NIU splits weekend meets with victory over Eastern Michigan and loss to No. 6 Central Michigan

Publish Date:02/08/2010

By Patrick Tretina

NIU wrestling was busy this weekend with two MAC road match-ups. The Huskies kicked off the weekend with a 21-15 win over Eastern Michigan Friday evening. “We got out to a pretty good start at 125 [pounds],” said NIU head coach Dave Grant. “Our guys came out and they competed hard.” NIU sophomore Izzy Montemayor stormed out of the gate with a speedy pin of Eastern Michigan’s Greg Egbert in 3:24, marking his second straight victory by pin. “Izzy has been wrestling well lately,” Grant said. “He is really starting to come into his own.” The Huskies would drop the next match but follow up with four straight wins by redshirt juniors Vince Castillo and Bryan Deutsch. Castillo would extend his personal win streak to five by defeating EMU’s Corey Phillips at the 141-pound weight class while Deutsch would push his own win streak to seven with a victory over the Eagles’ Aaron Sulzer at 157-pounds. NIU’s redshirt sophomore Scott Penny would clinch the win for NIU with a dominate 11-4 decision over Josh Lewis. “We grinded out some good matches,” Grant said. On Sunday, the Huskies would make the trek from EMU to face off against No. 6 Central Michigan. Once again, Deutsch would get the team off on the right foot by dominating CMU’s Donnie Corby 6-1, extending his streak to eight. Zach Benzio would pick up right where Deutsch left off with a reversal in the third period to steal the win from the Chippewas’ Dillon Kern 9-8 at the 184-pound weight class. After early success, things got ugly quick for NIU as they lost the remainder of their bouts to fall to CMU 29-6. The Huskies’ loss to No. 6 Central Michigan put a blemish on what Grant otherwise considered a successful weekend. “It was a really good performance by our guys.” Grant said. “We were battling and that’s what you want to do this time of year.”