USAF ACADEMY, Colo. — North Dakota State University won seven matches including five of the first six to defeat host Air Force 23-10 in a Big 12 Conference dual on Friday, Feb. 10, at the Air Force Academy.
 
NDSU (13-4, 3-2 #Big12WR) is schedule to wrestle at Wyoming (6-7, 3-2 #Big12WR) at 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 12, in Laramie.
 
The Bison won three of the four matches decided by one point. Probably the most important came at 184 pounds where Tyler McNutt recorded a rare 1-0 win over the Falcons' Zen Ikehara. That extended NDSU's lead to 20-7.
 
Following a scoreless first period, McNutt recorded an escape with 50-seconds left, but Ikehara gained 1-minute, 10-seconds of riding time. McNutt was bullish in the third, erased the riding time and kept the top position for the entire period. He improved to 11-11 overall and 8-9 in duals
 
The other two Bison close encounters came at 149 pounds as NDSU's Kyle Gliva built a 5-1 lead but had to hold off Gerald McGinty for a 6-5 decision, and then 285 where Dan Stibral held off Air Force's Parker Hines for a 9-8 win. Gliva improved to 10-4 and 3-2, while Stibral is 8-6 and 2-0.
 
North Dakota State started fast with a pair of major decisions from No. 4-ranked 125 pound senior Josh Rodriguez, 14-3 over Drew Romero, and 133 pound redshirt freshman Cam Sykora, who beat Dylan Hyder 15-2. Rodriguez improved to 19-1 overall and 16-1 in duals, while Sykora stands 12-2 and 10-0.
 
Air Force (5-6, 0-4 #Big12WR) cut the deficit to 8-4 with John Twomey's 11-0 major decision over Taylor Nein. It was the last bonus point decision by either team.
 
Wins from No. 7-ranked 157 pounder Clay Ream and 165 Andrew Fogarty extended the North Dakota State lead to 17-4. Ream rallied from a first period deficit and won 9-3 over Alex Mossing, while Fogarty had nearly five minutes of riding time in a 6-2 decision over Tyler Wiederholt. Ream reached 20 wins for the third straight season at 20-3 overall (15-1 duals). Forgarty is 21-6 and 12-3.
 
#25 North Dakota State 23, Air Force 10
Big 12 Conference Dual
USAF Academy, Colo.
Friday, Feb. 10, 2017
*Dual started at 125 pounds
125 – #4 Josh Rodriguez (NDSU) major dec Drew Romero (AFA), MD 14-3 / Bison 4-0
133 – Cam Sykora (NDSU) major dec Dylan Hyder (AFA), MD 15-2 / Bison 8-0
141 – John Twomey (AFA) major dec Taylor Nein (NDSU), MD 11-0 / Bison 8-4
149 – Kyle Gliva (NDSU) dec Gerald McGinty (AFA), 6-5 / Bison 11-4
157 – #7 Clay Ream (NDSU) dec Alex Mossing (AFA), 9-3 / Bison 14-4
165 – Andrew Fogarty (NDSU) dec Tyler Wiederholt (AFA), 6-2 / Bison 17-4
174 – Michael Billingsley (AFA) dec Dylan Urbach (NDSU), 4-3 / Bison 17-7
184 – Tyler McNutt (NDSU) dec Zen Ikehara (AFA), 1-0 / Bison 20-7
197 – Anthony McLaughlin (AFA) dec Cordell Eaton (NDSU), 9-5 / Bison 20-10     
285 – Dan Stibral (NDSU) dec Parker Hines (AFA), 9-8 / Bison 23-10