Coming off a strong season-opener at the Michigan State Open, NIU wrestling (1-1) competed at the Boilermaker Duels, taking on the American University Eagles (1-3) and the Purdue University Boilermakers (5-0) on Saturday.
DOWN GO THE EAGLES
Starting the day against the Eagles, NIU came out on top with a 21-12 victory.
No. 28-ranked redshirt junior Markel Baker opened the day with a victory over No. 22 senior Raymond Lopez in an 11-4 decision at 133 pounds.
At 141 pounds, redshirt freshman Charles Curtis defeated Eagles freshman Colin Martin by sudden victory, taking the match by a 2-1 decision.
In a 7-2 decision, NIU redshirt sophomore Collin Arch bested redshirt sophomore Kaden Milheim at 157 pounds.
Redshirt freshmen Colin Young and Tyler Schofield won their bouts at 165 and 174 pounds, respectively. Young took a 4-3 decision over sophomore Auston Craft while Schofield defeated sophomore Hunter Hohman in a 6-5 decision.
In a 5-1 decision at 197 pounds, graduate student Spence Mooberry defeated freshman Caleb Close.
The last victory against the Eagles came from graduate student Devon Dawson, who took a 7-2 decision over redshirt sophomore Emmanuel Ulrich.
HOMECOURT ADVANTAGE
In the second matchup of the day, NIU took on the Purdue Boilermakers and saw three wins over ranked opponents – the only three wins for the Huskies. Despite their efforts, the Huskies were overpowered by Purdue and fell 28-9.
In an 8-6 decision at 133 pounds, Baker continued his undefeated season with a win over No. 21 redshirt senior Blake Boarman.
Redshirt junior Tommy Bennett defeated No. 20 redshirt junior Brody Baumann in the 174-pound weight class in a narrow 13-12 decision.
In the final win for NIU, Dawson defeated No. 31 redshirt senior Hayden Filipovich in a 6-5 decision at 285 pounds.
“The guys competed hard. They are making gains in what we preach in training,” NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig said via NIU Athletics. “We have a lot of room to improve, and we still walked away with some nice individual performances today.”
UP NEXT
Wrestling continues its season against Bellarmine University at 5 p.m. Friday in Louisville, Kentucky. The match will be streamed on ESPN+ and live stats will be updated on Track Wrestling.
