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Bison fall behind early, lose to No. 25 Northern Iowa 26-15
CEDAR FALLS, Iowa -- Northern Iowa took the first seven bouts of the match and defeated North Dakota State 26-15 in front of a crowd of 531 at the West Gymnasuium on the campus of the University of Northern Iowa.
The Panthers jumped out to an early 4-0 lead when Seth Wright defeated NDSU's Mike Meger 19-8 at 125 pounds. After the first period, Meger led 2-1 but was unable to hold on as Wright reeled off 11 points in the second period and seven in the final session. UNI's Chris Helgeson led Eric Sanders throughout the 133-pound bout and defeated the NDSU sophomore 8-3.
Northern Iowa (8-8-2) continued the winning trend with 20th-ranked C.J. Ettelson recording a technical fall over Bison David Cunningham in 4 minutes and 19 seconds, giving the Panthers an 11-0 lead. Ettelson recorded four near falls before the match was stopped. Gabe Mooney lost to Ryan Osgood 3-1at 149 pounds.
Chris Bitteto, ranked 19th in the country, won the Panthers fifth consecutive bout by upending Andrew Quittschreiber 17-6 at 157 pounds. At 165 pounds, Zach Molitor was shut out by UNI's Moza Fay 7-0. Fay's win gives him 30 for the season. In the 174-pound bout, Nick Baima moved up a weight class to defeat Matt Hermann 11-2. Baima is currently ranked sixth in the country at 165 pounds.
North Dakota State (6-5) finally got on the board when sophomore Matt Wetterling pinned De'Andre Nunn in 2 minutes and 48 seconds. This was the second time the two wrestlers have met this year. Wetterling also pinned Nunn in the third place match at the Northern Iowa Open back on December 4th. Wetterling is now 25-6 on the season with 18 pins.
Jacob Bryce won his fifth consecutive match, defeating Andrew Anderson 7-1 at 197 pounds. Bryce improves his record to 17-9 for the season.
In the final match of the evening, Mike Maresh recorded his first pin of his career by sticking Tyler Rhodes in 4:15. Maresh is now 7-3 in 10 career matches.
Northern Iowa is the third nationally ranked team the Bison have wrestled this year. NDSU was defeated by No. 22 Penn at the Virginia Duals on January 13, and lost to No. 24 Northern Illinois last Sunday in Dekalb, Ill.
North Dakota State will return home on Monday, February 20, to take on American University. This will be the final home match for the Bison this season. Match time begins at 7:30 p.m. at the Bison Sports Arena.
February 18, 2006 at Cedar Falls, IA
#25 Northern Iowa 26, North Dakota State 15
125: Seth Wright (UNI) maj. dec. Mike Meger (NDSU), 19-8
133: Chris Helgeson (UNI) dec. Eric Sanders (NDSU), 8-3
141: #20 C.J. Ettelson (UNI) tech. fall David Cunningham (NDSU), 16-0 (4:19)
149: Ryan Osgood (UNI) dec. Gabe Mooney (NDSU), 3-1
157: #19 Chris Bitetto (UNI) maj. dec. Andrew Quittschreiber (NDSU), 17-6
165: Moza Fay dec. Zach Molitor (NDSU), 7-0
174: #6 Nick Baima (UNI) maj. dec. Matt Hermann (NDSU), 11-2
184: Matt Wetterling (NDSU) pinned De‚Andre Nunn (UNI), 2:48
197: Jacob Bryce (NDSU) dec. Andrew Anderson (UNI), 7-1
285: Mike Maresh (NDSU) pinned Tyler Rhodes (UNI), 4:15