Wrestling Drops Barnburner to No. 19 North Dakota State

USAFA, Colo. – The Air Force Academy wrestling team grabbed an early lead, but could not hang on in a tough 23-14 dual defeat to No. 19 North Dakota State in Big 12 action Sunday afternoon, Dec. 9, inside Clune Arena.

The Falcons (1-2, 1-1 Big 12) won the first three matches, including one via pin, but NDSU (4-1, 2-1 Big 12) won six out of the last seven matches to steal away the win. The big pin came courtesy of freshman Kayne Hutchison in his Air Force dual debut, and it came in just 31 seconds.

Action started at 184 lbs. as junior Tyler Wiederholt picked up his first dual win of the season with a 4-2 decision. He was taken down in the first, but earned his escape to make it 2-1. In the second he started bottom, and worked a reversal to lead 3-2 after two. In the third, he rode out the period, and NDSU was hit with a stalling, to make it 4-2, and give Air Force the initial lead.

At 197 lbs., senior co-captain Anthony McLaughlin had a whale of a match against No. 20 Cordell Eaton. The duo, meeting for the fourth time in their careers, went back and forth, eventually leading to a 4-4 tie after regulation. In sudden victory, McLaughlin turned a scramble into a takedown, with nearfall, to clinch the thrilling 10-4 win. McLaughlin moves to 7-0 on the season, and 3-0 in duals.

Immediately after that, Hutchison needed just 31 seconds to pin No. 24 Brandon Metz, sending the crown into a fury as he gave Air Force a solid 12-0 lead as the dual went back to the top.

NDSU countered back with back-to-back wins with nationally ranked wrestlers at 125 and 133 lbs. to get back to within 11-7 at the intermission. During the 133 lbs. match, the Air Force bench with hit with a misconduct penalty, which deducted one team point.

After intermission, junior Garrett O'Shea got the Falcons back in the win column with a 6-2 decision. Despite giving up the riding time point, O'Shea used two takedowns and a two nearfall to grab the win, and put Air Force up 14-7 with four matches to go.

From there, NDSU was able to win two tight matches at both 149 and 157 to get to within one, 14-13, with two to go. A pin from nationally ranked Andrew Fogarty at 165 gave the Bison its first lead of the day, 19-14, going into 174. Despite being within striking distance, NDSU finished off the match with a major decision to take the bout by the 23-14 final.

The Falcons are now done with competition in 2018, as they return to the mats on New Year's Day for the 2019 Southern Scuffle, which will go both Tuesday, Jan. 1, and Wednesday, Jan. 2. The Chattanooga, Tenn. based event will pit AF against some of the top teams in the country.

No. 19 North Dakota State 23, Air Force 14
184: Tyler Wiederholt (AF) over Tyler McNutt (NDSU) (Dec 4-2)
197: Anthony McLaughlin (AF) over No. 20 Cordell Eaton (NDSU) (SV 10-4)
HWT: Kayne Hutchison (AF) over No. 24 Brandon Metz (NDSU) (Pin 0:31)
125: No. 8 Brent Fleetwood (NDSU) over Sidney Flores (AF) (Dec 5-0)
*133: No. 15 Cam Sykora (NDSU) over John Twomey (AF) (MD 13-2)
141: Garrett O'Shea (AF) over Gavin Sutton (NDSU) (Dec 6-2)
149: Jaden Van Maanen (NDSU) over No. 24 Alec Opsal (AF) (Dec 4-1)
157: Nick Knutson (NDSU) over Alex Mossing (AF) (Dec 8-6)
165: No. 13 Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) over Marcus Amico (AF) (Pin 2:03)
174: Lorenzo De La Riva (NDSU) over Randy Meneweather (AF) (MD 12-2)

*Air Force bench misconduct, minus one team point

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