SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – SIUE and Northern Illinois split their 10 matches Saturday, but the Huskies prevailed with one extra bonus point, picking up a 19-18 win over the Cougars at the Prairie Convention Center.

SIUE, now 1-8, will look to rebound Sunday with its first home Southern Conference match. A noon start is scheduled for SIUE against the Citadel, 4-3 overall and 1-0 in the SoCon.

The NIU-SIUE dual meet was a special event at the IKWF (Illinois Kids Wrestling Federation) regional tournament. Many of the youngsters who will compete tomorrow watched an outstanding collegiate matchup.

"It was a great atmosphere," noted SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates.

The two teams started with the 149-pound weight class as SIUE's John Fahy earned a 3-2 decision over Gabe Morse.

Erik Travers came up with the biggest win of the night for the Cougars, a 19-3 technical fall over Andrew Scott at 157 pounds.

"I was really happy for Erik," said Spates. "He works really hard and does the right things. He just hasn't had success of getting the wins. It was nice to see him get a win but also get some bonus points for us."

SIUE 165-pounder Nate Higgins followed Travers with a major decision victory, besting Shaun`Qae McMurtry 12-2.

The Cougars also picked up wins from Derek Nagel at 184 pounds and Chris Johnson at heavyweight.

"We started out wrestling really well and then late in the match gave up some bonus points that cost us the dual," said Spates.

Northern Illinois came back to win four of the final five matches contested.

Northern Illinois 19 SIUE 18

125 - Alijah Jeffery (NIU) over Joe Antonelli (SIUE) (Fall 1:18)

133 - Austin Eicher (NIU) over Dakota Leach (SIUE) (MD 15-3)

141 - Steve Bleise (NIU) over John Muldoon (SIUE) (Dec 10-3)

149 - John Fahy (SIUE) over Gabe Morse (NIU) (Dec 3-2)

157 - Erik Travers (SIUE) over Andrew Scott (NIU) (TF 19-3 6:56)

165 - Nate Higgins (SIUE) over Shaun`Qae McMurtry (NIU) (MD 12-2)

174 - Trace Engelkes (NIU) over Clayton Bass (SIUE) (Dec 7-2)

184 - Derek Nagel (SIUE) over Quinton Rosser (NIU) (Dec 8-2)

197 - Shawn Scott (NIU) over Jake Tindle (SIUE) (Dec 5-3)

285 - Chris Johnson (SIUE) over Arthur Bunce (NIU) (Dec 7-1)