For the second straight year, the NIU and Kent State wrestling teams battled toe-to-toe, with the winner determined by the night’s final match.

But instead of either side achieving a victory, a series of small events and two seconds of riding time resulted in a stalemate.

On a Friday night of roller coaster matches and emotions, close to 500 wrestling fans saw two elite programs battle to a 16-16 tie at Victor E. Court.

“We just didn’t dig deep enough tonight,” said NIU coach Dave Grant. “We had multiple opportunities to win, and we didn’t take advantage of them. So we got what we deserved, a tie.”

In the final match of the night at 174 pounds, NIU’s Danny Burk and KSU’s Aaron Miller grappled in desperation to get the team victory. Burk scored a hard-fought takedown late in the third period to take a 5-4 lead, but inexplicably let Miller loose immediately for the escape. The quick release allowed Miller to secure the deciding bonus point by a mere two seconds. Miller’s 6-5 decision for the Golden Flashes finished the team scoring at 16 apiece.

The Huskies (6-4-1 overall, 2-0-1 MAC) started slow in the 184-pound match as NIU sophomore Nick McClone could not match Alex Camargo’s strength and fell 11-4.

Kent State (10-3-1, 1-0-1 MAC) continued its higher weights advantage with a 14-4 major decision victory at 197 pounds to take a 7-0 team lead.

Jermail Porter, KSU’s heavyweight, towered over NIU junior Joe Sapp. But Sapp managed to fend off Porter’s attacks and narrowly scored a takedown with 44 seconds remaining in the match to cut NIU’s deficit to 7-3.

In the marquee match of the evening, NIU’s 125-pound sophomore Pat Castillo faced junior Chad Sportelli in a dual between top 16-ranked opponents. But from the match’s outset, Castillo dictated the pace of the match thanks to superior technique and never let Sportelli come close. Castillo’s 7-2 decision pulled the Huskies within one point.

Both teams split the next four matches to even themselves at 13-13.

With one match remaining, NIU junior Johnny Galloway came out firing against Jason McGee. The 165-pound Galloway was pursuing aggressively a major decision with an 8-4 lead in the third period when McGee slipped a takedown and put Galloway on his back. For the final 35 seconds, Galloway struggled with all his might, somehow avoided a pin for the final 35 seconds and narrowly pulled out the 10-9 decision.

“He’s a scrappy, funky wrestler who likes to roll around,” Galloway said. “Right when I went underneath, he caught me in a nice headlock. I knew I couldn’t give up because I would have cost my team the match. I did whatever I could to not get pinned.”

“Nobody likes tying or losing,” Grimes said. “We know we could have beat those guys and should have beat those guys. This is done and over with.”

BOX SCORE

No. 24 Northern Illinois 16, Kent State 16

Weight, Results, Team Score (NIU-KSU)

184: #16 Alex Camargo (KSU), dec. Nick McClone (NIU), 11-4, 0-3

197: Ardian Ramadani (KSU), maj. dec. Dave Herrera (NIU), 14-4, 0-7

Hwt.: Joe Sapp (NIU), dec. Jermail Porter (KSU), 3-2, 3-7

125: #12 Pat Castillo (NIU), dec. #16 Chad Sportelli (KSU), 7-2, 6-7

133: Drew Opfer (KSU), dec. Andy Hiatt (NIU), 3-1, 6-10

141: #11 Josh Wooton (NIU), maj. dec. Drew Lashaway (KSU), 12-4, 10-10

149: #12 Mike Grimes (NIU), dec. Jason Bake (KSU), 3-2, 13-10

157: Kurt Gross (KSU), dec. Kalen Knull (NIU), 3-2, 13-13

165: Johnny Galloway (NIU), dec. Jason McGee (KSU), 10-9, 16-13

174: Aaron Miller (KSU), dec. Danny Burk (NIU), 6-5, 16-16