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Adam Poklop, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302
Results
LAS VEGAS (Dec. 22, 2019) – Traveling across the country for the Wartburg College Desert Duals, the tenth-ranked North Central College men's wrestling team had a tough go against a pair of nationally-ranked programs, but the Cardinals were able to come away from their final 2019 competition with a 41-5 rout over Trine University.
North Central opened the day with a matchup against the No. 9-ranked University of Wisconsin-La Crosse Eagles, who leaped to a 9-0 lead after sweeping the 125-pound, 133 and 141 matches. At 149-lbs,
Anthony Rink halted the Eagles' momentum by coming through with a major decision over Sam Wenzel (18-4). But Wisconsin-La Crosse didn't miss a beat and took the next three matches with a pin and pair of decisions to stretch its lead to 21-4. The Cardinals mounted a comeback and won the final three contests, with
Cody Baldridge (184) and
Jason Nako winning by decision (11-6 and 5-3, respectively), while
Jason Nako recorded a pin one minute and 53 seconds into the 285-pound match. Unfortunately, the surge proved to be too little too late for North Central, coming up short to the Eagles, 15-21.
The Cardinals' second match proved to be their toughest of the day, pitting them against the No. 1-ranked Wartburg College Knights, who sport seven nationally-ranked. The Wartburg match got off to an identical start to the last as North Central surrendered the first three matches, before Rink stepped up to stop the bleeding. The senior bested Brady Fritz—a 2019 All-American and the fifth-ranked wrestler in the nation—with a 5-4 decision. After dropping the 157-lbs and 165-lbs matches,
Brock Montford picked up three team points with an 8-6 decision over Paul Calo, the eighth-ranked wrestler at 174-lbs in the nation.
Jason Nako (285-lbs) gave the Cardinals their final victory over the Knights with a 4-1 decision. Wartburg ultimately took the win, 24-9.
After falling in a pair of tough matches, North Central ended its trip on a high note with a 41-5 victory over Trine University.
Enzo Silva kicked off the Cardinal onslaught with a pin 4:41 into his matchup against Anthony Eberle.
Ian Mullen (133-lbs) kept the ball rolling with a tech fall (23-6) and
Marc Fleenor's 141-pound match brought another tech fall for the Cardinals (17-0), before
Anthony Rink continued his strong day by tallying another victory, this time via decison, 7-2. After losing the 157-pound match, North Central took the final five matches over Trine.
Jacob Boumans recorded a pin at 165-lbs (4:24),
Brock Montford took the 174-pound match with a sudden victory, while
Cody Baldridge recorded a 16-3 major decision at 184-lbs. Nako added another victory with an 8-4 decision, and Bergen followed by delivering a pin in the heavyweight match, capping off a 41-5 victory.
A second squad also represented North Central at the meet, battling Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University as well as second teams from Wisconsin-La Crosse and Wartburg. Despite dropping all three matches,
Marcello Macellaio and Gabriel Fitzpatrick collected victories, marking the first victory of the season for Fitzpatrick.
North Central (6-2, 3-0 CCIW) returns to action on Jan. 7 when the team travels to Elmhurst College for the Battle for the Birds' Nest Trophy. The meet is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. inside R.A. Faganel Hall.
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