season today, stepped up with a massive bonus-point win. Next at 165, No. 10 redshirt senior Izzak Olejnik had a tall task of taking on No. 25 Enrique Munguia, but Olejnik handled the pressure with ease as the three-time NCAA qualifier earned a 9-1 major decision win.

Redshirt freshman Hayden Pummel corralled the team's third-straight bonus-point match after a convincing 16-5 major decision win at 174 to put NIU in front 15-9. Following that, junior Matthew Zuber increased the buffer to 18-9 with a 2-0 victory over Tyler Bates.

Kent State won the final two heavy-weight bouts, but NIU's lead was enough to keep the Golden Flashes at bay. In the end, the Huskies hung on to win the MAC dual 18-15.

NIU is next in action Dec. 29-30 at the 58th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships hosted by Northwestern.

"Everybody gets excited about the Midlands Championship. It'll be good to step away for a few days, get the guys home to see their families a little bit, and they'll get their training in on their own,"

"It doesn't get much more premier during the season than the Midlands Championship. A lot of tradition. A lot of tough, tough competition. So, everybody will take a deep breath after this one, recover, and then get back to work tomorrow,"

Tickets to the historic event can be purchased here.   

 
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Players Mentioned

Anthony Gibson

Anthony Gibson

Redshirt Senior
Jaivon Jones

Jaivon Jones

Redshirt Junior
Izzak Olejnik

Izzak Olejnik

Redshirt Senior
Hayden Pummel

Hayden Pummel

Redshirt Freshman
Blake West

Blake West

Redshirt Freshman
Matt Zuber

Matt Zuber

Junior

Players Mentioned

Anthony Gibson

Anthony Gibson

Redshirt Senior
Jaivon Jones

Jaivon Jones

Redshirt Junior
Izzak Olejnik

Izzak Olejnik

Redshirt Senior
Hayden Pummel

Hayden Pummel

Redshirt Freshman
Blake West

Blake West

Redshirt Freshman
Matt Zuber

Matt Zuber

Junior