Eastern Michigan University hosted Northwestern in dual Sunday at Bowen Field House, and the result was an 18-18 tie.
It was the first home dual and brought EMU to 2-2-1 and NU to 1-2-1.
Seniors David Wade (heavyweight) and Chris Jenkins (125) started the Eagles off strongly by winning their matches and putting the team up 6-0.
However, Northwestern went on to win the final match and salvage the tie. Senior Josh Lewis (197) lost to John Schoen, 25-10.
“We would have liked to come out of this dual with an overall win, but we have never beaten Northwestern,” coach Derek DelPorto said. “We just had a disappointing last match, and that ended up leaving the dual in tie.”
Said Jenkins, “Making weight was tough, then it was just on focusing on the match. Wade started off with a good match, and I just tried to add on to the momentum.”
Sophomore Aaron Sulzer (157) won 7-0 in the fifth match over Kevin Bialka to give EMU a comfortable 15-6 lead, but NU went on to win three of the final four.
Junior Lester France (165), sophomore Travis Stanback (184) and senior Josh Lewis (197) didn’t win their matches.
In the fourth match, Northwestern’s Andrew Nadhir (149) defeated J.J. Johnson to keep his team close, which allowed for the late run.
“(The) Big Ten conference is a tough conference, but today we had a tough match,” NU coach Tim Cysewski said. “Big Ten, MAC both have tough lineups.”
EMU is off for what DelPorto said is a much-needed Thanksgiving break. Its next competition will be Dec. 3, when it hosts Michigan State in a 7 p.m. dual.
“Michigan State hits at a good timing,” DelPorto said. “This give us a chance to get away from the mats for a while and come back refreshed.”
EMU defeated Cleveland State, 36-6, on Thursday.
