After losing four of the first five matches, #13 Northwestern (5-1) won the final five matches to post a 26-13 victory over the 19th-ranked Hofstra Pride (3-4-1) in the consolation round of the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals at the University of Northern Iowa Saturday evening.
The Wildcats took an early 5-0 lead on a tech fall (16-1) by senior John Velez over Pride freshman Jon Fennell (0-4) at 125 pounds. The Pride lost a point that they hadn't gained yet on a team penalty after the match. But Hofstra senior Ricky LaForge (8-2) posted his first dual match win of the season with a 6-0 victory over senior Daniel Quintela at 133 pounds to close the deficit to 5-2.
Hofstra's 15th-ranked sophomore Charles Griffin (14-4) tied the match at 5-5 with a 6-1 decision over freshman Marty Gould. Senior Jon Masa (17-5), ranked third this week, gave the Pride their first lead of the match at 10-5 with a 19-1 tech fall (6:34) over senior Jimmy Kim at 149 pounds. Junior James Strouse, ranked 17th, boosted the Hofstra lead to 13-5 with a 6-3 win over sophomore Greg Hagel at 157 before the Wildcats rallied.
Hofstra junior Chris Vondruska went to overtime for the second straight time at 165 on Saturday, this time against Wildcat graduate student Will Durkee, who pulled out a takedown with four seconds remaining in the third period to send the match into overtime tied at 3-3. Durkee's escape in the second tie-breaker gave him a 4-3 win and closed the match deficit to 13-8.
The battle at 174 pounds featured two Top 5 wrestlers in Northwestern's second-ranked Jake Herbert and the Pride's fourth-ranked Mike Patrovich. The Hofstra senior posted an early takedown but the undefeated Herbert (19-0) caught Patrovich (16-2) for a takedown and the pin at 2:05of the first period to give the Wildcats a 14-13 lead in the match. Northwestern sophomore Mike Tamilow boosted the lead to 17-13 with a 6-4 decision over sophomore Joe Rovelli (15-6) on a reversal with less than 30 seconds remaining in the third period.
In a fierce battle at 197, Northwestern senior Matt Delguyd held off junior Chris Weidman (9-2) 4-2 to give the Wildcats a seven point lead heading into the final match. In the battle of the heavyweights, Northwestern sophomore Dustin Fox pinned junior Jon Andriac (12-10) in 2:38 to close out the scoring.
NorthwesternUniversity26, HofstraUniversity 13
125 John Velez (NWU) tech fall John Fennell (Hofstra) 16-1
133 Ricky LaForge (Hofstra) dec. Daniel Quintella (NWU) 6-0
141 Charles Griffin (Hofstra) dec. Marty Gould (NWU) 6-1
149 Jon Masa (Hofstra) tech fall Jimmy Kim (NWU) 18-1 (6:34)
157 James Strouse (Hofstra) dec. Greg Hagel (NWU) 6-3
165 Will Durkee (NWU) dec. Chris Vondruska (Hofstra) 4-3 (TB2)
174 Jake Herbert (NWU) pinned Mike Patrovich (Hofstra) 2:05
184 Mike Tamillow (NWU) dec. Joe Rovelli (Hofstra) 6-4
197 Matt Delguyd (NWU) dec. Chris Weidman (Hofstra) 4-2
285 Dustin Fox (NWU) pinned Jon Andriac (Hofstra) 2:38
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