Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
Illinois
Mele, Nadhir Notch Wins in Northwestern's 30-6 Defeat to Illinois
1/31/2010 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 31, 2010
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's 14th-ranked Andrew Nadhir won his team-leading 19th match of the season and freshman 125-pounder Levi Mele posted his first career Big Ten dual win, but NU suffered a 30-6 setback against No. 24 Illinois Sunday in Evanston. For Nadhir (149), the dramatic come-from-behind victory over No. 20 Eric Terrazas improved his season dual record to 13-1.
The Wildcats (5-8-1, 0-3 Big Ten) gave themselves a chance to win nearly every match, with Illinois posting only one bonus-point victory and winning three of its decisions by four points or less.
Sunday's match is being aired on same-day tape delay by the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. CT. A complete bout-by-bout recap of the action is below.
197
The meet began with a tight matchup at 197, with NU's John Schoen taking on the ninth-ranked Patrick Bond. Bond's first takedown came in the second period almost off the edge of the mat, but the referee deemed the action to still be in bounds. Leading 3-1 in the third, Bond took control with another takedown and tacked on one more in the final 20 seconds en route to the 7-3 decision.
285
Next up for NU was true freshman Marcus Shrewsbury taking on sophomore Marty Smith at heavyweight. After a Smith escape to start the second, Smith had a good grasp on Shrewsbury's right leg before the Wildcat was able to get free. Less than a minute later, Shrewsbury finished a perfect shot to take a 2-1 lead, but Smith countered with a takedown at the final buzzer of the second period to bring a 4-2 lead into the third.
Shrewsbury escaped to begin the third but surrendered one more takedown with 28 seconds remaining in the match as Smith went on to take a 6-4 decision.
125
Levi Mele squared off with Illinois' John Deneen for the second time this season after Deneen took a major decision off of Mele at the Midlands Championships. The first period was full of close calls, with Mele in on two shots that he was barely unable to finish. Mele was in again in the waning seconds of the period and got his hips on top just as the buzzer was sounding; after a brief consultation between the officials, Mele was awarded the takedown to close the period.
Mele spent the third period erasing Deneen's riding time advantage and looking to score on a tilt. Although Mele could not get the extra points, he came away with his first Big Ten victory by a 3-0 margin and drew NU to within 6-3 in the team score.
133
The 133-pound bout between NU's Eric Metzler and Illinois' Daryl Thomas started with a flurry including a takedown by Thomas and quick reversal by Metzler. In the second period, Metzler was able to secure a 1-minute riding time advantage, but Thomas took Metzler back down to 57 seconds of riding time when Metzler began the third period in bottom position. Trailing 4-3, Metzler took every possible shot on Thomas but could not get hold of a leg and ultimately lost by that same score.
149
In the day's only meeting of ranked wrestlers, NU's 14th-ranked Andrew Nadhir came up against 20th-ranked Eric Terrazas, who got on the scoreboard first with a takedown late in the first period. Nadhir scored on an escape in the second, but not before Terrazas had gained a riding time advantage of 1:13. Opening the third period on top, Nadhir eliminated Terrazas' riding time point before Terrazas scored one more on an escape to go ahead 3-1. With Nadhir needing a takedown, it was instead Terrazas who got a hold of Nadhir's left leg and finished the move to take a 5-1 lead.
Nadhir, however, was not about to go down without a fight and used a combination of grit and strategy to get back in the match. Nadhir scored on an escape and takedown to pull within 5-4. After again erasing his riding time deficit, Nadhir let Terrazas free before promptly taking him down again to even things at six with under 15 seconds remaining. It took only five seconds of the first sudden victory overtime period for Nadhir to score the winning takedown, giving him his 19th win of the season and his third in Big Ten action.
157
After one period, Northwestern freshman Kevin Bialka trailed Clint Arlis of Illinois by a slim 2-0 margin, but Arlis scored two more points on a takedown early in the second and began accumulating a wealth of riding time on the true freshman. In the third, Arlis was successful on a pair of takedown attempts en route to a 9-2 decision.
165
NU's Robert Kellogg took to the mat against Illinois' Conrad Polz, who jumped to a 4-2 lead after one period courtesy of two takedowns. Following an escape to start the third, Polz opened his lead further with two more second-period takedowns. When all was said and done, Polz had posted a 10-4 decision to give Illinois a 21-6 lead in the team standings.
174
Coming off a big win against Trevor Perry of Indiana, Brian Roddy, Jr. met 14th-ranked Jordan Blanton at 174 pounds. Following a takedown by Blanton to open the match, Roddy came back to even things up with a takedown of his own. Blanton was then credited with a late takedown at the first-period buzzer to gain a 5-3 edge, which grew in the second period thanks to two more takedowns. But Roddy put himself in a position to win in the third with his own takedown at the buzzer, pulling to within 9-8. Going for a shot to win, however, Roddy surrendered a final takedown to Blanton, and a late reversal by the Wildcat was not enough to overcome Blanton in a 13-10 loss.
184
Northwestern's Aaron Jones faced a daunting proposition Sunday taking on second-ranked John Dergo of Illinois, who one month ago won a Midlands championship on the mats in Welsh-Ryan Arena. Dergo was determined to end things quickly for Illinois, getting an early takedown of Jones and scoring the fall at the 1:15 mark of the first period in the lone bonus-point win of the afternoon for the Illini.
The Wildcats venture on the road to continue their Big Ten season next weekend when they travel to Penn State on Friday and Ohio State on Sunday. Northwestern's next and final home dual match is set for Sunday, Feb. 21, against Michigan. The match will be aired live by the Big Ten Network at 6 p.m. CT.
No. 24 Illinois 30, Northwestern 6
197: #9 Patrick Bond (UI) dec. John Schoen (NU), 7-3 (UI 3, NU 0)
285: Marty Smith (UI) dec. Marcus Shrewsbury (NU), 6-4 (UI 6, NU 0)
125: Levi Mele (NU) dec. John Deneen (UI), 3-0 (UI 6, NU 3)
133: Daryl Thomas (UI) dec. Eric Metzler (NU), 4-3 (UI 9, NU 3)
141: Vince Vercelli (UI) win by forfeit (UI 15, NU 3)
149: #14 Andrew Nadhir (NU) dec. #20 Eric Terrazas (UI), 8-6 SV (UI 15, NU 6)
157: Clint Arlis (UI) dec. Kevin Bialka (NU), 9-2 (UI 18, NU 6)
165: Conrad Polz (UI) dec. Robert Kellogg (NU), 10-4 (UI 21, NU 6)
174: #14 Jordan Blanton (UI) dec. Brian Roddy, Jr. (NU), 13-10 (UI 24, NU 6)
184: #2 John Dergo (UI) FALL Aaron Jones (NU), 1:15 (UI 30, NU 6)
Players Mentioned
