Contact: Adam Poklop, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Results

Jan. 21, 2020 –The North Central College men's wrestling team celebrated its seniors in style on Tuesday Night, capturing a 39-8 victory over 23rd-ranked Millikin University to cap off three-straight seasons of undefeated College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) competition.  

North Central (12-4, 6-0) and Millikin (18-6, 1-2 CCIW) met in Louisville, Ky. at the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) National Duals less than two weeks ago, where the Cardinals handed the Big Blue a 45-0 loss. Millikin entered the night looking to flip the script, but North Central dominated once again, winning eight of ten total matches. 

Robert Precin, the fourth-ranked 125-pound wrestler in Division III, put the Cardinals up 4-0 by delivering a 13-4 major decision, his fifth such victory of the season.Next, Ian Mullen collected six easy points for the Cardinals, as Millikin forfeited at 133-pounds. Marc Fleenor had no trouble keeping the momentum going for the Cardinals, delivering a major decision (12-2) over Nick Sablan after narrowly missing out on a pin. 

The 149-lbs match saw Anthony Rink follow suit, picking up a 13-2 major decision over Peter McCusker to push North Central's lead to 18-0. Rafael Roman recorded the Cardinals' first pin of the night, downing Jessie Ellis in three minutes and forty-six seconds. 

Now leading 24-0 at the midway point of the meet, Jacob Boumans faced a challenging matchup at 165-pounds, squaring off against fifth-ranked Bradan Birt, a two-time NCAA Division III All-American. Boumans battled hard, but ultimately fell by way of tech fall to Birt, 19-4 (4:47).

The Cardinals took the loss in stride and quickly quieted the Big Blue by sweeping the next three matches. At 174-pounds, Eric Hominac put up 15 points against Scott Bauer, before ending the match with a second-period pin (3:54). Cody Baldridge had no trouble outlasting AJ Fox in the 184-pound match for a 6-1 decision and his 20th win on the season. Ben Bergen tacked on six more points with a pin against Ryder Marshall (6:36), his sixth pin of the season. 

Millikin found three points in the night's final match, as Cameron Martin dropped his season debut match to Frank Tomaskovic in a close 3-1 decision. 

Tuesday's match marks the 18th-straight conference dual meet the Cardinals, as the team wraps up its dual meet action for the season. North Central's three pins in the match pushes the season total to 97 and closer to the program record of 116, set last year. 

No. 23-ranked North Central is idle until the team travels to Wheaton College for the Pete Willson Invitational, held Jan. 31-Feb. 1 at King Arena. 

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