NIU grapplers (2-12-1) lost 22-12 Saturday to ninth-ranked Ohio State (13-4) at the Chick Evans Field House.

The Huskies’ 190-pounder, Tom Hoy, looked very impressive in his match with OSU’s Brian Reid. Reid (2-1-0) was brutalized by an aggressive Hoy (12-12), who won the match easily 16-4.

“Hoy had a lot of real nice throws at the beginning of his match,” said NIU assistant coach Doug McClister. “He had a lot of desire to win.

“He’s at the point to really to explode. When regionals come around, he’ll be ready.”

At 167 pounds for NIU, Joe Madonia (21-9-3), won his match over OSU’s Dan DeCarlo (7-6-2), 4-1.

“Madonia beat the kid soundly—he did what he had to do to win,” McClister said.

Anton Kossakowski (17-6-1), the Huskies’ 177-pounder, beat his OSU opponent, Ron Gharbo (21-7-0), 15-11.

“The kid scored eleven points, but six of the points were from Anton letting him go,” McClister said. “Anton looked impressive with six takedowns in his match.”

NIU’s Tim Cocco (22-9-2), drew with his OSU opponent, Andrew Skove (21-6-2), 1-1. Cocco originally was given the victory in the 158-pound match, 2-1, due to foul language by the ninth-ranked Skove, but after the match the penalty point was taken away and the match ended in a tie.

“Cocco wrestled the ninth-rated kid in the country, and he deserved to win the match,” McClister said. “He did all the work. Cocco proved he can go with anyone in the country.”

At 150 pounds for NIU, Brett Messerli (5-5-1) lost a nail-biter, 9-8, to OSU’s Scott Sterner (6-4-1).

“We should’ve had that match as well. There was a questionable call early in the match. The score after the first period was 2-1, when it should’ve been 0-0,” McClister said. “He (Messerli) lost by a point, and he did all the action out there. He probably lost because he was too aggressive.

“I really though Brett deserved to win, you can’t lose one-point victories at this level.”

The Huskies’ Mark Kuehl (21-18-1) lost his heavyweight match to OSU’s Eric Schultz (19-8-2) 10-1.

“The kid rode Mark all day,” McClister said. “The kid had more experience than Mark, and he strictly beat him on experience. Our strength is up top with our heavier guys, 150 pounds and up.”

NIU’s Scott Swanson (3-17-0) lost his 118-pound match to OSU’s David Range (15-11-1) 22-9.

“Swanson is only a freshman—he’s a little inexperienced, but I think he’ll be a good one,” McClister said.

The Huskies’ Tino Gonzalez (14-18) lost a tough match at 126 pounds, 11-9, to Mark Marinelli (13-7-1) of OSU.

“Tino is a solid wrestler, and right now he’s getting the experience he needs,” McClister said.

NIU’s Mike Gonio (4-17) was handed a loss by his OSU opponent Steve Mendicino (12-7) by the score of 20-9.

“We won three matches today, and we very easily could’ve won three others,” McClister said. “These guys were rated 12th in the country, and we wrestled them with mostly freshmen and sophomores. We proved to Ohio State and to ourselves that we are not far away.”