Wrestling swept away its competition at the Journeymen/ASICS Northeast Duals to move above .500 for the first time this season.

The Huskies (7-5) defeated the West Virginia Mountaineers (0-4), 18-17, the Binghamton Bearcats (1-5), 27-13, and the Sacred Heart Pioneers (0-4), 40-3, Saturday in Troy, N.Y.

West Virginia

Trailing 17-12, redshirt sophomore Shawn Scott (197) and redshirt junior Arthur Bunce (285) scored victories in the last two matches to complete NIU’s win against the Mountaineers. Scott won by a 5-0 decision while Bunce won his match by a 5-2 decision.

The Huskies struggled in the lighter weight class to begin the match, dropping three matches by decision, decision and major decision. Junior Andrew Morse gave the Huskies a big boost at 157 with a pin over Brutus Scheffel.

“We started of in a hole,” said head coach Ryan Ludwig. “We gave up matches at 125, 133 and 141. Andrew Morse had a big pin at 157 and we kept the ball rolling until Shawn Scott showed a lot of maturity at 197 with a big win against a tough opponent.”

Binghamton

The Huskies rode their momentum from the victory over West Virginia to get off to a fast start.

In the first match senior Derek Elmore (125) pinned Thierno Diallo 4:40 into the match. Freshman Danny Carlson (133), senior Tyler Argue (141), redshirt sophomore Gabe Morse (149) and Andrew Morse (157) won by decision as NIU jumped out to a 18-0 lead.

The Huskies cemented the victory when Scott pinned Caleb Wallace to push NIU ahead, 27-9.

Sacred Heart

The Huskies dominated the Pioneers in the most lopsided result of the day. They won nine of their 10 matches to pull off a 40-3 victory.

Elmore picked up his second pin of the day to open the match, and to end the match Bunce pinned Daniel Hayden. Scott won his final match by major decision, 21-10, to go 3-0 on the day.

The Huskies host the Michigan State Spartans next week. Michigan State will be the Huskies’ second Big Ten opponent this season; NIU dropped a 37-10 dual against the Big Ten’s Fighting Illini Nov. 9.

“We got a young crew,” Ludwig said. “We’re going to be getting better every week, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re looking forward to getting to our game and our attacks first next week against Michigan State.”