The one-sided affair started slow for Northwestern, with the Wildcats dropping each of the first three matches of the night. In the 125-pound weight class, No. 10 Sebastian Rivera, who was 19-1 going into Friday night, lost the first match of the night to No. 1 Nick Suriano.
No. 5 Ryan Deakin has been the leader for the Wildcats all year, and once again Friday night he was a bright spot in an otherwise poor team performance. His 9-3 win put Northwestern on the board after falling down 9-0 early.
The Wildcats could not gain momentum from the Deakin win, as they dropped the next two matches to fall down 19-3. No. 17 Johnny Sebastian followed the two losses with a win for Northwestern in a 5-2 decision over high school teammate Joe Grello.
The tough night for the Wildcats ended on a high note with two wins in the two biggest weight classes by Zack Chakonis and Conan Jennings. Both matches were shutouts and showed great resilience for a team that had struggled for the majority of the meet.
Northwestern will look to bounce back when they travel to Iowa City to take on the No. 7 Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday.
We keep fighting. #B1GCatspic.twitter.com/7qVucIpMLv
— Northwestern Wrestling (@NUWrestle) February 4, 2018