Four Falls Help 'Cats Beat Spartans, 30-12

1/20/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling

Jan. 20, 2012

Site: Evanston, Ill. (Welsh-Ryan Arena)
Score: No. 18 Northwestern 30, Michigan State 12
Records: No. 18 Northwestern (6-3, 2-3 Big Ten), Michigan State (3-5, 1-3 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Friday, Jan. 29 at No. 6 Illinois • 5 p.m. • Big Ten Network (Live)

EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern got back to its winning ways Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, defeating Michigan State 30-12. The 'Cats won six of 10 bouts with four of those wins coming by fall and scored another big victory at heavyweight as No. 17 Mike McMullan edged No. 10 Mike McClure. With the win, NU improves to 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference while Michigan State falls to 3-5, 1-3.

"We had a lot of falls tonight and yet we have to make a lot of improvements so we'll go back to work tomorrow," Northwestern head coach Drew Pariano said. "Any time there's four guys that don't win, you've got four guys that are very unhappy, so they're going to go back to work tomorrow. We'll correct the technical things. We're looking forward to next weekend."

Northwestern jumped out to a quick 21-3 lead before the break, using three pins in the first five bouts. Freshman Jameson Oster started the fall frenzy for Northwestern at 133 lbs., pinning Brandon Fifield in 3:27. With the match tied 3-3 at the end of the first, Fifield deferred choice for the second. Oster chose bottom and put Fifield on his back 33 seconds into the second for six team points.

MSU then got on the board as Brian Gibbs came back for an 8-6 decision over NU's Colin Shober but Kaleb Friedley put six more points on the board with his first-period pin of Dan Osterman (2:38).

At 157 lbs., No. 3 Jason Welch took on No. 13 Anthony Jones and used more than two minutes of riding time in his 6-3 decision. Jones scored the first takedown of the match and took the 2-1 lead into the second period. Welch then escaped and took Jones down for the 3-2 lead. An escape for Jones and a penalty point awarded to Welch after two stall calls put Welch ahead 4-3 heading into the third. Welch then was awarded another penalty point and remained on top for the entire period to secure the 6-3 win.

Watch Match Highlights

Pierce Harger scored another fall before the break, pinning David Cheza in 3:31, but the Spartans gained some momentum after the intermission winning the next three bouts, all by close decisions.

Northwestern ended the match on a high note though, taking the final two bouts of the evening at heavyweight and 125 lbs. No. 17 Mike McMullan took on his third top-10 opponent in as many matches and defeated No. 10 Mike McClure 3-1. After a scoreless first, McClure took the 1-0 lead with an escape early in the period. McMullan then scored the lone takedown of the match on the edge of the mat to lead 2-1. He then added a third-period escape to hang on for the 3-1 win. McMullan has now defeated top-10 wrestlers in back-to-back matches as he also edged then-No. 8 Bobby Telford of Iowa 7-5 in sudden victory last weekend.

The match then ended just as it began as No. 10 Levi Mele stuck Eric Olanowski with a second period fall (3:29), giving the Wildcats the 30-12 victory.

Northwestern returns to the mat next weekend for two Big Ten duals away from Welsh-Ryan Arena. The 'Cats take on No. 6 Illinois Friday, Jan. 27 in a dual that will broadcast live on the Big Ten Network from Champaign, Ill. NU then takes on Purdue Sunday, Jan. 29 at noon.

No. 18 Northwestern 30, Michigan State 12

133: Jameson Oster (NU) pins Brandon Fifield (MSU), 3:27 (6-0 NU)
141: Brian Gibbs (MSU) dec Colin Shober (NU), 8-6 (6-3 NU)
149: Kaleb Friedley (NU) pins Dan Osterman (MSU), 2:38 (12-3 NU)
157: No. 3 Jason Welch (NU) dec. No. 13 Anthony Jones (MSU), 6-3 (15-3 NU)
165: Pierce Harger (NU) pins David Cheza (MSU), 3:31 (21-3 NU)
174: Curran Jacobs (MSU) dec No. 11 Lee Munster (NU), 3-1 (21-6 NU)
184: Ian Hinton (MSU) dec Robert Kellogg (NU), 7-3 (21-9 NU)
197: Nick McDiarmid (MSU) dec John Schoen (NU), 3-2 (21-12 NU)
Hwt.: No. 17 Mike McMullan (NU) dec No. 10 Mike McClure (MSU), 3-1 (24-12 NU)
125: No. 10 Levi Mele (NU) pins Eric Olanowski (MSU), 3:29 (30-12 NU)

••••••

Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!