Contact: Matthew Eaker, Sports Information Graduate Assistant,
mreaker@noctrl.edu
Results
DECATUR, Ill. (Jan. 19, 2023) - Traveling southwest of Naperville to Decatur, Ill. for a top-25 matchup, the North Central College men's wrestling team dominated the 19th-ranked Millikin University Big Blue 40-2 inside the Griswold Center to claim the top spot in the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin.
Millikin's Zac Blasioli, the third-ranked wrestler in 125-pounds, kicked off the dual by defeating 15th-ranked Julian Valtierrez by a 5-3 decision to put the Big Blue up 3-0 early. Robert Precin, the top-ranked wrestler in 133-pounds, evened the score at three following a 8-3 decision win over Coby Haney. Bradley Rosen put North Central up 9-3 following a win by injury default at 141-pounds before Charles Dojan gave the Cardinals a nine point lead with a 7-5 win over Peter McCusker in the 149-pound match. Seventh-ranked Alex Villar squared off with ninth-ranked Nathan Callaway in the 157-pound bout and with the match all tied up at zero with 30 seconds remaining and likely heading to overtime, Villar overpowered Callaway to earn the fall.
In the 165-pound bout, Cole Cervantes was trailing Dejon Glaster 3-1 with just under one minute remaining but countered a Glaster headlock, throwing him to the mat and securing the fall to give the Cardinals a 24-3 lead. Casey Aikman battled with Nick White in the 174-pound weight class and defeated White by a 6-3 decision, giving the Cardinals a commanding 27-3 lead. Payton Geigner picked up the Cardinals third and final pin of the night as he defeated Hamzeh Abedalkarim in the 184-pound match before Elijah Brockie dominated Cade Scott, defeating him by a 10-2 major decision. The Cardinals headed into the 285-pound match with a 37-3 lead and Robby Bates finished the night with 1-0 decision win over Leno Campbell. The Cardinals would defeat the Big Blue 40-2, Millikin lost one team point for questioning the official.
The Cardinals (10-3, 6-0 CCIW) have claimed the top spot in the conference heading into the CCIW Duals this weekend at Concordia University (Wis.). This win extends the Cardinals CCIW winning streak to 40 consecutive duals. North Central returns to the mat on Saturday at the CCIW Duals, the will face Milwaukee School of Engineering at 11 am and Concordia University (Wis.) at 3:30 pm inside the John Buck Fieldhouse.
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