Despite a strong start and impressive performance from No. 30 Eddie Enright, Northwestern (3-4, 1-3 Big Ten) couldn’t contain No.17 Rutgers (8-4, 2-2 B1G), suffering a 30-10 loss at Welsh-Ryan Arena Friday
night. This defeat marks the end of the most difficult part on the ’Cats schedule, as they came up winless in their stretch against three ranked teams.
The meet began on a high note, as Enright put together the highest ranked victory of his career. He did so against Lenny Pinto, who InterMat ranked the No. 12 wrestler in his weight class. The match was contentious from the start as both wrestlers exchanged takedowns early. Enright emerged from the first period with a 6-3 lead, and he never looked back. The sophomore Wildcat did not concede another point to Pinto the rest of the game. Enright rode two separate takedowns in each of the next two periods, along with bonus points and the riding time point, to finish with a resounding 14-3 victory over arguably the best wrestler on Rutgers’ squad.
NU couldn’t carry the momentum from Enright’s statement win, as the ‘Cats lost the next three matches. No.25 Dedrick Navarro snapped the losing streak with a 6-3 comeback victory by decision. He faced off against N0.27 Ayden Smith, who initially took an advantage but had Navarrro cut his lead to 3-1 after the first three minutes. During the second period, Navarro quickly escaped and registered a takedown to take a 5-3 lead. The match remained close to the end, with neither wrestler able to hit an attack in the third period. It ended with a decision victory for Navarro, marking his second win against a top-30 wrestler in the past two weeks.
After losing in the 133 lbs matchup, the ‘Cats third victory came at 141 lbs, with No.32 Billy Dekraker shutting out Tahir Parkins in a 4-0 win by decision. Dekraker had a takedown with less than 30 seconds remaining in the first period to open the scoring, and increased his lead to four points after a strong second period sparked by a quick escape from the bottom. That was all Dekraker needed to walk away with his third conference win of the year.
While the ‘Cats were defeat in the 149, 157 and 165 pound categories, this was Northwestern’s most competitive performance against a ranked team during the gauntlet stretch, bringing the team some momentum as it embarks east next weekend for road matchups against Michigan and Michigan State, on Jan. 30 and Feb. 1 respectively.
