In order to solidify the starting lineup entering the 2011-2012 season, NIU wrestling held its annual wrestle-offs Saturday at Victor E. Court.

In a tight intrasquad battle, Black defeated Red, 17-14.

With 18 wrestlers matching up, head coach Ryan Ludwig sent out nine true or redshirt freshmen to duel for starting jobs. Despite the young roster, the wrestle-offs proved to have competitive matches.

“I felt really good about today’s matches,” Ludwig said. “The guys came to compete, and that’s what we’re looking for. Guys came out with some competitive fire and then we did that. I was impressed with our conditioning, but I did see some technical aspects that we need to bring back to the room and work on.”

Starting at 125, sophomore Nick Smith, who led the team with 22 wins last season, was challenged by freshman Nick Harrison. Smith took a while to find his groove, but ultimately defeated Harrison, winning 19-11 to reclaim his position in the lineup.

At 133, the sophomore transfer Rob Jillard against redshirt freshman Jason Montemayor. Jillard showed why he was an NCAA qualifier last season at Liberty, winning 19-5 in a major decision.

In one of the most notable matches of the day, sophomore Kevin Fanta went up against freshman Shawn Fayette for the 141 spot. Fanta controlled most of the match, but with under 30 seconds left, Fayette took a 5-4 lead with a takedown. Fanta then escaped and took Fayette down; claiming a 7-5 lead with seconds remaining.

“Shawn’s a good wrestler, and I knew it would be close,” Fanta said. “We have good battles in practice every day, so I knew it would be close like that.”

At 149, Matt Smith defeated Steven Bradley 7-5. The win helped solidify who would take over Tristen DeShazer’s former spot while showing the level of talent at 149 for the Huskies.

“I thought 149 was interesting,” Ludwig said. “Like I told you, the mat work was going to be crazy. That one was fun to watch.”

With Bryan Deutsch graduating, there was a void at 157 as well. Freshmen Tyler Loethen and Sam Bennett fought hard for the spot, but Loethen came out on top 2-1 in a strong defensive matchup.

Matt Mougin claimed the 165 spot before the wrestle-offs, and at 174, Caleb Busson defeated Dan Burk 5-1 to recapture his position from last season.

At 184, senior Brad Dieckhaus did not participate because of minor knee surgery two weeks ago, so junior Arber Bebo matched up against freshman Austin Pickering. Bebo won in a major decision, 18-4, which sealed the victory for the Black squad.

Senior Mike Lukowski had no problem defending his job at 197, defeating Shane Rosenberry in a major decision, 19-5.

To end the wrestle-offs, heavyweights Jared Torrence and Parker Settecase battled hard against one another in a physical contest. Torrence claimed victory, 3-2, in a match that had the crowd buzzing from start to end.

“The main point of emphasis is to wrestle hard, scrap, fight in every position and continue to wrestle hard for seven full minutes,” Ludwig said.