FARGO -- North Dakota State may not yet be at the level of consistently beating the top 25 teams in Division I wrestling. It’s why hosting an old friend from the NCAA Division II days was probably pretty good timing.
The Bison got bonus-point performances from four weight classes and defeated Northern Colorado 30-7 Sunday afternoon at Scheels Center at Sanford Health Athletic Complex. It evened NDSU’s Big 12 Conference dual mark at 3-3 and 8-5 overall.
The Bison put behind home dual losses to No. 21 Iowa State and No. 18 Pittsburgh with a convincing win at Central Michigan last Thursday. There wasn’t much suspense against the Bears.
ADVERTISEMENT
“We just came in and went back to work,” said Bison junior Cam Sykora. “We worked on the things we needed to improve on, we did a good job with that and won two duals.”
NDSU showed further evidence of solidifying its lineup with Nebraska transfer Luke Weber at 157 pounds. Weber improved to 3-1 in duals, with two of those over nationally-ranked opponents, since being inserted into the lineup this month.
“He’s found some ways to beat some talented kids along the way,” Kish said. “He gave us some spark there in the middle where it was needed. He’s done a nice job and it’s been a great transition for us.”
The sophomore Weber, a four-time high school state champion in Montana, went 26-7 wrestling unattached as a true freshman at Nebraska in 2016-17. He was 19-6 last season.
Sykora recorded his eighth technical fall of the season with a 16-0 domination of Sean Cannon at 133. It was also the 32nd of his collegiate career.
“I just want to go out there and score as many points as I can,” Sykora said. “If a tech comes out of it, then a tech comes out of it.”
It gave the Bison an 8-4 lead after Brandon Metz, at heavyweight, led off with a 6-3 decision. Jaden Van Maanen’s major decision at 149 pounds made it 12-7 and the Bison were on their way.
“It was a good day here today,” said Bison head coach Roger Kish. “I’m really proud of the way the guys came in and the way they competed.”
ADVERTISEMENT
NDSU was without No. 9-ranked Brent Fleetwood at 125, who was held out in what Kish called “trying to balance different opportunities for him to compete to maximize his opportunities.”
In other words, the Bison rested their redshirt senior competing at the lightest weight in college wrestling. Fleetwood is NDSU’s winningest wrestler at 18-3 overall and 10-1 overall.
Weber’s win made it 15-7. Junior Andrew Fogarty took a 12-1 lead in the first period in claiming a technical fall victory at 165. That made it 20-7 and barring a complete collapse meant the Bison will head into Friday’s home dual against Utah Valley with a two-match winning streak.
Junior Cordell Eaton heightened the momentum with a 3-1 overtime win over 17th-ranked Jacob Seely at 197, the final match of the day. Beating a nationally-rated wrestler is not something he thinks about, Eaton said.
“We already had the win so that was helpful for me to go into the match with really nothing to lose,” he said. “Just go out and wrestle the win for myself. It was nice.”
285: Metz, NDSU, dec. Winters, 6-3. 125: Montoya, UNC, dec. Bianchi, 14-4. 133: Sykora, NDSU, tech fall Cannon, 16-0, 5:00. 141: Sandoval, UNC, dec. Degen, 6-2. 149: Van Maanen, NDSU, dec. Rodriguez, 15-4. 157: Weber, NDSU, dec. Robison, 8-2. 165: Fogarty, NDSU, tech. fall Flanagan, 16-1, 4:45. 174: De La Riva, NDSU, dec. Schultz, 10-2. 184: Otomo, NDSU, dec. Robertson, 2-1. 197: Eaton, NDSU, dec. Seely, 3-1, OT.
ADVERTISEMENT
