Wrestling | December 19

DeKALB, Ill.--Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) and Jaivon Jones (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Nordonia) went 3-0 on the day for the Northern Illinois University Huskies wresting program as the Huskies swept action in the NIU quad dual.

The Huskies (7-1, 1-0 MAC) started MAC action with a 37-6 victory over Kent State. The Huskies fought in a nail-biter against (RV) Northwestern, edging out the Wildcats, 18-17. The Huskies concluded their day with a shutout victory over Harper College, 56-0.
 
The Huskies had their first win over the Wildcats since Dec. 3, 2009. The Huskies had a 24-13 victory in that meeting.
 
With three straight wins this afternoon, head coach Ryan Ludwig became the third coach in NIU wrestling history to amass 100 career wins.
 
"It's always nice to get those hard-fought team wins," said Ludwig. "It's made today even more special with the milestone. I am honored to have been involved in the lives of so many hard-working guys that have come through the program over the years. All of the credit goes to those guys and the guys that are currently wrestling for us."
 
Kent State Recap
 
West got the Huskies started off with a technical fall win over Adán Benavidez of the Golden Flashes at 125 pounds. The Huskies got three consecutive pins from Nathaniel Genobana at 133 pounds (Centerville, Iowa/Centerville), Jacob Brya at 141 pounds (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns), and Jones at 149 pounds.
 
Jones and Brya made their debuts for the Huskies in dual competition.
 
Tulga Zuunbayan (Mongolia/Rolling Meadows) represented the Huskies at 157, earning an 11-6 decision over Dillon Carlson. At the 174 bout, Ricardo Salinas (Evanston, Ill./Evanston) battled to his second major decision victory of the season, winning 14-3 over Waylon Wehler. Matt Zuber (Chicago, Ill./Fenwick) earned a 2-0 decision over Kyle Snider before Jacobi Jackson sealed the victory at 285 with a major decision victory over Josh Boggan, 11-1.
 
Competing at 165 pounds for the Huskies, Tommy Bennett fell in a tough 11-9 decision. Sean Carroll fell in a 5-3 decision at 197 pounds for the Huskies.
 
Northwestern Recap
 
The Huskies had four straight wins to start the Northwestern dual, jumping out to a 12-0 lead. Genobana, Jones, and Brya went 2-0 in their first two duals.
 
The Wildcats got on the board with a technical fall victory at 157, as Alec Rees fell 20-4 to #14/15 Trevor Chumbley. The Wildcats posted victories at 165 over Bennett and at 174 over Salinas as they closed in on the Huskies lead. Carroll fell in a major decision at 197, dropping the bout against #28/23 Evan Bates (MD 15-6).
 
At 184 pounds, Zuber went to overtime to earn the victory over #24/27 Troy Fisher. Zuber won SV-1, 4-1 in overtime, his third overtime victory this season.
 
The dual came down to the 285 bout between NIU's Jackson and Northwestern's Jon Halvorsen. Jackson went 2-0 on the day, holding off Halvorsen for a 13-6 decision.
 
Harper College Recap
 
West at 125 pounds, Lucian Brink at 133 pounds (Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton), and Danny Curran at 141 pounds (Carol Stream, Ill./DeKalb) opened the dual against Harper College with consecutive pins.
 
Jones earned his first technical fall victory of the season, posting an 18-2 victory over Durya Minor of Harper. At 157 pounds, Zuunbayan collected his first technical fall victory of the season, posting a 23-6 victory over Benny Butler of Harper.
 
The Huskies earned back-to-back falls at 174 and 184 pounds as Hayden Pummel (Indian Lake, Ohio/Indian Lake) won via fall at 174 pounds, defeating Ali Adel. Shane Moran (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake South) made his debut in dual action, winning via fall over Connor Lorden of Harper. Jacob Christensen (Durham, Calif./Durham) got the final victory of the day for the Huskies, earning a major decision victory (MD 15-4) at 285 pounds for the Huskies.
 
Jake Stiles (Chicago, Ill./Montini Catholic) at 165 pounds and Devonjae Hudson (Glenview, Ill./Glenview South) at 197 pounds earned wins via forfeit for the Huskies.
 
