Wrestling | December 5

LAS VEGAS, Nev.—Three members of the Northern Illinois University Huskies wrestling team will compete for a podium spot at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational. Brett Smith (Troy, Mo./Buchanan), Spencer Mooberry (Osage, Iowa/Osage), and Devon Dawson (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Goddard) return to the mat on December 6 for the second day of action.  
 
At 165 pounds, Smith received a bye in his opening round before dropping his next match to No. 4 Joey Blaze of Purdue in a 14-3 major decision. Smith bounced back, claiming a 4-1 decision over Jack Lledo (Ohio) and 9-2 decision over Mac Church (Virginia Tech). Smith claimed a second win over a MAC opponent, winning in a 4-2 decision over Rider's Brendon Abdon to advance to action on Saturday.
 
Mooberry dropped his opening match to No. 8 Joey Novak of Wyoming via technical fall. After receiving a bye in his next match, Mooberry claimed back-to-back decision wins over Eli Sheeren (Cal Baptist) and Zyan Hall (Navy). In the next round, Mooberry battled against Joseph Walker, earning the victory with a 1-0 decision to advance.
 
At 285 pounds, Dawson started his day with a 2-1 decision over Tristan Kemp of Cal Baptist. Dawson, who is ranked No. 25, fell in his next match to No. 33 David Szuba of Arizona State in a 13-7 decision. Dawson got back on track with back-to-back major decisions over Aden Roe (Edinboro) and Rylan Kuhn (Air Force). In the final match of the evening, Dawson faced off against No. 29 Juan Mora of Oklahoma, posting a 7-6 decision, TB 2 to continue action at Cliff Keen.
 
Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) competed for the Huskies at 125 pounds and opened action against Conrad Hendriksen of Oklahoma. West, who is ranked No. 13, dropped a 3-0 decision to Hendriksen before defeating Waylon Rogers (VMI) via fall (6:04). West won his next two matches, defeating Richard Castro-Sandoval (Cal State Bakersfield) in a 6-2 decision before posting his second win via fall against Sefton Douglass (Wyoming) in 2:34. West fell to Diego Sotelo (Michigan) in his final match of the day.  
 
At 133 pounds, Calvin Werden (Willoughby, Ohio/Western Reserve Academy) dropped his opening match to No. 15 Tyler Ferrera of Cornell. Werden received a bye in his next match before exiting the tournament with a 12-6 decision loss to Derrick Cardinal of South Dakota State.
 
Charles Curtis (Canton, Ohio/Perry) started his day against No. 6 Anthony Echemendia of Iowa State before falling to Dante Frinzi of Harvard at 141 pounds. At 149 pounds, Lucan O'Brien (Lakewood, Ohio/St. Edwards) dropped his opening match to Kaemen Smith of Navy in a 5-4 decision. O'Brien won his next match via technical fall of Jake Samuels (Sacred Heart) before falling in a technical fall to Virginia Tech's Collin Gaj.
 
At 157 pounds, Collin Arch (Palmyra, Mo./Palmyra) competed against Felix Lettini or Sacred Heart and CJ Hamblin of Oregon State. Caleb Roe (Arab, Ala./Arab) represented the Huskies at 184 pounds. Roe dropped his opening match to Ian Bush of West Virginia before falling to No. 25 Kole Mulhauser of Princeton in a major decision.
 
Tommy Bennett (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) hit the mat at 174 pounds for the Huskies as he dropped his first match to Mason Espinoza of Cal Baptist in an 8-6 decision. Bennett claimed his second sudden victory win of the season with a 4-1 SV-1 decision over Guillermo Escobedo of Cal State Bakersfield. Bennett's final win of the day came over Ben Weader of Virginia Tech in a 4-2 decision before Bennett dropped a 16-13 decision to No. 25 Brody Baumann of Purdue). This was the second meeting between Baumann and Bennett in the last month, with Bennett claiming the first meeting.
 
Action resumes tomorrow at 12 p.m. CT (10 am PT) at the Westgate Hotel Paradise Event Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. 
 
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