ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – Victories in the final three weight classes provided the finish that Augustana veteran head coach Eric Juergens was looking for as the Vikings defeated North Central 23-14 in College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin wrestling action on Wednesday, November 16. The match in the Carver Center was close throughout until Augustana pulled off wins at the three heaviest weight classes.
 
North Central led 14-10 following the 174 pound weight class where the Cardinals Matt Marcotte beat Augustana junior Nick Torres (Lincoln-Way Central HS, Manhattan, Ill.) 7-6. The lead changed hands four times in the final minute before Marcotte secured a takedown in the final seconds to give North Central a four point lead.
 
Heading into the 184 pound weight class the Vikings were using freshman Bo Bauer (Olympia HS, Stanford, Ill.), who was bumped up from 174 pounds. Bauer was the aggressor from the start and held an 8-1 lead after just one period in his match against Alex Crowe. He eventually won 11-3 and that tied the match at 14-14.
 
Senior Ethan Benoit (Marist HS, Oak Lawn, Ill.) took a narrow 3-2 win over Vince Pizzo at 197 pounds to vault the Vikings into a 17-14 lead with just the 285 pound weight class left. Sophomore Adarios Jones (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) ended the suspense with a pin of Adrian Wroblewski at 3:58 of the final match of the night.
 
North Central grabbed a 4-0 lead after the first weight class when Anthony Rink beat freshman Trent Jackson (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) 17-9 at 125 pounds. In that match Jackson fell behind 10-0 in the first period before clawing his way back into it.
 
Sophomore Freddy Terranova (Jackson Memorial HS, Jackson, N.J.) evened things up for Augustana with a 12-4 win over Brad Martens at 133. At 141 pounds North Central All-American Layten Binion defeated Viking junior Brendon Gould (Davenport Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) 3-1 to give the Cardinals a 7-4 lead.
 
Augustana senior Matt Sears (Marist HS, New Lenox, Ill.) locked up with Matt McGowan at 149 pounds and prevailed by a narrow 4-3 margin to knot the score at 7-7. The Cardinals went back in front 11-7 when Ben Williamson beat freshman Josh Bush (Moline HS, Moline, Ill.) 14-1.
 
Junior Trace Timmons (Davenport Assumption HS, Davenport, Iowa) beat Cam Hayes 5-2 at 165 pounds to cut the North Central lead to 11-10 heading into 174 pounds.
 
Augustana will not be in action again until December 1 when the Vikings take on Simpson and Central Iowa in a double dual meet in the Carver Center with the first match starting at 6:30 p.m.
 
AUGUSTANA 23, NORTH CENTRAL 14                                                                           NC        A
125 – Anthony Rink (NC) beat Trenton Jackson (A) 17-9                                                                 4
133 – Freddy Terranova (A) beat Brad Martens (NC) 12-4                                                              4
141 – Layten Binion (NC) beat Brendan Gould (A) 3-1                                                                     3/7                  
149 – Matt Sears (A) beats Matt McGowan (NC) 4-3                                                                                  3/7
157 – Ben Williamson (NC) beat Josh Bush (A) 14-1                                                                       4/11
165 – Trace Timmons (A) beats Cam Hayes (NC) 5-2                                                                                3/10
174 – Matt Marcotte (NC) beats Nick Torres (A) 7-6                                                                       3/14
184 – Bo Bauer (A) beats Alex Crowe (NC) 11-3                                                                            4/14
197 – Ethan Benoit (A) beats Vince Pizzo (NC) 3-2                                                                         3/17
285 – Adarios Jones (A) pinned Adrian Wroblewski (NC) @3:58                                                      6/23
 
Records: Augustana 1-0 and North Central 0-3