Wrestling | February 7

DeKALB, Ill.—Winning seven consecutive bouts, the Northern Illinois University Huskies (5-3, 5-1 MAC) put a resounding finish to their home slate, defeating the University at Buffalo, 28-8 in a Mid-American Conference dual at the annual "Beauty and the Beast."
 
"A few weeks ago, we fell short in battling through the threshold positions. Tonight, we found a way to dig deep and get through those sports," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "We applauded our guys' efforts in that regard. We recommitted ourselves to our conditioning and the guys have responded. We will get back in the room tomorrow and have another tough challenge next week in California."
 
The Huskies started at the 174-pound bout as Tommy Bennett (Evergreen Park, Ill./Brother Rice) took on Rafael Knapp for his second straight MAC win. Bennett secured a late takedown in the third period for the 5-4 decision.
 
Austin Stewart (Collinsville, Ill./Collinsville) represented the Huskies at 184 pound, dropping the bout to Marcus Petite in a technical fall 21-2 (6:15). This would be Buffalo's only lead of the dual.
 
At 197 pounds, Sean Carroll (Overland Park, Kan./St. Thomas Aquinas) battled against Lonnell Pabon. Similar to the 174 bout, the bout would be decided in the final seconds as Carroll secured a late takedown for a 4-1 decision victory.
 
The heavyweight bout featured the first overtime bout of the dual as Jacob Christensen (Durham, Calif./Durham) took on Robbie Unruh. Christensen noted his second conference win of the season, winning in sudden victory 4-1.
 
Moving to the first bout featuring a ranked wrestler, No. 13 Blake West (Shakopee, Minn./Shakopee) took on Max Elton at the 125-pound bout. West marked his seventh major decision victory and fifth shutout victory of the season, winning 12-0.
 
Markel Baker (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) took on Troy Guerra at 133 pounds for the Huskies. Baker joined West in remaining undefeated in MAC duals, claiming his third technical fall victory of the season (21-6, 4:36).
 
Jacob Brya (St. Johns, Mich./St. Johns) took the reins at 141 pounds, facing off against Andy Lucinsky. Brya claimed his second major decision victory and third consecutive victory, defeating Lucinsky 10-1.
 
At 149, Collin Arch (Palmyra, Mo./Palmyra) took on Sam Ewing as the Huskies continued to roll past the Bulls. Arch posted a 10-4 decision over Ewing for his second MAC win of the season.
 
Landen Johnson (Owatonna, Minn./Owatonna) had the second bout that would feature overtime, taking on No. 26 Kaleb Burgess. Johnson would battle late and get the overtime takedown for an 8-5 sudden victory.
 
In the final bout of the evening, Brett Smith (Troy, Mo./Buchanan) took on Hunter Shaut. Smith and Shaut would battle late forcing multiple overtimes as Shaut would emerge with a 4-2 victory.
 
Heading out west, the Huskies take a break from conference action as they are set to compete at Cal Poly on February 14. Action is set to get underway in San Luis Obispo, California at 7:30 p.m. CT.
 
Results
 
125: Blake West (NIU)* def. Max Elton (Buffalo), MD 12-0
133: Markel Baker (NIU) def.  Troy Guerra (Buffalo), TF 21-6, 4:36
141: Jacob Brya (NIU) def. Andy Lucinsky (Buffalo), MD 10-1
149: Collin Arch (NIU) def. Sam Ewing (Buffalo). Dec 10-4
157: Landen Johnson (NIU) def. Kaleb Burgess* (Buffalo), SV-1, 8-5
165: Hunter Shaut (Buffalo) def. Brett Smith (NIU), TB-1, 4-2
174: Tommy Bennett (NIU) def.  Rafael Knapp (Buffalo), Dec 5-4
184: Marcus Petite (Buffalo) def. Austin Stewart (NIU), TF 21-2, 6:15
197: Sean Carroll (NIU) def. Lonnell Pabon (Buffalo), Dec 4-1
285: Jacob Christensen (NIU) def. Robbie Unruh (Buffalo), SV-1, 4-1
 
Team Scores
 
NIU- 28
Buffalo-8
 
 
^ Dual started at 174
 
*Denotes National Ranking