NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion wrestling team came away with six individual wins against No. 5 Northern Iowa (13-0, 7-0), but the Monarchs came up short 21-19 Sunday afternoon from the Ted Constant Center.
Old Dominion (8-10, 4-4 MAC) wrestlers No. 4-ranked Mecate (141) beat No. 20-ranked Joey Lazor, No. 14-ranked Alexander Richardson (149) picked up his 11th win in his last 12 matches, Tristan Warner (157) did not let up a point in his major decision victory, No. 19-ranked Billy Curling (174) won his seventh match in a row, Jack Dechow (184) beat a returning All-American and Kevin Beazley (197) gave the Monarchs the team lead after winning for the 16th time this year.
ODU trailed early 12-0, but started the slow effort comeback at 141 pounds when Mecate delivered a 10-8 decision win against UNI's No. 20-ranked Joey Lazor. During the match Mecate recorded a takedown and near fall to control the match. He would earn riding time to secure the victory. Mecate improves his record to 25-6 on the year, 7-1 in the MAC and has won eight of his last nine matches.
At 149 pounds, Alexander Richardson finished the second period with a reversal to give him a 2-0 lead on UNI's Tyler Patten. Richardson delivered a near fall and takedown to come away with a 7-4 decision win, which allowed ODU to trim the UNI lead to 12-6. Richardson improves to 23-7 on the year and has won 11 of his last 12 matches (only loss to Missouri's No. 1-ranked Drake Houdashelt).
"The only one I have lost to these last few matches is to the No. 1 kid in the nation," said Richardson, "and I know I'm right there with him. I just have to keep doing what I have been doing."
Old Dominion's 157-pounder Tristan Warner came away with a major decision 9-0 win against Jarrett Jensen. Warner came out fast with a takedown and a 3-point near fall to deliver an early lead. He followed that up with a takedown in the third to earn riding time and win his sixth match in his last seven bouts. Warner finishes 6-2 in the MAC this season.
ODU's No. 19-ranked Billy Curling (174) came out strong with a takedown and led UNI's top-20 ranked Cody Caldwell by a 6-5 score heading into the third period. Curling finished with a third period takedown to earn him the 9-6 decision win. Curling has won his last seven matches and finishes 7-1 in the MAC.
Monarchs 184-pounder Jack Dechow delivered the match of the day with a 5-4 win against UNI's returning All-American and No. 5-ranked Ryan Loder. Dechow quickly got on the board with a takedown in the second period and led Loder 3-1 heading into the third. Halfway into the third period Dechow delivered one decisive takedown to hand Loder his first loss of the season. Dechow is 14-4 and finishes 5-1 in the MAC this year. ODU trailed by just 18-16 afterwards.
"Last week set the tone for this week," said Dechow. "Coach Dolly switched up my style and we took a step back and had to realize the mistakes I was making and get back to something I can use that can beat him, and that's what we did. I have to beat him again going into the MAC and at Nationals so it is a building block mentally."
Kevin Beazley gave the Monarchs the team lead at 19-18 after his 5-3 decision win against UNI's Basil Minto. Beazley got on the board with a takedown in the first period and earned riding time to secure his 16th win of the year.
ODU returns to competition in the MAC Tournament on March 8 in Kent, Ohio.
"Competing in the MAC will give you so many spots you can qualify in the national tournament and I believe the MAC is the second toughest conference in the country," said ODU Head Coach Steve Martin. "We are going to have several opportunities at the MAC tournament for guys that have had great seasons."
Follow @ODUWrestling on Twitter and 'Like' us on Facebook to stay up to date with the latest #ODUWREST news!
Northern Iowa 21, Old Dominion 19
125- #5 Dylan Peters (UNI) fall Brandon Jeske (ODU), 4:47: UNI leads 6-0
133- #1 Joe Colon (UNI) fall Michael Hayes (ODU), 6:12: UNI leads 12-0
141- #4 Chris Mecate (ODU) dec. #20 Joey Lazor (UNI), 10-8: UNI leads 12-3
149- #14 Alexander Richardson (ODU) dec. Tyler Patten (UNI), 7-4: UNI leads 12-6
157- Tristan Warner (ODU) major dec. Jarrett Jensen (UNI), 9-0: UNI leads 12-10
165- #7 Cooper Moore (UNI) fall Devin Geoghegan (ODU), 6:38: UNI leads 18-10
174- #19 Billy Curling (ODU) dec. Cody Caldwell (UNI), 9-6: UNI leads 18-13
184- Jack Dechow (ODU) dec. #5 Ryan Loder (UNI), 5-4: UNI leads 18-16
197- Kevin Beazley (ODU) dec. Basil Minto (UNI), 5-3: ODU leads 19-18
285- Blaize Cabell (UNI) dec. Matt Tourdot (ODU), 7-4: UNI wins 21-19
Attendance: 757