NIU wrestling coach Dave Grant knew the upcoming Mid-American Conference duels were going to be close contests.

On Friday against Kent State, he couldn’t have been more right.

The Huskies lost a tight match to Kent, 18-15, at KSU’s Memorial and Athletic Convocation Center. The team went on to crush Division II Baldwin-Wallace College, 47-3. However, the victory was bittersweet following the loss to KSU.

NIU is now 5-5-1 overall but still remains winless in MAC competition at 0-2-1.

“By no way is this team down by any means,” said Grant. “They know we could just as easily be 3-0-0 in the MAC.”

Senior Ryan Egan and junior Scott Owen again showed why they are top in the MAC, each with wins in their respective weight classes. Owen came up huge with the only pin of the meet, which gave the Huskies a momentary lead.

Bill Lowney continued to prove why he should be a presence in the 174-weight bracket with a win over KSU’s Jack Hageman. Lowney is now 17-6 for the season.

The team got an unexpected lift at the 149-weight class, when freshman Jamie Hey upset Mike Tolar, 10-7.

Tolar was ranked third overall in the MAC.

“I am proud of the way Jamie wrestled,” Grant said. “He had a tough match against a ranked opponent and came up big for us.”

The score was knotted up at 15-15, with only the 184-pound match left. Unfortunately, senior David Potter lost 5-4 to give the Golden Flashes the victory.

“We could wrestle Dave’s match all over again and gotten a completely different outcome,” Grant responded.

The Huskies had other chances in the meet but lost two overtime bouts at the 197-pound and heavyweight classes.

“The difference is doing what you have to do,” said Grant. “We need guys to start stepping up and going that extra step. Getting that takedown in overtime or winning the match by 8 instead of 2.”

NIU dominated Baldwin-Wallace, winning 9 of the 10 bouts. They recorded four pins and a technical fall in the rout.

It took Egan only 1:35 to pin BWC’s Steve DiMichele. He raised his season record to 18-7, while Owen improved his team-leading record to 20-4.