The University of Minnesota wrestling team got their dual meet season underway Saturday morning at the UCR Regional Sports Center in Rochester, Minn. as they defeated Northern Illinois 35-12 in the first-ever Northern Quad meet.

Returning All-American Jayson Ness opened the meet at 125 pounds and picked up right where he left off in 2006-07. Ness began the meet with a pin of the Huskies’ T.J. Wunnicke, opening up a 9-1 lead in the second period before ultimately winning the match 4:13 in.

At 133 pounds, two-time All-American Mack Reiter won a closely-fought 4-3 decision over Pat Castillo of Northern Illinois. After falling behind 0-2, Reiter marched back to take the lead in the second period and hung on for the victory. It was Reiter’s first official result of the 2007-08 season, as he also wrestled in Monday’s NWCA All-Star Classic.

Dustin Schlatter also got off on the right foot at 149 pounds, as he dominated former high school teammate Kalen Knull from the opening whistle en route to a 16-1 tech fall decision (both attended Graham High School). Schlatter remained an unbeaten 5-0 on the season, and he also won his match during Monday’s All-Star Classic

After Manny Rivera moved won his eighth straight decision of the season with a 9-4 decision over Pat McLemore at 149 pounds, senior C.P. Schlatter notched his first pin of the season at 157 pounds. After thoroughly controlling the pace of the match in the early going, Schlatter was able to get on top of the Huskies’ Michael Smith and scored the pin at 4:42.

After looking impressive in early season tournament competition, Scott Glasser was the Gophers’ starter at 165 pounds. Glass built a 4-1 lead and augmented that with a third-period takedown to walk away from his match with Bryan Deutsch a 6-2 winner. Glasser improved to 9-2 on the season with the win.

Senior Gabe Dretsch took an undefeated record into his 174-pound match with Duke Burk. The evenly-matched pair rode out a scoreless first period before Dretsch emerged with a 3-1 lead after two. The three-time NCAA qualifier then hung on through the third period, picking up a 3-2 win.

After Roger Kish won by forfeit at 184 pounds, the Huskies struck back with two pins to end the meet. Yura Malamura was pinned in 2:33 by Jake Smith of the Huskies at 197, and heavyweight Joe Nord was taken down and then pinned at the 2:32 mark by senior David Benner.

Minnesota 35, Northern Illinois 12
125: #3 Jayson Ness (MN) fall TJ Wunnicke (NI) 4:13
133: #2 Mack Reiter (MN dec #10 Pat Castillo (NI) 4-3
141: #6 Manuel Rivera (MN) dec Patrick McLemore (NI) 9-4
149: #1 Dustin Schlatter (MN) tech fall Kalen Knull (NI) 16-1
157: #4 C.P. Schlatter (MN) fall Michael Smith (NI) 2:42
165: #13 Scott Glasser (MN) dec Bryan Deutsch (NI) 6-2
174: #6 Gabe Dretsch (MN) vs #12 Duke Burk (NI) 3-2
184: #2 Roger Kish (MN) forfeit (NI)
197: Jake Smith (NI) fall Yura Malamura (MN) 2:33
Hwt: David Benner (NI) fall Joe Nord (MN) 2:32

Minnesota wrestles Northern Colorado beginning at 12 p.m. and finishes the day with North Dakota State at 2 p.m.