SIUE wrestlers claim first Southern Conference victory

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – SIUE wrestling collected its first Southern Conference victory of the season Saturday, dispatching The Citadel 37-9 at the Bank of Springfield Center.

The event was held in conjunction with the Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation's Jon Davis Open. After collecting a team victory, Northern Illinois topped the Cougars 28-14.

"Overall, we felt better about the way we wrestled," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "We're still not satisfied. We would rather come away with wins, but we're starting to get some of those individual wins back and bonus points. Our shape is a little better."

Dakota Leach (141), Tyshawn Williams (149), Nate Higgins (165) and Christian Dulaney (197) each collected two victories for the Cougars.

Joe Antonelli set the pace early for the Cougars against The Citadel. After Zac Gentzler accepted a forfeit, Antonelli ran SIUE's lead to 12-0 with a 34-second pin over Nicholas Long.

"Joe did a great job," said Spates. "He got his offense going early and picked up the pin."

Leach bested Douglas Gudenburr of the The Citadel 3-1 and picked up SIUE's first win against Northern Illinois, a 15-6 major decision over Anthony Rubino.

Williams followed up with an overtime win against The Citadel's Tyler Buckiso 5-3 and a 19-6 major over Northern Illinois' Nolan Baker.

"Tyshawn had two really tough opponents and came away with a tough overtime win in the first match and got the bonus points in the second match," said Spates.

Higgins provided six team points against The Citadel with a first-period pin over William Curtis in 1:07. Against NIU, Higgins edged Jose Acosta 7-4.

"It's nice to have him back in the lineup and wrestling the way we knew he could," said Spates. "He comes away with three wins for the weekend, including two bonus point wins."

Dulaney accepted a forfeit against The Citadel. In his only match of the day, he earned a first-period takedown and an immediate escape in the third period to defeat Max Ihry 3-2.

SIUE, 3-9 overall, next heads east for a pair of SoCon road matches at Chattanooga (Jan. 19) and Appalachian State (Jan. 21).

"Hopefully we can improve throughout this week and get ready for the end run," added Spates.

SIUE 37 The Citadel 9
125 Zac Gentzler (SIUE) won by forfeit
133 Joe Antonelli (SIUE) pinned Nicholas Long (The Citadel), 0:34
141 Dakota Leach (SIUE) def. Douglas Gudenburr (The Citadel), 3-1
149 Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) def. Tyler Buckiso (The Citadel), SV-1 5-3
157 Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE) def. Rian Burris (The Citadel), 17-6)
165 Nate Higgins (SIUE) def. William Curtis (The Citadel), 1:07
174 Ehtan Phillips (The Citadel) won by forfeit
184 Jacob Godinez (SIUE) def. Michael Lopouchanski (The Citadel), 9-3
197 Christian Dulaney (SIUE) won by forfeit
285 Michael McAleavey (The Citadel) def. Tommy Helton (SIUE), 9-4

Northern Illinois 28 SIUE 14
125 Brock Hudkins (Northern Illinois) def. Zac Gentzler (SIUE), 4-0
133 Alijah Jeffery (Northern Illinois) pinned Joe Antonelli (SIUE), 1:36
141 Dakota Leach (SIUE) def. Anthony Rubino (Northern Illinois), 15-6
149 Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) def. Nolan Baker (Northern Illinois), 19-6
157 Caden McWhirter (Northern Illinois) def. Karsten Van Velsor (SIUE), 2:04
165 Nate Higgins (SIUE) def. Jose Acosta (Northern Illinois), 7-4
174 Quinton Rosser (Northern Illinois) won by forfeit
184 Bryce Gorman (Northern Illinois) def. Bryce Shewan (SIUE), 14-5
197 Christian Dulaney (SIUE) def. Max Ihry (Northern Illinois), 3-2
285 Caleb Gossett (Northern Illinois) def. Tommy Helton (SIUE), SV-1 5-3

Records: SIUE 2-9, Citadel 1-6, Northern Illinois 2-4