Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Michigan State -- Alumni Weekend
Wildcats Roll Over Spartans in Big Ten Opener, 31-6
1/23/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 23, 2009
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 19 Northwestern won seven of the first eight bouts contested and tacked on one more after that on its way to a decisive 31-6 victory in its opening Big Ten match of the season against Michigan State at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Wildcats Jake Herbert (184) and Brandon Precin (125) both won their 19th matches of the season via pins for Northwestern.
Northwestern improves to 8-3 in dual competitions this season.
Andrew Nadhir got Northwestern off to an auspicious start at 149 against Michigan State's David Cheza. Nadhir collected three first-period takedowns and controlled the match the rest of the way, narrowly missing a major decision with a 12-5 win.
Next up for the 'Cats was freshman Jason Welch at 157, who upped his dual record this season to 8-1 with a workman-like 6-0 victory against MSU's Anthony Jones. After a scoreless first period, Welch picked up an early takedown in the second period and built up a significant riding time advantage on his way to the shutout win. After the Spartans' closed the team score to 6-3 after the 165-pound bout, NU's Robert Kellogg collected his 10th win of the year, a 3-2 decision against Ian Hinton that gave the Wildcats a six-point lead once again.
That margin would be doubled in a hurry, however, with Herbert next on the mat for Northwestern. Herbert came out aggressively against the Spartans' Nick Palmieri, scoring a takedown just seconds into the match. He would need only 2:26 to seal the deal and notch his team-best 12th fall of the year.
NU knew that the next two bouts would be critical in deciding the final outcome of the match, and John Schoen and Ben Kuhar both answered the call for the 'Cats. Schoen's match was never in doubt after the early portion of the second period as he secured a 7-3 decision while Kuhar impressed the Wildcat faithful with an 11-3 handling of MSU's Alan O'Donnell that put NU in the driver's seat with a 22-3 lead.
Precin amassed an 8-1 advantage through the first three periods before ending his match against Eric Olanowski with a pin at the 5:18 mark. NU's Eric Metzler then squared off against the nation's top-ranked 133-pounder, Franklin Gomez, and performed well but dropped a 13-7 decision.
No. 16 Keith Sulzer finished the night on a positive note for NU, racking up 4:02 of riding time throughout his 7-0 defeat of the Spartans' Joel Trombley. Sulzer is now 14-4 this year.
Alumni Weekend continues at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 2 p.m. Sunday when No. 15 Wisconsin, which dropped a 24-12 decision to the top-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes Friday night in Iowa City, visits Northwestern.
Northwestern 31, Michigan State 6
149: A. Nadhir (NU) dec. D. Cheza (MSU), 12-5 3-0 NU
157: J. Welch (NU) dec. A. Jones (MSU), 6-0 6-0 NU
165: R. Kendle (MSU) dec. F. Battaglia (NU), 4-0 6-3 NU
174: R. Kellogg (NU) dec. I. Hinton (NU), 3-2 9-3 NU
184: J. Herbert (NU) fall N. Palmieri (MSU), 1:26 15-3 NU
197: J. Schoen (NU) dec. T. Dickenson (MSU), 7-3 18-3 NU
285: B. Kuhar (NU) MD Alan O'Donnell (MSU), 11-3 22-3 NU
125: B. Precin (NU) fall E. Olanowski (MSU), 5:18 28-3 NU
133: F. Gomez (MSU) dec. E. Metzler (NU), 13-6 28-6 NU
141: K. Sulzer (NU) dec. J. Trombley (MSU), 7-0 31-6 NU
