Contact: Emily Zadny, Sports Information Graduate Assistant, 630-637-5302

Results

ELMHURST, Ill. (Jan. 13, 2018) – Giving its starting lineup some rest and recovery time following a tough two weeks of competition, the No. 14-ranked North Central College wrestling team returned to Elmhurst College to use the Al Hanke Invitational as an opportunity for the reserves to shine, placing second at the tournament on Saturday.

While the host college placed first with 117.5 points and five first-place individual finishes, North Central (9-2, 2-0 CCIW) showed their depth with a second place finish and team score of 105.5 points. The Cardinals also placed ten wrestlers in the top six in their respective weight classes. Among the field were No. 24 Millikin University, placing fifth with 59.5 points, and No. 23 University of Chicago, placing seventh with 54 points.

At the 149 weight class, Rafael Roman made a statement in the first round, pinning Emmanuel Rankine of Adrian College in 1:49. Roman would earn his second win by fall for the tournament, taking down Liam Hannion from Joliet Junior College at the 6:02 mark in his next match.

Advancing to the championship match, Roman battled against Josh Lawson from Elmhurst, but ultimately dropped the 5-4 decision to finish second.

Emonte Logan began his match at 285 in similar fashion, pinning teammate Jon Czernek at the 1:24 mark. He went on to win by an 11-6 decision over Chris Calvin from Triton College in the semifinals to advance to the championship match.

His momentum would stop there, unfortunately, as Zachary Rieger of Adrian came away with a close 4-2 win by decision over Logan to take first. Czernek finished sixth.

Despite dropping his first match to Hunter Lajiness of Henry Ford College at 125, Shuji Mizoguchi pinned Jacob Bryson of Joliet at 4:38 to regain momentum. He went on to win by a 19-4 technical fall over Matt Saldana of Concordia University-Wisconsin, gearing up for the third place match, which pitted him against teammate Justin Mitchell. Mizoguchi pinned Mitchell in 46 seconds to end the match and claim third place while Mitchell finished fourth.

Michael Bikulcius also started off strong for North Central at 133 pounds, taking down Preston Makoutz from Milwaukee School of Engineering in 5:56. Though he would fall to Joliet's Vinny Piunti, he came back to win by an 8-0 major decision over Mike Aguierre of Joliet and claim a second win by major decision over Darron Sims of Harper College, defeating his opponent 14-6.

Bikulcius would take the next match by medical forfeit to advance to the third place match where he found himself on the mat with Piunti once again. This time, Bikulcius came away the victor, defeating Piunti by a 12-6 decision and place third.

Danny Harris finished fourth at 165 pounds while Cameron Hayes defeated Dominic Mancina from Henry Ford for fifth place at 165. Evan Stingily also placed fifth at 184 after pinning Zach Stefanich from Milwaukee School of Engineering in 27 seconds and Eric Hominac finished sixth at 174 pounds.

Traveling to No. 25-ranked Wheaton College on Tuesday, Jan. 16, the Cardinals are looking to continue their winning streak in College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin (CCIW) duals against the Thunder. Matches begin at 7 p.m.