Courtesy UNI Athletics Communications –
NORFOLK, Va. – UNI became the only wrestling team to finish the season undefeated (13-0) in Division I with a 21-19 win over Old Dominion.
Four Panthers won their matches, with three earning falls.
It all came down to the final match at heavyweight. It was up to Blaize Cabell to overcome the 19-18 edge ODU earned with wins at 141, 149, 157, 184 and 197 pounds.
An escape and two takedowns gave Cabell the 5-1 lead. Cabell went on to get the 7-4 decision to seal UNI’s perfect season.
Brandon Jeske of ODU struck first in the 125-pound match with a takedown, but Dylan Peters countered with a reversal and earned a point for locked hands to go up 3-2 in the first. Peters gave up the escape to end the first period in a 3-3 tie. Another escape early in the second put Jeske up 4-3, but Peters got his fall in 4 minutes, 47 seconds.
Joe Colon (133 pounds) is the nation’s leader in tech falls. He dominated his match against Michael Hayes, going up 14-1 before getting the fall in 6:12.
Joey Lazor (141 pounds) pulled within one point of No. 4 Chris Mecate, but Lazor was not awarded back points after an official review and lost 9-8. The Panthers would go on to lose the next two, pulling UNI within two team points (12-10).
It was Cooper Moore who got UNI back on the board, pinning Devin Geoghegan, an Iowa Central Community College transfer who won the junior college regionals in 2012-13. Moore (165 pounds) got an early takedown in the first period to go up 2-0. From there, he continued to dominate, going up 12-4 before he earned a fall in 6:38.
Just like UNI, this is Old Dominion’s first full MAC season. The Monarchs are now 4-4 in the MAC, while UNI improves to 7-0.
FINAL RESULTS
125 – No. 6 Dylan Peters (UNI) fall Brandon Jeske (ODU), 4:47
133 – No. 1 Joe Colon (UNI) fall Michael Hayes (ODU), 6:12
141 – No. 4 Chris Mecate (ODU) dec. No. 20 Joey Lazor (UNI), 10-8
149 – Alexander Richardson (ODU) dec. Tyler Patten (UNI), 7-4
157 – Tristan Warner (ODU) maj. dec. Jarrett Jensen (UNI), 9-0
165 – No. 11 Cooper Moore (UNI) fall Devin Geoghegan (ODU), 6:38
174 – No. 19 Billy Curling (ODU) dec. Cody Caldwell (UNI), 9-6
184 – Jack DeChow (ODU) dec. No 5 Ryan Loder (UNI), 5-4
197 – Kevin Beazley (ODU) dec. Basil Minto (UNI), 5-3
285 – Blaize Cabell (UNI) dec. Matt Tourdot (ODU), 7-4
