Contact: Drew Sauer, Assistant Sports Information Director, 630-637-5324

Results

Jan. 8, 2019 – Scoring wins in seven of the 10 matches on the evening, the North Central College men's wrestling team took down Elmhurst College, 27-9 on Tuesday in front of a raucous home crowd, securing the Battle for the Birds' Nest trophy for the third-straight season.

Starting the action at 125 pounds, Moe Mitchell gave North Central an early 4-0 lead after toying with Justin Hames to win by major decision 22-8.

After a tight 4-3 decision at 133 cut the Cardinal lead to just one, Marc Fleenor fought off Jimmy McAuliffe for a 5-3 decision ahead of Anthony Rink who scored a 20-4 technical fall over Joe Rongaus at 149 to increase the North Central lead 12-3.

Another win by decision at 157 for Elmhurst trimmed the lead 12-6, Danny Harris secured those points right back with a 6-2 decision over Howie Olson at 165. 

Holding a 15-9 advantage in the match after 174 pounds, Cody Baldridge gave the Cardinals some much needed momentum with an absolute grind of a match with Mark Miller, finally clawing out a 3-2 victory after four overtime periods featuring 11 minutes on the mat.

Tyler Vittal proceeded to increase the lead even further with a 11-4 decision over Dominic Gallo at 197, before Audel Ochoa ended the match in style, sticking Zach Dixon just 2:12 into the first round, scoring six team points to finish off the Bluejays, 27-9.

North Central will now travel to Elmhurst for the Al Hanke Invitational on Saturday, Jan. 12, with matches slated to begin at 9 a.m. inside R.A. Faganel Hall.