EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - SIUE wrestling dominated Bellarmine 39-6 on opening day of the regular season Sunday and just fell to Mid-American Conference opponent Northern Illinois 18-16 at First Community Arena.

"I felt like our shape needs to be a little better," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "The first match of the year tells you those things."

Aaron Schulist, Saul Ervin, Cardeionte Wilson, Justin Ruffin and Colton McKiernan each collected two victories for the Cougars. Schulist, Ruffin and McKiernan each recorded pins against Bellarmine while Wilson and Austin Macias added technical falls.

"I was pleased we scored some bonus points, which is something we talk about a lot," said Spates.

Moving forward, Spates said he would like to see more offense and more attacks from his team.

"We have a lot to work on and hopefully we will get better," said Spates.

Spates also noted the excitement of being able to wrestle Bellarmine during its first-ever Division I competition.

"This was their first dual so it was great to see wrestling growing at the Division I level," he added.

SIUE's next action is Sunday, Jan. 17 at Little Rock when the Cougars face host Little Rock and Oklahoma State.

Northern Illinois 18 SIUE 16
125 Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) over Austin Macias (SIUE) (Dec 10-5)
133 Aaron Schulist (SIUE) over Bryce West (Northern Illinois) (Dec 9-7)
141 Saul Ervin (SIUE) over Caleb Brooks (Northern Illinois) (Dec 6-5)
149 Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE) over Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) (Dec 7-4)
157 Justin Ruffin (SIUE) over Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) (MD 13-0)
165 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) over Chase Diehl (SIUE) (Dec 5-2)
174 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) (Dec 3-2)
184 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) over Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) (Fall 6:22)
197 Gage Braun (Northern Illinois) over Austin Andres (SIUE) (Dec 7-3)
285 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) over Max Ihry (Northern Illinois) (TB-1 2-1)
133 Exhibition: Mikey Kaminski (Northern Illinois) over Matt Malavsky (SIUE) (Fall 0:54)
285 Exhibition: Aric Bohn (SIUE) over Johnny Shafer (Northern Illinois) (MD 10-1)

SIUE 39 Bellarmine 6
125 Austin Macias (SIUE) over Brandon Lucas (Bellarmine) (TF 22-7 6:57)
133 Aaron Schulist (SIUE) over Max Dansereau (Bellarmine) (Fall 0:52)
141 Saul Ervin (SIUE) over Chase Yost (Bellarmine) (MD 9-1)
149 Cardeionte Wilson (SIUE) over Logan Hoskins (Bellarmine) (TF 18-1 3:37)
157 Justin Ruffin (SIUE) over Alex Rhine (Bellarmine) (Fall 2:06)
165 Eric Beck (Bellarmine) over Chase Diehl (SIUE) (Dec 5-2)
174 Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) over Kevin Gschwendtner (SIUE) (Dec 6-5)
184 Ryan Yarnell (SIUE) over Easton Tobia (Bellarmine) (MD 12-1)
197 Austin Andres (SIUE) over Gavin Grime (Bellarmine) (Dec 5-2)
285 Colton McKiernan (SIUE) over Darian Huff (Bellarmine) (Fall 1:33)
157 Exhibition: Zane Brown (Bellarmine) over Coleman Brainard (SIUE) (Fall 5:46)
184 Exhibition: Sergio Villalobos (SIUE) over Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine) (Dec 14-7)
285 Exhibition: Austin Cooley (SIUE) over Charlie Cadell (Bellarmine) (Fall 2:20)

Northern Illinois 46 Bellarmine 0
125 Lucian Brink (Northern Illinois) over Brandon Lucas (Bellarmine) (MD 21-10)
133 Bryce West (Northern Illinois) over Max Dansereau (Bellarmine) (Dec 7-2)
141 Caleb Brooks (Northern Illinois) over Zach Schultz (Bellarmine) (Fall 2:05)
149 Jaivon Jones (Northern Illinois) over Mitch Collica (Bellarmine) (Dec 2-0)
157 Anthony Gibson (Northern Illinois) over Alex Rhine (Bellarmine) (TF 15-0 4:41)
165 Izzak Olejnik (Northern Illinois) over Eric Beck (Bellarmine) (Fall 3:42)
174 Mason Kauffman (Northern Illinois) over Devan Hendricks (Bellarmine) (Dec 3-2)
184 Brit Wilson (Northern Illinois) over Sam Schroeder (Bellarmine) (Fall 5:50)
197 Gage Braun (Northern Illinois) over Easton Tobia (Bellarmine) (TF 17-2 4:31)
285 Max Ihry (Northern Illinois) over Charlie Cadell (Bellarmine) (TF 17-1 5:54)
149 Exhibition: Dillon Nichols (Northern Illinois) over Corbin Hale (Bellarmine) (MD 18-5)
157 Exhibition: Tristin Guaman (Northern Illinois) over Clayton Catanzarite (Bellarmine) (Dec 6-2)
285 Exhibition: Johnny Shafer (Northern Illinois) over Darian Huff (Bellarmine) (Dec 4-2)