The Huskies go on a nine-day break before returning to action on Dec 29. The Huskies are set to compete at the 59th Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, hosted by Northwestern on Dec. 29 and 30. Action will start at 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 29 at the NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates.
 
Dual Scores
 
NIU 37, Kent State 6
125: Blake West (NIU) over Adan Benavidez (Kent State), TF 15-0, 3:00
133: Nathaniel Genobana (NIU) over Matt Ellis (Kent State), Fall 2:31
141: Jacob Brya (NIU) over Billy Meiszner (Kent State), Fall 2:12
149: Jaivon Jones (NIU) over Kaden Setzer (Kent State), Fall 4:55
157: Tulga Zuunbayan (NIU) over Dillon Carlson (Kent State), Dec 11-6
165: Aaron Ferguson (Kent State) over Tommy Bennett (NIU), Dec 11-9
174: Ricardo Salinas (NIU) over Waylon Wehler (Kent State), MD 14-3
184: Matt Zuber (NIU) over Kyle Snider (Kent State), Dec 2-0
197: Blake Schaffer (Kent State) over Sean Carroll (NIU), Dec 5-3
285: Jacobi Jackson (NIU) over Josh Boggan (Kent State), MD 11-1
 
NIU 18, (RV) Northwestern 17
 
125: Blake West (NIU) over Massey Odiotti (NU), Dec 9-3
133: Nathaniel Genobana NIU) over Patrick Adams (NU), Dec 6-3
141: Jacob Brya (NIU) over Kolby McClain (NU), Dec 6-0
149: Jaivon Jones (NIU) over Aiden Vandenbush (NU), Dec 5-1
157: #14/15 Trevor Chumbley (NU) over Alec Rees (NIU) TF 20-4, 5:13
165: #19/23 Maxx Mayfield (NU) over Tommy Bennett (NIU), MD 12-3
174: David Ferrante (NU) over Ricardo Salinas (NIU), MD 18-8
184: Matt Zuber (NIU) over #24/27 Troy Fisher (NU), SV-1, 4-1
197: #28/23 Evan Bates (NU) over Sean Carroll (NIU), MD 15-6
285: Jacobi Jackson (NIU) over Jon Halvorsen (NU), Dec 13-6
 
NIU 56, Harper 0
 
125: Blake West (NIU) over Joey Sikorsky (Harper), Fall 2:31
133: Lucian Brink (NIU) over Adam Pena (Harper), Fall 0:22
141: Danny Curran (NIU) over Ethan Thompson (Harper), Fall 0:20
149: Jaivon Jones (NIU) over Durya Minor (Harper), TF 18-2, 3:50
157: Tulga Zuunbayan (NIU) over Benny Butler (Harper), TF 23-6, 4:45
165: Jake Stiles (NIU) over unknown (Harper), Forfeit
174: Hayden Pummel (NIU) over Ali Adel (Harper), Fall 2:25
184: Shane Moran (NIU) over Connor Lorden (Harper), Fall 2:15
197: Devonjae Hudson (NIU) over unknown (Harper), Forfeit
285: Jacob Christensen (NIU) over Oleg Simakov (Harper), MD 15-4
 
Kent State 44, Harper College 6
 
125: Adam Benavidez (Kent State) over Chris Kish (Harper), TF 18-1, 5:12
133: Matt Ellis (Kent State) over Solomon Gilliam (Harper), Dec 7-0
141: Ethan Thompson (Harper) over unknown (Kent State), Forfeit
149: Kaden Setzer (Kent State) over Durya Minor (Harper), TF 19-2
157: Keegan Knapp (Kent State) over Benny Butler (Harper), TF 16-0
165: Aaron Ferguson (Kent State) over unknown (Harper), Forfeit
174 Waylon Wehler (Kent State) over Ali Adel (Harper), TF 15-0
184: Kyle Snider (Kent State) over Connor Lorden (Harper), Fall
197: Blake Schaffer (Kent State) over unknown (Harper), Forfeit
285: Josh Boggan (Kent State) over Oleg Simakov (Harper), Dec 13-8
 
--NIU--