"They were all hard-fought matches which is want you to see, guys going after each other not holding back especially against such a well-known opponent, a teammate," said NIU head coach Ryan Ludwig. "That's what you want to see. Go out there, pursue points, create opportunities."
Thursday intrasquad scrimmage was less about the final score as much as it was about wrestling in front of fans, officials and getting ready for the competitive season.
"On top of figuring out who wins the wrestle-off, which is obvious, one of the most important factors here is getting in front of a crowd, making weight, getting your pre match routines down, that's the big deal for us," Ludwig said. "Getting all the live match kinks out before we head out to the Michigan State Open so we can feel comfortable in our routines as we head out to our first competition."
Trailing by four points heading into the final two bouts, three-time NCAA qualifier Brit Wilson put the Black team ahead by one with an 18-2 tech fall over Devonjae Husdon at 184. Senior Tristan Guaman battled sophomore Matt Zuber, posting a 9-2 win to seal the victory for Black.
The Red squad opened up a 9-3 advantage after Bryce West, another NCAA qualifier, began the match with a 3-0 win over Blake West at 125. Mikey Kaminski leveled the score at 3-3, with a 4-1 win at 133 over Nathaniel Genobana. A 4-3 win by Jaivon Jones over Caleb Brooks at 141 and NCAA qualifier Anthony Cheloni's 1-0 win at 141 over Grant Hansen gave Red a six-point lead through four bouts.
Black made its charge at 157 when newcomer Tulg Zuunbayan scored a 10-4 win over Anthony Gibson to pull within three, 9-6. Izzak Olejnik, another NCAA participant from 2021, posted a 9-0 maj. dec. at 165 to push the lead, 13-6.
Mason Kauffman, the fifth NCAA qualifier from last year, pulled the Black squad to within striking distance with a 13-6 victory at 174 over Hayden Pummel.
"I thought Mason Kauffman's attack rate was great," he said. "He really pulled the trigger on his attacks quite a bit. Obviously, Brit Wilson throws up a ton of points. That's hard to deny.
"I thought there were pretty hard-fought bouts at 125 and 149 with some true freshmen keeping it pretty close with national qualifiers. I thought Tulg Zuunbayan at 157 stood out pretty well. He wrestled a pretty dominant match, was very dynamic with his feet. He was fun to watch.
While Ludwig was pleased with what he saw, he knows there's work to be done before the season opener next week.
"We need to close the gap a little bit more, get to more leg attacks overall as a team," he said. "Obviously, continue to do better on our bottom work, which is always going to be the case. I mean that's a huge part of wrestling. Overall, I thought the competitive spirit was fantastic and that was the main thing we're looking for. All the technical wrestling things, we're going to work on throughout the year and will fix those up and be where we want to be by March."
NIU will open the regular season Saturday, Nov. 6 when the Huskies travel to East Lansing, Mich. for the MSU Open hosted by Michigan State.
Black 17, Red 13
125: Bryce West (Red) dec. Blake West (Black), 3-2
133: Mikey Kaminski (Black) dec. Nathaniel Genobana (Red), 4-1
141: Jaivon Jones (Red) dec. Caleb Brooks (Black), 4-3
149: Anthony Cheloni (Red) dec. Grant Hansen (Black), 1-0
157: Tulg Zuunbayan (Black) dec. Anthony Gibson (Red), 10-4
165: Izzak Olejnik (Red) maj. dec. Ricardo Salinas (Black), 9-0
174: Mason Kauffman (Black) dec. Hayden Pummel (Red), 13-6
184: Brit Wilson (Black) tech fall Devonjae Hudson (Red), 18-2
197: Tristin Guaman (Black) dec. Matt Zuber (Red), 9-2
-NIU-
Black Rallies for Win Over Red - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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