The NIU wrestling team lost 24-23 to seventh-ranked Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater Wednesday afternoon at the Chick Evans Field House.

The score does not reflect the effort the Huskies exhibited in a match that NIU should have won. After a forfeit in one weight class and a referee decision in which a Huskie wrestler was disqualified for a “slap,” the Huskies were too deep in a hole to get back out.

The disqualification came in the third period of the 177-pound match between NIU freshman Anton Kossakowski and UWW’s Tim Colden. The slap was in retaliation to repeated head butts and throat slaps by Colden.

“The referee was out of position to make a call like he did,” assistant coach Doug McClister said. “He was behind Anton when the kid gave Anton two head butts, and there was no way he could have seen what was going on. It was a very physical match out there only because the referee let it be one.

“Anton was just brutalizing the kid out there. He was winning 17-7 before he got disqualified. He had a chance to pin the kid out there twice, but he just let him go. It’s a shame what happened. The slap was not that bad—at most there should have been a warning.”

At 126 pounds for NIU, Tino Gonzalez beat UWW’s Scott Mautz, 20-12.

“After wrestling the number one 118-pounder in the country at Northern Iowa, Tino has really been coming on strong,” McClister said. “He looked great with eight takedowns today. Tino now knows he can beat anyone.”

The Huskies’ All-American candidate at 167 pounds, Joe Madonia, tied a team high for the season with 10 takedowns in his win over UWW’s Dave Levidtke, 23-8.

“He started the season off slow, but has really turned it around to make it possibly an All-American season for himself,” McClister said. “He’s one of the best in single-leg takedowns I have seen in a while.”

NIU senior Tim Cocco had seven takedowns in a convincing 20-5 win over UWW’s Paul Ybarra.

“Cocco’s hot right now for us,” McClister said. “Even though he had seven takedowns today, you’ll rarely ever see him be taken down because he’s a position-oriented wrestler. He’s given up the least amount of takedowns a match this season of anyone on the squad.”

At 158 pounds for NIU, Brett Messerli, keeps impressing his coaches every time he hits the mat with another good performance after recuperating from knee surgery. Messerli won his match 8-4 against UWW’s Bob Morris.

“He has one of the quickest feet of any wrestler I have ever seen,” McClister said. “The kid has a lot of heart. He was recruited as a 142-pounder, and here he is wrestling at 158 and his true weight is 142.”

Mike Gonio racked up some points for the Huskies, pinning his UWW opponent 2:21 in the second period.

“The kid is getting his confidence back,” McClister said. “He’s getting tough and is wrestling with a lot of heart as well.

At 190 pounds for NIU, Tom Hoy lost his match to UWW’s Terry Schuler, 14-9.

“Hoy went out cold. He’s just getting mentally back into it after being out with an injury,” McClister said. “I’m going to start working with him in the mornings now so he can get some mat time. I think after some mat time, Tom will really surprise some people at regionals.”

The Huskies go on the road to face Purdue Saturday at 11:30 a.m. and will be back home at Chick Evans Field House on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.