Marshall, MN – The No. 17 Northern State University wrestling team (5-4, 1-3 NSIC) fell to the Southwest Minnesota State University Mustangs (1-3, 1-2 NSIC) 18-14 on Friday night.
 
The Wolves got off to a tough start as Landen Fischer and No. 5 Dayne Morton fell to Hunter Pfantz in a 10-4 decision at 125 and Jackson Stauffacher in an 8-3 decision at 133 respectively. But once again Kenny Jones was the first to get Northern on the board with a technical fall, this time over Justin Sampson at 141 to bring the overall score to 6-5.
 
At 149, Garret Thompson was unable to outmuscle Robert Shields as he lost a 7-2 decision, but James Burks managed to keep it close with a hard fought 3-2 decision over Nathan Moore at 157.
 
However, things got worse before they got better as the Wolves weren't able to win the close battles. Bryan Burnett lost a close 3-1 decision to Jacob Backlund at 165, and Tanner Wiese lost a 5-2 decision to Hayden Voxland at 174, bringing the dual score to 15-8 in favor of the Mustangs.
 
No. 11 Marcus Placide was able to stop the bleeding however, picking up a key 3-1 decision over Cole Hennen to keep the Wolves alive at 184. But Diego Gallegos was unable to defeat Jackson Ryan at 197 in a tense and hard fought 6-5 decision, ending the Wolves' hopes of a dual win.
 
Caleb Lefferdink rounded out the night on a positive note at 285, picking up a close 3-2 decision over Andrew Peterson to close out Northern's road trip.
 
The Wolves picked up three decision victories and one technical fall on the night, but gave up six decisions to the Mustangs.
 
Up next, the Wolves come home to face Upper Iowa. The dual is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. from Wachs Arena on January 17.