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Team Scores
Final Results

WHEATON, Ill. (Feb. 1, 2020) – A historic two-day performance propelled the North Central College men's wrestling team ahead of 33 other teams at the Wheaton College Pete Willson Invitational, where individual first-place finishers Cody Baldridge and Ben Bergen helped secure the Cardinals' highest finish in program history. 

The Cardinals led a three-way battle for first after Friday, edging 13th-ranked University of Wisconsin-Whitewater by two points and the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire by 2.5 points. The Cardinals would only lengthen their lead on the final day, finishing with 120.5 points to beat out the Warhawks in second with 110 points and 22nd-ranked John Carroll University in third with 102 points. The Blugolds and 16th-ranked Messiah College rounded out the top five finishers with 97 and 88 points, respectively. A total of seven nationally-ranked teams competed in King Arena. 

Baldridge took care of business early, earning a major decision (13-1) in his first match of the weekend followed by a tech fall (25-5, 4:17) to reach the quarterfinals of the 184-pound bracket. There, he battled his way to a sudden victory over David Stevens of Messiah College (6-4), setting up a rematch with seventh-ranked Ben Sarasin of the University of Chicago, whose one loss of the season came at Badridge's hands. An injury forced Sarasin to forfeit and sent Baldridge to the first-place match. 

There he added another victory against a ranked opponent with a 5-1 decision over third-ranked Dylan Roth, a 2019 NCAA Division III All-American from Heidelberg University that entered the weekend undefeated. That decision marked Baldridge's 25th victory of the season. 

North Central's second first-place finish of the weekend came at the follwing weight class, 197-pounds. There, Bergen received a first-round bye before recording a pin over Heidelberg's Da'Veon Parker in one minute and 19 seconds and added another pin in his quarterfinals matchup with Nick Sundberg from Wisconsin-Whitewater, this time in 3:45. Bergen kept the momentum going with a 8-2 decision in the semifinal, leading to a championship victory over Eau-Claire's James Huntley by way of decision, 7-2. The junior's 4-0 performance improves him to 20-5 on the season at 197-lbs, with eight pins. 

Rafael Roman (157-lbs) also fought his way to a first-place match, despite a first-round draw that pitted him against Stephen Maloney of Messiah College, the No. 10 wrestler in the nation. Roman took advantage of the opportunity and grinded out a 5-3 sudden victory to advance to the next round. With the bracket's No. 1 seed out the picture, Roman made quick work of his next two opponents by recording a major decision (10-2) and a tech fall (17-1 7:00) to reach the semifinal. 

Roman defeated Cole Hersch of Olivet College with a 7-5 decision to earn his fourth win of the season, setting up a championship match showdown with sixth-ranked Sam Gross from John Carroll University. Roman put up a good battle but ultimately found himself on the wrong side of a 8-4 decision to finish second.

Enzo Silva came up big for North Central in a highly competitive 125-pound bracket. He opened the weekend with three tight victories, picking up two decisions (1-0 and 4-3, respectively), before defeating Concordia University's Marco Padilla in tie-breaker (3-2) to reach the semifinal. It didn't get easier for the freshman there, facing 2019 NCAA Division III National Runner-Up and third-ranked Mike Tortorice from Wisconsin-Whitewater. Silva fell by decision, 5-0, but kept his weekend alive by earning a 3-2 decision in the consolation semifinals to reach the third-place match. In his sixth and final match of the invite, he earned a 10-6 decision over Messiah's Sean Redington to secure third. He improves to 20-9 on the season with 10 decisions. 

Also coming away with a third-place finish was Anthony Rink at 149-lbs. The senior cruised through his opening matches with a major decision (15-1) followed by a quick tech fall (3:30 18-1), but fell to Eau-Claire's Jake Drexler in the quarterfinals (Dec. 3-1). Determined to make an impact for his team, Rink would win his next four matches after moving to the consolation bracket—and make it look easy. The senior rode three major decisions into the third-place match (16-8, 11-1, and 14-2, respectively), where he won by medical forfeit over Ohio Northern University's Chase Sumner. Rink also picked up his 25th victory of the season (25-6) and now has a team-high nine major decisions is tied for the most tech falls (six). 

Meanwhile, Marc Fleenor turned in a seventh-place finish for North Central at 141-pounds and Isiah Ziegler made his season debut by pinning Adrian's Isaiah Espinoza—ranked fourth by d3wrestle.com—in just fifty seconds. 

North Central is idle until competeting for a third-straight conference title at the 2020 College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) Championships on Feb. 13, to be contested in Decatur, Illinois. 

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