The NIU wrestling team gained its first Mid-American Conference victory over Ohio University 28-9 on Friday.

The meet offered a lot of nail biting for the coaches as well as the fans that filled into the Chick Evans Field House, as five of the matches were decided by 4 points or less.

The Huskies got off to a rough start at the 197-pound weight class. Ohio’s Dan Bednar, ranked 12th nationally, posted a technical fall over freshman Greg Reardon.

The Huskies then bounced back to record 6 straight victories in 5 matches.

Sophomore Jon Lovrich started the run by defeating his MAC opponent, Brad Bauer, 13-10 in the heavyweight bout.

“Jon wrestled well. We just need to work on keeping his head in the match the last 30 seconds,” said NIU coach Dave Grant.

The streak was finished off by junior Scott Owen, proving why he’s No. 1 in the MAC, defeating No. 2 ranked Ben Gabriel.

In the 174-weight bracket, sophomore Bill Lowney scored a takedown with just :05 left to gain a decision 3-1.

Senior David Potter brought the crowd to their feet and the MAC win to NIU as he pinned Ohio’s Mark Shrout to cap off the meet.

“I am really happy with the way the team wrestled tonight,” said Grant. “They put it all out on the line and earned a couple close victories.”

Sunday proved to be a different story when NIU traveled to Northwestern, splitting the meet 18-18.

The Huskies faced a tough loss before the match even began when they learned senior Ryan Egan would be unable to wrestle. Egan suffered a shoulder injury in his match against Ohio.

“We wanted to hold him out for the match next week,” said Grant.

Despite the news of Egan’s injury, the team stayed positive and battled off 3-0, 9-6 and 15-9 deficits.

NIU received some help when NU was forced to forfeit the 133-pound weight class. Scott Owen improved his team-leading record to 22-4 after a posting a win over NU’s Jason Erwinski. Three consecutive wins by Lowney, Potter and Reardon gave NIU a 18-15 advantage going into the final match.

NU’s Josh Saul, ranked 16th in the nation, proved to be too much for Lorvich, winning 10-4 and giving NU the 3 points it needed for a tie.

“I thought we had them,” Grant said. “I didn’t think the team wrestled to their true potential. There was a definite letdown following Ohio.”