SIU Edwardsville wins tiebreaker over Northern Illinois to claim MAC West Division
SIUE was declared the 16-15 winner on criteria after the teams split five matches apiece and SIUE led 42-40 in total individual match points.
DEKALB, Ill. — SIU Edwardsville was declared the winner over Northern Illinois on criteria after a 16-15 tiebreaker was applied Friday, giving the Cougars the Mid-American Conference West Division title.
The teams split the 10 bouts, each recording five wins, and the dual was decided by total individual match points, with SIUE edging NIU 42-40, according to SIUE’s recap.
Several matches were decided in late sequences. Ben Lunn closed his 141-pound bout with a 3-point takedown with four seconds remaining to beat Charles Curtis 9-6 and secure one of SIUE’s narrow margins.
No. 33 Markel Baker of Northern Illinois upset No. 24 Marcel Lopez of SIUE, 4-2; Baker’s third-period 3-point takedown at clock 29 provided the decisive margin. At heavyweight, No. 20 Devon Dawson beat Bryson Buhk 9-7, with a late third-period takedown at clock 30 among the decisive scoring events.
SIUE supplied the other five winning bouts that produced the tiebreaker outcome. Hayden Whidden won 3-1 at 157 after a first-period 3-point takedown. No. 29 Brock Woodcock edged Brett Smith 5-3 at 165; Woodcock opened with a multippoint score and preserved the margin with a third-period escape. Deron Pulliam recorded a 10-4 decision at 184 with two third-period takedowns. Nick Nosler posted a 2-0 decision at 197 on a second-period escape and a riding-time point. Lunn, Whidden, Woodcock, Pulliam and Nosler accounted for SIUE’s five victories.
Northern Illinois’ wins included No. 29 Blake West’s 2-0 decision at 125 and Collin Arch’s 7-3 decision at 149. Tommy Bennett’s 4-1 sudden-victory overtime decision at 174 was settled when he secured a 3-point takedown in the overtime period.
The dual served as the regular-season finale and decided the MAC West Division; SIUE finished the regular season 11-2 and 5-1 in conference duals and will advance to the Mid-American Conference Championships in Buffalo, N.Y., March 6-7, per the host-school release.
The meeting featured multiple close decisions and late scoring sequences that left the outcome to league tiebreakers, with SIUE prevailing on individual-match points.