Wrestling looking to end losing streak

By Zack Thompson

Wrestling is looking to end its four-match losing streak when it takes on South Dakota State.

The Huskies (6-10, 1-6 MAC) will face the South Dakota State Jackrabbits (4-7) at 7 p.m. Friday at Frost Arena.

The Huskies are coming off a 19-18 loss by criteria to the Kent State Golden Flashes. Head coach Ryan Ludwig is looking for his team to come out strong this weekend, and he knows the matchup against South Dakota State won’t be an easy one for the Huskies.

“We’re going to go out there and wrestle with our offense,” Ludwig said. “It’s going to be a tough dual. They’re a gritty and much-improved team.”

Sophomore Andrew Morse (157) has a key matchup as he faces No. 16 ranked Cody Pack. Morse faced Pack earlier this season and lost by a narrow margin at the Warren Williamson/Daktronics Open.

“I wrestled him at the first tournament of the year and lost by one,” Morse said. “I’ve worked on some things I didn’t do well in that match, corrected those, and hopefully I can get the win this weekend.”

Morse said the Huskies can’t dwell on the recent losing streak, and they have to move on and get ready for the next dual.

“We’ve been in a little bit of a slump,” Morse said. “But we can’t focus on that. We have to take it one week at a time and get ready for the MAC tournament and Nationals.”

South Dakota State comes off of a West Coast trip in which it dropped two of three. The Jackrabbits will look to rebound with a win as it will be the final home dual for their three seniors, Eric Orozco (141), Austin Lindsay (174) and Kevin Caruso (174).

Senior Rob Jillard (149) also faces a tough test this weekend when he squares off against Alex Kocer, who is 21-9 this season.

The Huskies are looking to get back in the win column and build some momentum before heading into postseason play.

“Our goal is to go 2-0 in the next two duals,” Ludwig said. “We want to establish ourselves not only as a team with a lot of steam and momentum heading into the MAC tournament, but also as individuals. Hopefully we can all get our hands raised, go 20 for 20 the next two weeks, and head into the MAC tournament wrestling well.”