Just more than five minutes into Pat Castillo’s second match, the scoreboard symbolized how the NIU wrestling team fared Saturday.

The scoreboard read a score of 10 to 8. Normally, that would signal a close match in the third period. The problem is, it should have read 20 to 8.

However, the scoreboard at Victor E. Court only goes to 19.

Castillo ended up defeating University of Findlay’s Jan Ulinski by a technical fall, 29-11, just a couple of hours after pinning Buffalo’s Joe Wilson.

“I saw that for a second, so I was a little confused, but I knew I didn’t have 10,” said Castillo, who is currently ranked No. 12 in the nation. “It was a good day. I’m always trying to help the team out and get bonus points.”

The two wins on the day improved Castillo’s record to 14-5 on the season.

The Huskies (5-3 overall, 1-0 MAC) won both meets Saturday by a combined score of 57-18, defeating Buffalo (7-4-1, 0-1) 25-12 in their conference opener and Divison–II Findlay University (6-9) 32-6. NIU finished the day with three pins and two technical falls.

“You get a couple pins in a dual meet, it’s gonna be hard to come back and beat you,” NIU head coach Dave Grant said.

As lopsided as each final score ended up, the day didn’t go without drama.

Down 1-0 to Buffalo’s Andrew Stella, ranked No. 4 in the MAC, and with 35 seconds left, Tristen DeShazer gained five points on a reversal and near fall in a span of 15 seconds, and defeated Stella 5-1.

“That was a big win,” DeShazer said.

“He’s pretty good on his feet with takedowns,” Grant said. “It showed a lot of guts on his part to be able to come back and turn that match around.”

The Huskies head back to the mat Friday at Ohio. They return to Victor E. Court Jan. 25 when they face No. 24 Northern Iowa.

Winners
NIU 25, Buffalo 12
125­-Wunnicke (NIU) dec. Bishop 3-1.
133-P. Castillo (NIU) pinned Wilson 2:29.
141-DeShazer (NIU) dec. Stella 5-1.
149-Needle (Buffalo) dec. Knull 5-4.
157-O’Connor (NIU) maj dec. Cummings 14-4.
165-Linczmaier (NIU) pinned Rendos 4:22.
174-Burk (NIU) dec. Ragusa 5-1.
184-Moran (Buffalo) dec. Dieckhaus 9-5.
197-Hamel (Buffalo) dec. Smith 3-2.
285-Parker (Buffalo) dec. Benner 3-2.

NIU 32, Findlay 6
125-Wunnicke (NIU) pinned Shumaker 2:57.
133-P. Castillo (NIU) tech fall Ulinski 29-11.
141-V. Castillo (NIU) dec. Falk 8-1.
149-Knull (NIU) maj dec. Vazquez 13-0.
157-Guerra (Findlay) dec. O’Connor 1-0.
165-Linczmaier (NIU) dec. Shannon 13-6.
174-Burk (NIU) tech fall Havelka 21-5.
184-Smith (Findlay) dec. Dieckhaus 5-4.
197-Smith (NIU) dec. Hamel 9-4.
285-Benner (NIU) dec. Clark 3-2.

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