Wrestling (6-7, 1-3 MAC) won two of its three duals this weekend after heading in with only four wins in its first 10 duals.

The Huskies earned their first road win and their first conference win when they defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles (8-4, 1-1 MAC), 24-9, Friday in Ypsilanti, Mich. In the Wendy’s Duals Sunday in Ashland, Ohio, they split a pair of duals, with a victory over the Ashland Eagles (5-6) and a loss to the Purdue Boilermakers (5-4).

NIU opened the EMU dual Friday with a huge upset, as Nick Harrison (125) recorded a first-period pin over No. 15 Jared Germaine, who was previously undefeated.

“It’s huge, there’s no question about it,” said head coach Ryan Ludwig. “Not only did he just beat a ranked wrestler, but he was able to get great momentum going. … [It] absolutely set the tone. … It got us fired up and got everyone on the bench going.”

NIU went 7-3 in 10 matches, including a double overtime win by Matt Mougin (174) and an overtime win by Shawn Scott (197). The Huskies responded with a win after each of their three losses, not allowing the Eagles to build momentum.

“We need every single one; every single match is important,” Ludwig said. “They were extremely important matchups, and everyone knew that. If you need to win in overtime, you do that. Both were extremely gutsy performances.”

The Huskies continued the weekend road trip with back-to-back duals against Ashland and Purdue Sunday at the Wendy’s Duals.

The Huskies opened against host team Ashland. Ludwig said that despite wrestling a Division II school like Ashland, the dual allowed NIU to gain more experience.

“It’s great competition,” Ludwig said. “They’re tough, they’re scrappy … and you want as many matches as possible against great competition. The more matches the better.”

NIU defeated Ashland, 36-6, with the only loss coming when Arthur Bunce (285) was pinned.

“He made one mistake and ended up on his back, which is hard to recover from at heavyweight,” Ludwig said. “It was a very tough matchup, and, you know, just one mistake can put you down.”

In the second dual Sunday against Purdue, the Huskies fell into a 13-0 hole after the first four matches. Andrew Morse (157) got NIU on the board with a pin in the fifth match.

The only other Huskies to win their matches against Purdue were Shaun’Qae McMurtry (decision, 6-2) at 165 and Caleb Busson (decision, 4-3) at 184. In the 26-12 loss to Purdue, Ludwig said McMurtry and Busson gave outstanding efforts.

“Shaun’Qae really dug in, fought and found a way to win,” Ludwig said. “Busson was able to secure an offensive takedown right before the end of the match, which was something he was working on, so it was great to see that payoff.

“We competed extremely well, worked hard [and] had a lot of energy. We talk about our effort and attitude, and I feel real good about this weekend, about getting out there and getting after it and fighting and scrapping.”