January 26, 2008

Wrestling Defeats North Dakota State, 21-18

Jan. 26, 2008

Complete Results North Dakota State at Northern Colorado

GREELEY, Colo. - For just the second time since Jack Maughan has been the head coach at the University of Northern Colorado, the wrestling team defeated North Dakota State, doing so Saturday afternoon 21-18. The Bears improve to 4-5 in dual matches and 2-1 in Western Wrestling Conference action, while the Bison fall to 7-8 overall and 1-1 in league.

 

North Dakota State scored the first nine points of the match, getting a fall by Kenny Moendick and a decision by Jacob Bryce at 184 and 197 pounds, respectively.

 

Senior heavyweight Reece Hopkin got the Bears on the board, shutting out Tyler Hemmesch 15-0 for the 9-5 team score. Sophomore 125-pounder Tony Mustari kept things going, winning a 5-3 decision over Eric Hoffman, avenging a pair of losses last year as the Bears pulled within one, 9-8.

 

The Bison were victorious in the next two weight classes, with Eric Sanders winning a 6-5 decision over Blayze Bahe and Gabriel Mooney defeating Richard Lohr 6-4.

 

"I'm very proud of how Blayze Bahe and Richard Lohr finished their matches," said Maughan. You have to win in the third period to win matches and was proud of how they wrestled at the end, even though they didn't win."

 

Junior Daniel Prater held an early lead over Andrey Patselov, but saw it slip away with just 1:07 left on the clock as Patselov recorded a takedown and then a nearfall to lead 7-6. With eight ticks left, Prater got a reversal to win 8-7 and pull NC back within four, 15-11.

 

Next on the mat was Rocco Depaolo, wrestling up a weight class. He lost an 8-2 decision to Adam Aho and the Bears were down again by seven, 18-11.

 

Junior Devan Lewis had a huge day, pinning Mike Quamme in 2:10 after trailing early 2-0 and brought Northern Colorado within one, 18-17. The 10^th and final weight class pitted junior Ryan Johnson against Shannon Fetig. Johnson scored the first two points of the bout on a takedown and never looked back, winning 11-3 for the major decision and a team 21-18 victory.

 

Maughan is now 2-19-1 all-time against his father, North Dakota State coach Bucky Maughan.

 

"I'm happy with how we performed, even in some of the matches where we lost to them," Jack Maughan said. "Ryan Johnson had a great win. He's a good story about a walk-on making good."

 

Northern Colorado will now take 12 days off from competition, returning to the mats on Feb. 8 as the Bears host Utah Valley State in Western Wrestling Conference action. That match is set to begin at 7:00 p.m.