NDSU Comeback Falls Short at Heavyweight, Bison Lose to No. 20 UNI, 21-15

FARGO, N.D. - The No. 25-ranked North Dakota State wrestling team found itself down 14-4 through five matches against No. 20 Northern Iowa on Sunday, but NDSU gave the Bison Sports Arena crowd plenty of reason to stick around.

The Bison rallied to within 18-15 going into the heavyweight bout, but a 4-1 decision by Northern Iowa's Blayne Beale over Evan Knutson was enough to give the Panthers a 21-15 dual victory.

With the heavyweight match tied at 1-1 and only 35 seconds remaining, Knutson lifted Beale and nearly threw his nemesis for a takedown, but Beale kept his feet and scored a takedown of his own to seal the 4-1 decision with riding time.

Northern Iowa (8-3) won six of the 10 matches and tallied three major decisions. Trent Sprenkle (125), Steven Monk (165) and Kallen Kleinschmidt (197) all won major decisions for the Bison.

Sophomore Kurtis Julson posted a 3-2 decision over No. 19-ranked Cody Caldwell at 174 pounds.

Sprenkle scored an 11-2 major decision over Ryan Jauch at 125 pounds for his 97th career victory to open the dual. UNI rattled off four straight wins, including major decisions by No. 13 Joey Lazor at 141 pounds and David Bonin at 157 pounds.

No. 6 Steven Monk improved to 15-0 in duals for the Bison this season with a dominant 14-1 major decision over Jarrett Jensen at 165 pounds. Monk is now 45-6 in his last 51 matches.

Julson used a takedown with 33 seconds remaining in the third period to knock off the No. 19-ranked Caldwell, 3-2. No. 6 Ryan Loder recorded a 10-0 major decision over NDSU's Mac Stoll at 184 pounds to set the margin at 18-11, but Kleinschmidt responded with a 12-3 major decision of his own at 197 pounds to keep the Bison hopes alive.

The dual was NDSU's eighth of the season against a ranked opponent.

NDSU (7-8, 2-0 WWC) hosts two Western Wrestling Conference duals in the Bison Sports Arena next weekend. The Bison host Utah Valley on Friday, Feb. 8, at 7 p.m. and Northern Colorado on Sunday, Feb. 10, at 2 p.m.