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Bonus Points Big for Northwestern in 33-9 Win Over Wisconsin
'Cats get two pins, three major decisions, Pierce Harger upsets No. 8 Ben Jordan
MADISON,
Wis. – No. 15 Northwestern won eight of 10 bouts, including five with
bonus points, Sunday afternoon in its 33-9 victory over Wisconsin at
the UW Field House. Despite all the bonus point victories, redshirt
freshman Pierce Harger won the biggest match of the day for
Northwestern, upsetting No. 8 Ben Jordan 4-2 in the 165 lbs. bout. With
the win, Northwestern improves to 5-1 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten action.
“Big
win for Pierce Harger; he needs matches like that,” Northwestern head
coach Drew Pariano said. “He’s a very, very capable wrestler, same with
John Schoen, and winning those tight matches are so important when you
prepare for Big Ten’s and NCAA’s. We had some big wins there and a lot
of other guys on the team took care of business by getting some falls.
Overall, I’m happy with the effort of all of the guys.”
Northwestern
got out to a quick 14-0 lead with bonus points at 125, 133 and 141. No.
7 Levi Mele continued his winning ways at 125 lbs. with a 14-1 major
decision over Wisconsin’s Austin Hietpas. Mele did most of his damage
in the second period, scoring eight points and racked up 4:56 of riding
time for his team-leading 19th win of the season.
Jameson Oster
then put six more points on the board for the Wildcats after pinning
UW’s Shane McQuade in 6:27 at 133 lbs. After a 0-0 first period, Oster
scored six points in the second and added two more nearfall points in
the third before the fall. At
141 lbs., Colin Shober met UW’s Thomas Glenn and added four more to the
scoreboard for NU with a 10-1 major decision. Neither wrestler scored
in the first period and Glenn was close to escaping for the first point
of the match but Shober took Glenn back to the mat and recorded three
nearfall points. Shober then added three more backpoints, taking the
6-1 lead into the third period. The Wildcat added an escape, a takedown
and 1:49 of riding time for the major decision.
Kaleb Friedley
was back in the lineup for Northwestern at 149 lbs. and took on No. 13
Cole Schmitt. Friedley jumped out to a 5-0 lead with a takedown and
three nearfall points in the first, but Schmitt scored 11 unanswered
for the 11-5 decision.
Third-ranked Jason Welch then recorded
the second fall of the afternoon for Northwestern, pinning Shawn Perry
in 3:41. Welch had the 2-0 lead, with more than two minutes of riding
time heading into the second. He began the third period down, reversed
Perry and recorded the fall in 3:41 to stay a perfect 12-0 on the
season.
Pierce Harger scored the biggest win of the day for the
’Cats with his 4-2 upset of No. 8 Ben Jordan at 165 lbs. Harger had the
first points of the match with a reversal in the second. Jordan escaped
and tied everything up at 2-2 with another escape to begin the third
period, but Harger scored the match-winning takedown with 14 seconds
left to pull off the upset.
No. 8 Lee Munster added another
major decision victory for Northwestern, shutting out Frank Cousins
14-0 with 2:59 of riding time. Wisconsin won its final bout of the
afternoon at 184 lbs. as Timmy McCall pinned Marcus Shrewsbury in 4:06.
No.
20 John Schoen faced Jackson Hein at 197 lbs. and gave Northwestern the
30-9 lead with his 3-2 decision. Both wrestlers traded escapes before
Schoen scored a third-period takedown for the 3-1 lead. Hein added one
more escape but neither wrestler scored in the closing seconds as
Schoen hung on for the win.
No. 19 Mike McMullan closed out the
match on a high note for Northwestern, defeating Cole Tobin 7-3.
McMullan got out to a 4-1 lead in the first with two takedowns, added a
reversal in the second and a point for 2:02 of riding time in the win.
Northwestern
has another challenging weekend on the horizon, facing two of the top
teams in the country in a matter of 48 hours. No. 1 Penn State heads
into Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 13 and then the Wildcats
visit Iowa City to wrestle second-ranked Iowa at 1 p.m., Sunday, Jan.
15.
No. 15 Northwestern 33, Wisconsin 9
125: No. 7 Levi Mele (NU) maj dec Austin Hietpas (UW), 14-1 (4-0 NU)
133: Jameson Oster (NU) pins Shane McQuade (UW), 6:27 (10-0 NU)
141: Colin Shober (NU) maj dec Thomas Glenn (UW), 10-1 (14-0 NU)
149: No. 13 Cole Schmitt (UW) dec Kaleb Friedley (NU), 11-5 (14-3 NU)
157: No. 3 Jason Welch (NU) pins Shawn Perry (UW), 3:41 (20-3 NU)
165: Pierce Harger (NU) dec No. 8 Ben Jordan (UW), 4-2 (23-3 NU)
174: No. 8 Lee Munster (NU) maj dec Frank Cousins (UW), 14-0 (27-3 NU)
184: Timmy McCall (UW) pins Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 4:06 (27-9 NU)
197: No. 20 John Schoen (NU) dec Jackson Hein (UW), 3-2 (30-9 NU)
Hwt: No. 19 Mike McMullan (NU) dec. Cole Tobin (UW), 7-3 (33-9 NU)
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