Feb. 21, 2009

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Dakota Greenhaw is glad to be back, and the Northern Illinois wrestling team is certainly happy to have him.

The redshirt sophomore heavyweight was limited by injury to just five matches this season leading up to Saturday’s Mid-American Conference dual meet with Buffalo. Greenhaw made up for lost time by executing the winning pin in the Huskies’ 21-15 win over the Bulls.

With the meet tied 15-15, Greenhaw (Monett, Mo./Monett) took to the mat to face freshman Brett Correll. The pair went through a scoreless first period, and Correll fought Greenhaw until nearly the end of the second. Greenhaw executed a takedown, and pinned Correll with just two seconds left in the period to give the Huskies their first MAC win of the season.

“There’s a lot of pressure going into that situation, and he did a nice job,” Grant said. “He came out with a serious attitude and came up with a pin. It’s a big win for Dakota and for the team.”

The Huskies took an early lead when 125-pounder Izzy Montemayor (Barrington, Ill./Grant) became the first NIU true freshman to win 20 matches in a season since Ryan Egan accomplished the feat in 1997-98. Montemayor defeated Buffalo’s Dan Bishop 2-1 to reach the milestone.

“He’s a guy that we’ve relied on all year at that weight class, and he’s done a great job for us,” Grant said. “Sometimes it takes guys two or three years to get 20 wins. It just shows you the future of Northern Illinois Wrestling.”

Buffalo tied the match at 3-3 when Kevin Smith bested Tristen DeShazer (Wichita, Kan./West), but Huskie redshirt sophomore Pat McLemore (Hinckley, Ohio/Padua-Franciscan) pinned Mark Lewandowski to boost the Huskie lead to 9-3.

“McLemore came up with a pin, you get those bonus points and those are big swings,” Grant said.

Northern Illinois won two of the next three matches to build a 15-6 lead. At 157 pounds, Bryan Deutsch (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) defeated John-Martin Cannon 8-4, and Huskie 165-pounder John Odeen (Coal City, Ill./Coal City) defeated Ron Majerus, 3-1.

“Bryan Deutsch got his second win in a row, starting to come on at the end of the year,” Grant said. “And John is a redshirt freshman, and it’s always good to see those guys get wins.”

The Bulls answered by winning the next three matches by decision to tie the match 15-15 leading into Greenhaw’s closing victory.

The win gives the Huskies momentum heading into the Mid-American Conference Championships, March 7-8 in Ypsilanti, Mich. All 10 individual MAC Champions, along with four at-large wrestlers determined at the tournament, receive berths to the NCAA Championships.

“It feels good, and the guys were pretty pumped up,” Grant said of the win. “We wanted to get this last one going into the conference championships.”

Northern Illinois 21, University at Buffalo 15
125: Izzy Montemayor (NIU) dec., Dan Bishop (UB), 2-1; NIU leads 3-0
133: Kevin Smith (UB) dec., Tristen DeShazer (NIU), 8-2; Tied 3-3
141: Pat McLemore (NIU) fall, Mark Lewandowski (UB), 4:23; NIU leads 9-3
149: Desi Green (UB) dec., Dan Ruettiger (NIU), 9-7; NIU leads 9-6
157: Bryan Deutsch (NIU) dec., John-Martin Cannon (UB), 8-4; NIU leads 12-6
165: John Odeen (NIU) dec., Ron Majerus (UB), 3-1; NIU leads 15-6
174: Nate Rock (UB) dec., Derrick Yant (NIU), 4-2; NIU leads 15-9
184: Mickey Moran (UB) dec., Brad Dieckhaus (NIU), 6-3; NIU leads 15-12
197: Jimmy Hamel (UB) dec., Scott Penny (NIU), 11-5; Tied 15-15
285: Dakota Greenhaw (NIU) fall, Brett Correll (UB), 4:58; NIU wins 21-15