YPSILANTI, Mich. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team opened its weekend of two Mid-American Conference matches in three days with a 21-15 victory over Eastern Michigan at Bowen Field House Friday night.
"We got a pretty good head start on these guys, starting at 125," NIU coach Dave Grant said. "We grinded out some pretty good matches. The guys came out to wrestle tonight and they competed hard. It was a good night for us."
Izzy Montemayor got things going for the Huskies, (9-7, 1-2) picking up where he left off last Friday night, recording his second straight pin, disposing of Eastern Michigan's Greg Egbert in 3:24 at 125. EMU won the second match of the night, but Northern Illinois responded by winning the next four matches to take a commanding 18-3 lead.
"Izzy's been wrestling well," Grant said. "He wrestled well last Friday. He's starting to come into his own."
Vince Castillo defeated Corey Phillips at 141 by a 6-3 decision, while senior Dan Ruettiger continued his solid season with a 5-0 victory over David Pienaar at 149. Bryan Deutsch earned a 1-0 decision over the Eagles' Aaron Sulzer at 157 and John Odeen posted a 6-5 decision over Alex Orton at 165.
Eastern Michigan (10-10, 0-3) made things interesting, winning at 174 and 184, closing the deficit to 18-12. However, Scott Penny sealed the win for NIU, scoring an 11-4 decision over Josh Lewis to give the Huskies a 21-12 lead heading into the final match.
