COLUMBUS, OH—Despite two wins from nationally ranked Richard Perry (Meriden, CT/Middletown) and Justin Grant (Easton/Easton), the Bloomsburg University wrestling team dropped both its matches on Sunday at the EAS/NWCA National Duals in Columbus, OH. The Huskies lost to #11 Oklahoma, 21-15, and to #18 Illinois, 23-8.
 
In the match with Oklahoma the Huskies fell behind 17-0 before winning four of the final five bouts. Josh Veltre (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) got the Huskies going with a win at 165 pounds, 5-2, in overtime, before Mike Dessino (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) scored a 6-0 win at 174 pounds.
 
After a Sooners win at 184 pounds; Perry, ranked sixth, stepped on to the mat to face fifth-ranked Travis Rutt, the only wrestler to hand him a loss this season. The two first met at the Oklahoma/Brockport Invitational in early November with Rutt winning 8-2. In Sunday's match Rutt led 2-1 after one period. Starting the second period down, Perry was finally able to catch and turn Rutt and score the win by fall in 4:17.
 
At 285 pounds Grant, ranked #16, faced off with #18 Ross Larson from OU. At the early season event at Brockport Larson had beaten Grant, 6-2. In Sunday's match Grant got a measure of revenge scoring a 4-2, sudden victory decision to make the final team score, 21-15.
 
Facing Illinois for the second time this season the Huskies fell behind 14-0 through four matches. At 157 pounds Kevin Hartnett (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) got the Huskies going with a win over 12th-ranked Zach Brunson by a score of 5-4. Earlier in the season at the Grapple at the Garden Brunson had beaten Hartnett by fall.  At the bout though the Huskies were penalized one team point for unsportsmanlike conduct.
 
Illinois captured the next three weights before Perry ran his win streak to 26 straight matches with an 8-4 decision. Grant then closed out the match for the Huskies with a 7-0 win over Chris Lopez. In two matches this season against Lopez Grant has yet to allow a point and has won by a combined score of 11-0.
 
The Huskies, 8-8, will close out the regular season with a match at Binghamton on Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
NOTES: Perry is 28-1 and has won 26 straight matches. He improved his career record to 105-28. He is now 14th on the school's all-time win list…Grant improved to 27-5 on the season with his two wins….The Huskies will be going for the 600th win in school history in the match with Binghamton on Saturday.
 
#11 Oklahoma 21, Bloomsburg 15
125  #7 Jarrod Patterson (Oklahoma) over Sean Boylan (Seaville, NJ/St. Marks) (BU) Dec 5-0
133  #7 Cody Brewer (Oklahoma) over Nick Wilcox (Greene, NY/Greene Central) (BU) Dec 11-4
141  Nick Lester (Oklahoma) over Elliot Zackoski (Scranton/West Scranton) (BU) Maj 11-2
149  #2 Kendric Maple (Oklahoma) over Brian Nelson (Westmont, NJ/Haddon) (BU) Maj 17-3
157  Justin DeAngelis (Oklahoma) over Kevin Hartnett (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) (BU) Dec 12-11
165  #14 Josh Veltre (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) (BU) over Clark Glass (Oklahoma) TB-1 5-2
174  Mike Dessino (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) (BU) over Derek Geiges (Oklahoma) Dec 6-0
184  Andrew Howe (Oklahoma) over Sam Shirey (Beaver Springs/Midd-West) (BU) Maj 20-7
197  #6 Richard Perry (Meriden, CT/Middletown) (BU) over #4 Travis Rutt (Oklahoma) Fall 4:17
285  #16 Justin Grant (Easton/Easton) (BU) over #18 Ross Larson (Oklahoma) SV-1 4-2
 
#18 Illinois 23, Bloomsburg 8
125   #3 Jesse Delgado (Illinois) over Sean Boylan (Seaville, NJ/St. Marks) (BU) Maj 20-6
133   #14 Zane Richards (Illinois) over Nick Wilcox (Greene, NY/Greene Central) (BU) Dec 8-5
141   #16 Steven Rodrigues (Illinois) over Matthew Hicks (BU) Maj 17-7
149   John Fahy (Illinois) over Bryce Busler (Mechanicsburg/Cumberland Valley) (BU) Dec 6-4
157   Kevin Hartnett (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) (BU) over #12 Zach Brunson (Illinois) Dec 5-4
165   #9 Jackson Morse (Illinois) over #14 Josh Veltre (Rochester, NY/Greece Olympia) (BU) Dec 7-4
174   Tony Dallago (Illinois) over Mike Dessino (Middlesex, NJ/Middlesex) (BU) Dec 7-3
184   Lazarus Reyes (Illinois) over Sam Shirey (Beaver Springs/Midd-West) (BU) Dec 7-0
197   #6 Richard Perry (Meriden, CT/Middletown) (BU) over Jeffrey Koepke (Illinois) Dec 8-4
285   #16 Justin Grant (Easton/Easton) (BU) over Chris Lopez (Illinois) Dec 7-0
unsportsmanlike conduct on Bloomsburg coach -1 point