DEKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University rallied from a two-point deficit heading into the final bout of the day for a 15-14 victory over the University at Buffalo at the Convocation Center on Saturday afternoon.
 
"What a great team win today," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "I'm proud of our team's resolve. We weathered the ebbs and flows of the dual and ultimately the guys found a way to get the team win."
 
Trailing 14-12 after Buffalo (7-10, 3-1) won three consecutive bouts to take the lead, the match came down to heavyweight between NIU's Terrese Aaron (Mexico, Mo./Mexico) and the Bulls' Gregory Hodulick. Hodulick took and early 2-0 lead with a takedown. However, Aaron rallied with an escape and takedown of his own to take a 3-2 advantage. A Hodulick escape leveled the match at 3-3 after the first period.
 
Hodulick took bottom to open the second period and scored an escape, then a takedown to open up a 6-3 lead. Aaron closed the gap with an escape and went into the third period trailing by two, 6-4. Choosing bottom to open the third, Aaron pulled to with a point with an escape and then went to work.
 
The Huskie senior recorded his second takedown of the match and added two near fall points to take a three-point lead. He rode out the rest of the period, securing the win at 285 and the team victory for NIU (7-4, 4-1).
 
"Aaron put the team on his back in the final match and fought his tail off to get his hand raised," Ludwig said. "His effort was outstanding and his to be commended in that situation."
NIU raced out to a 10-0 lead with three-straight wins. Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) earned an 8-4 decision over Mason Bush at 125 to kick off the NIU Wrestling portion of the Beauty and the Beast event conducted alongside NIU Gymnastics.
 
Lucian Brink (Coshocton, Ohio/Coshocton) extended NIU's lead to 6-0 with a 6-2 decision at 133, while Jaivon Jones' (Shaker Heights, Ohio/Nordonia) 13-2 major decision win at 141 padded the Huskie advantage to 10-0 and proved to be very critical.
 
"We got a good start, especially at 141 where Jones put up bonus points," he said. "Olejnik broke through on his opponent's attempts to hold and shut down."
 
The Bulls posted a pair of wins, including one in overtime, to close out the first half of the match and cut their deficit to four. Both teams were deducted a point for unsportsmanlike conduct and NIU went into the break leading, 9-5.
 
Senior Izzak Olejnik (Bakersfield, Calif./Bakersfield) came out strong in his bout at 165, earning a 6-0 shutout of Noah Grover. Buffalo went on a three-match winning streak, winning two of the three in overtime, before Aaron's deciding victory.
 
NIU returns to action Friday, Feb. 10 when the Huskies welcome in-state rival Northwestern to Victory E. Court for Senior Night. The match begins at 7 p.m. and will be shown on ESPN+.
 
NIU 15, Buffalo 14
125: Blake West (NIU) dec. Mason Bush (UB), 8-4
133: Lucian Brink (NIU) dec. Tommy Maddox (UB), 6-2
141: Jaivon Jones (NIU) maj. dec. Jack Marlow (UB), 13-2
149: Kaleb Burgess (UB) dec. Anthony Cheloni (NIU), 4-3
157: Michael Petite (UB) dec Anthony Gibson (NIU), 9-7 SV-1
165: Izzak Olejnik (NIU) dec Noah Grover (UB), 6-0
174: Jay Nivison (UB) dec. Hayden Pummel (NIU), 3-1, SV-1 
184: Giuseppe Hoose (UB) dec. Matt Zuber (NIU), 9-7, SV-1
197: Sam Mitchell (UB) dec. Jacob Christensen (NIU), 2-0
285: Terrese Aaron (NIU) dec. Gregory Hodulick (UB), 9-6
(NIU Unsportsmanlike Conduct -1.0) (UB Unsportsmanlike Conduct -1.0)