Eastern Michigan University’s wrestling team dropped its sixth dual meet in a row Friday night, after falling 12-21 to Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois.
The Huskies of Northern Illinois got off to a fast start after their own, Derek Elmore, was able to pin Eagle, Blake Caudill, in the 125 lb. match. This gave the Huskies an early 6-0 lead, but there was still plenty of time left for the Eagles to put their own stamp on the match.
The beginning touches on that stamp seemed to be put in place as EMU’s Vincent Pizzuto was able to pull out the decision in the 133 lb. match against Jordan Northrup. A quick response was just what the Eagles needed, and that decision brought the Eagles back to within three with a score of 6-3.
Northern Illinois would respond with a win by Tyler Argue in the 141 lb. match against Eastern’s Michael Shaw to increase their lead 9-3 on the meet. Although down by 6 early, Eastern would continue to put up a fight.
After Nicholas Barber won the 149 lb. match for Eastern against Austin Culton, Brandon Zeerip was able to win by a close 3-2 decision over Andrew Morse in the 157 lb. weight class, tying the score at 9-9.
As what has seemed to become a disappointing trend for the Eagles this season, this would be the closest the Eagles would get on the night to overcoming the Huskies. Eastern would go on to drop four straight matches in the 165 lb., 174 lb., 184 lb., and 197 lb. weight classes.
Eagle Gage Hutchison was able to finish the night off on a positive note with an 11-6 decision over Arthur Bunce in the heavyweight match. By that time, the Huskies already had the match firmly in their favor, and would go on to win by a score of 21-12.
The loss wraps up a two-game road trip for the Eagles, and drops them to 7-9 on the season and 0-4 in the Mid-Atlantic Conference.
Eastern will take on the second-ranked Missouri Tigers. The Tigers are 19-0 on the year and are coming off of an historic 43-6 win against Buffalo. The dual meet will take place at 1 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 8 at the EMU Convocation Center.
Results
125: Derek Elmore (NIU) pins Blake Caudill (EMU), 6:05 (NIU, 6-0)
133: Vincent Pizzuto (EMU) dec. Jordan Northrup (NIU), 8-7 (NIU, 6-3)
141: Tyler Argue (NIU) dec. Michael Shaw (EMU), 3-2 (NIU, 9-3)
149: Nicholas Barber (EMU) dec. Austin Culton (NIU), 7-2 (NIU. 9-6)
157: Brandon Zeerip (EMU) dec. Andrew Morse (NIU), 3-2 (Tied, 9-9)
165: Shaun'Qau McMurtry (NIU) dec. Devan Marry (EMU), 8-5 (NIU, 12-9)
174: Trace Engelkes dec. Kayne MacCallum (EMU), 11-10 (NIU, 15-9)
184: Quinton Rosser (NIU) dec. Mike Curby (EMU), 7-4 (NIU, 18-9)
197: Shawn Scott (NIU) dec. Anthony Abro (EMU), 7-5 TB (NIU, 21-9)
HWT: Gage Hutchison (EMU) dec. Arthur Bunce (NIU), 11-6 (NIU, 21-12)
