The #8 Upper Iowa wrestling team suffered their first loss in Northern Sun Conference action tonight at #2 St. Cloud State University.  The Huskies claimed wins in nine of the ten matches including a pair of wins by fall and a tech fall to post a 35-3 victory and earn at least a share of this year's NSIC Championship.  With the loss, the Peacocks fall to 14-2 overall and 7-1 in the conference.
 
The dual began at 184 pounds where Uthman Rabiu (#8 NWCA) edged Dalton Westerlund 5-4 behind a pair of takedowns.  V.J. Giulio made it 6-0 in favor of the home team with a 7-3 win over Ryan Parmely at 197 pounds.  Austin Georgen made it 11-0 for the Huskies with a 16-0 tech fall at heavyweight over Avery Jacobs.
 
Maleek Williams took an early 6-0 lead with a takedown and four nearfall points at 125 pounds against Tim Prescott (#1 NWCA) and nearly got the pin, but Prescott battled back to take a late 8-7 lead and then finished the match with a pin just seconds before the final buzzer.
 
UIU's lone win of the evening came at 133 pounds when Mitch Funk scored three takedowns on the way to an 8-3 win over Jarred Oftedahl.  Jordan Roths tried to keep the momentum in UIU's corner at 141 pounds, but a takedown with just a second left in the first sudden victory period gave Matt Nelson a 3-1 decision and SCSU a 20-3 lead.
 
Jay Hildreth (#5 NWCA) claimed a 10-3 decision over Damian Penichet at 149 pounds.  At 157 pounds, two of the NSIC's best got together when Jordan Rinken faced off against Larry Bomstad (#6 NWCA).  Bomstad scored a takedown at the end of the first period and scored an escape from Rinken before a minute of ride time was gained by the UIU grappler.  Trailing 3-0, Rinken chose a neutral starting position to open the third period; he scored an escape late in the period, but there was not enough time left to rack up a ride time point to tie the match.  Rinken cut Hildreth for an escape and tried to get a tying takedown, but couldn't get the two points and lost 4-2.
 
St. Cloud State took the final two matches of the night with a fall at 165 pounds when Clint Poster (#1 NWCA) caught Zak Benitz (#5 NWCA) in a cradle coming out of a scramble and Clayton Jennissen took advantage of early takedowns of Colbey Vance to score a 10-4 decision.
 
Upper Iowa will now head back to the wrestling room for the next two weeks in preparation for the NCAA Super Region III Championships in Sioux Falls, S.D. on Saturday and Sunday, Feb. 27-28. 
 
#2 St. Cloud State 35 - #8 Upper Iowa 3
184: #8 Uthman Rabiu (SCS) over Dalton Westerlund (UPIO) (Dec 5-4) 
197: VJ Giulio (SCS) over Ryan Parmely (UPIO) (Dec 7-3) 
285: #5 Austin Goergen (SCS) over Avery Jacobs (UPIO) (TF 16-0 3:00) 
125: #1 Tim Prescott (SCS) over Maleek Williams (UPIO) (Fall 6:59) 
133: Mitch Funk (UPIO) over Jarred Oftedahl (SCS) (Dec 8-3) 
141: Matt Nelson (SCS) over Jordan Roths (UPIO) (SV-1 3-1) 
149: #5 Jay Hildreth (SCS) over Damian Penichet (UPIO) (Dec 10-3) 
157: #6 Larry Bomstad (SCS) over Jordan Rinken (UPIO) (Dec 4-2) 
165: #1 Clint Poster (SCS) over Zak Benitz (UPIO) (Fall 3:43) 
174: Clayton Jennissen (SCS) over Colbey Vance (UPIO) (Dec 10-4)