Matt Meuleners has obtained plenty of individual success throughout his career. On Saturday night, the senior produced some dramatic team success at Wachs Arena.
The two-time national champion heavyweight recorded a pin in the final match of the dual and Northern State defeated Chadron State 21-20 by criteria in a non-conference matchup.
With the Wolves trailing 20-14, Meuleners needed a pin worth six points to tie the score and then Northern won a tie-breaker by having more technical falls in the dual.
"Matt Meuleners. The anchor. What do you say?" said Northern coach Pat Timm. "We told him he had to go out and get a pin and what's he do? He goes out and gets a pin and wins the dual for us."
One might think that would be an easy task for a national champion, but knowing he had to get a pin forced Meuleners to change his strategy during the match.
He jumped on top early and led 10-0 early in the second period. However, Meuleners knew he did not have many points left to work with because once a match gets to a 15-point difference, it becomes a technical fall worth five team points, which would have left the Wolves one point short.
"I knew after I got the takedown in the second, I had two turns left to (try and get a) pin," Meuleners said, "so I knew I had to make those ones count and I got the one and it was the one I needed."
That crucial turn came late in the second period and Meuleners was able to stick his foe with one second remaining in the second period.
"I got some turns and I was trying to use one of my tilts into a pin when he wouldn't be expecting it," Meuleners said, "but in the second period, I got an arm-bar tight and I just ran it over."
Interestingly enough, Meuleners was in a similar position against the same team last year and came through then as well.
"Last year when we wrestled these guys, it came down to me," Meuleners recalled. "I needed a major decision and I got it. It's good to beat these guys twice in two years."
It was Anthony Bruno who recorded a technical fall in the first match of the dual that provided the eventual tie-breaker difference.
"I knew it was going to be a close dual," Bruno said. "It was a close dual with them last year. I went out there and tried to score every point that I could."
Both teams each won five matches (the first tie-breaker) and both had one win by pin (the second tie-breaker).
"We talked about it before we started this dual," Timm said, "every point counts and every match counts. When somebody falls, somebody has to pick them up. That's kind of what we did tonight. We were favored in a weight class and maybe we lost it and where we weren't favored we won."
The Wolves also received wins from Gavin Larsen, Neil Sell and Blake Lundgren.
"I'm excited about the fact that we competed," Timm said. "That's what we've been doing the last two weeks. I can't say enough about the guys, just how they competed to get the win tonight."
The Wolves head to Indianapolis for a 28-team tournament this weekend before taking a break for the holidays. They improved to 3-0 in duals on the season following the close call against Chadron.
"It was a good way to end our dual season for this year in 2012," Timm said.
125 -- Anthony Bruno, NSU, technical fall over Jace Johnson, 15-0.
133 -- Perry McAfee, CSU, def. Tyler Frost, 12-3.
141 -- Leandro Arias, CSU, pinned Ian Muirhead, 6:50.
149 -- Gavin Larsen, NSU, def. Jesse Larralde, 8-4.
157 -- Neil Sell, NSU, def. Bryce Weideman, 7-3.
165 -- Blake Lundgren, NSU, def. Dylan Fors, 3-1.
174 -- Tyler Smart, CSU, def. Anthony Navarro, 6-5.
184 -- Jordan Debus, CSU, def. Chad Gibson, 10-7.
197 -- Chris Leak, CSU, def. Baker Haar, 11-2.
Hwt. -- Matt Meuleners, NSU, pinned Michael Hill, 4:59.
Official: Jason Hill.