Tristen DeShazer picked up his 14th pin of the year and Steve Zimmerman scored a major decision, but it wasn’t enough as the Huskies fell 31-10 to No. 23 Kent State Saturday afternoon in Kent, Ohio.

The Golden Flashes (9-4 overall, 1-0 MAC) won eight of the 10 matches and had the help of two pins of their own.

The loss was the second straight for the Huskies (4-5 overall, 0-2 MAC), who lost their MAC opener to Ohio last week.

“I thought there were a couple other swing matches that could have gone the other way,” said NIU head coach Dave Grant. “I think we can turn a lot of those matches around in the conference.”

DeShazer pinned Kent State’s Dan Mitcheff, who is currently ranked No. 13 in the nation at 133 pounds, for his 18th victory of the season.

“[It is a] big win from Tristen,” Grant said. “He pinned a ranked guy so we were happy about that.”

DeShazer, who is in his first season wrestling at 133 pounds after moving down from 141, currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in pins and has now pinned four ranked wrestlers.

“[Mitcheff] was a really tough opponent,” DeShazer said. “I think this is the best victory I’ve had this year.”

Mitcheff has qualified for nationals twice, something DeShazer hopes to do this March.

“If he can do it, I can do it,” DeShazer said.

Zimmerman improved his record to 15-2 with a 14-6 major decision over KSU’s Jeremy DePoy. The freshman’s only two losses of the season came at the prestigious Midlands Tournament in December.

NIU takes the mat Friday at Northern Iowa. The Huskies next MAC meet is Friday, Feb. 6 against Eastern Michigan at the Convocation Center.