No. 17 Wrestling Defeats N'Western

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 17 Rutgers wrestling (8-4, 2-2) defeated Northwestern (3-3, 1-3), 30-10, on Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Scarlet Knights worked a 7-3 match split with the Wildcats, including bonus-point victories from No. 14 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (184), No. 16 Remy Cotton (197), No. 20 Andrew Barbosa (165) and No. 27 Dylan Shawver (133).

Cotton picked up his second pin of the season, Shawver added a tech fall and Cartagena-Walsh muscled a major decision. Barbosa won by forfeit, while No. 19 Hunter Catka (HWT), No. 31 Andrew Clark (149) and No. 31 Anthony White (157) all added decisions in the Big Ten Conference road win.

After a loss from No. 12 Lenny Pinto (174) to open the dual, Cartagena-Walsh followed against J.D. Perez. Cartagena-Walsh landed four takedowns across three periods, cruising to a 14-5 major decision to tie the dual at 4-4 through two bouts.

Cotton took full control in his match with Alex Smith, landing five takedowns before catching Smith on his back midway through the third period for the fall. Cotton's second pin of the season put Rutgers up 10-4 heading into heavyweight.

Catka faced Gabe Christenson and landed a takedown early for a 3-1 lead. Up 4-2 late in the third period, Catka countered a Christenson attack for a match-sealing takedown, winning by 8-2 decision.

After landing the first takedown, No. 27 Ayden Smith (125) lost a tough 6-3 decision to Dedrick Navarro. Despite the loss, Rutgers took a 13-7 lead into intermission.

Shawver dominated out of the break, cruising to an 18-3 tech fall over Luis Bazan to extend the Scarlet Knights' lead to 18-7. A loss from rookie Tahir Parkins (141) brought Northwestern to within single digits, but RU closed the night with three consecutive wins.

Clark continued to show his toughness on top, using a 1:45 rideout in the second period to secure a 2-1 decision over August Hibler. White's first-period takedown gave him a 4-0 decision over Gunnar Myers, while a forfeit at 165 pounds made it a 30-10 final.

Up Next

Rutgers wrestles at No. 12 Illinois on Saturday in Champaign. The dual is set for a 1 p.m. ET start and will stream on Big Ten Plus.

Box Score

No. 17 Rutgers 30, Northwestern 10

174: 30/NR Eddie Enright (NU) over 12/15 Lenny Pinto (RU) by MD, 14-3; NU leads, 4-0

184: 14/15 Shane Cartagena-Walsh (RU) over J.D. Perez (NU) by MD, 14-5; Dual tied, 4-4

197: 16/13 Remy Cotton (RU) over Alex Smith (NU) by fall (5:51); RU leads, 10-4

HWT: 19/19 Hunter Catka (RU) over Gabe Christenson (NU) by dec., 8-2; RU leads, 13-4

125: 25/25 Dedrick Navarro (NU) over 27/28 Ayden Smith (RU) by dec., 6-3; RU leads, 13-7

133: 27/32 Dylan Shawver (RU) over Luis Bazan (NU) by TF, 18-3 (7:00); RU leads, 18-7

141: 32/33 Billy Dekraker (NU) over Tahir Parkins (RU) by dec., 4-1; RU leads, 18-10

149: 31/NR Andrew Clark (RU) over August Hibler (NU) by dec., 2-1; RU leads, 21-10

157: 31/32 Anthony White (RU) over Gunnar Myers (NU) by dec., 4-0; RU leads, 24-10

165: 20/25 Andrew Barbosa (RU) wins by forfeit; RU wins, 30-10

Rankings Intermat/FloWrestling