Wrestling | 1/13/2017 9:29:00 PM

MOORHEAD, Minn. — The Minnesota State University Moorhead wrestling team battled tough but came up short in a dual against Upper Iowa on Friday, dropping a 19-13 contest to the Peacocks in action at Nemzek Fieldhouse.

MSUM is now 3-5 overall and 0-1 in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference while Upper Iowa improved to 7-2 overall and 3-0 in the league.

"We wrestled tough. We came out and wrestled aggressive," MSUM head coach Kris Nelson said. "We need to learn how to win close matches. We lost a couple of matches in overtime and that was the difference. But it was one of our better matches as far as going out and making things happen and being aggressive."

The Dragons lost a hard-fought match at 125 to open the contest. Sophomore Jared Goldsmith battled to a 9-9 tie with Upper Iowa's Maleek Williams before Williams scored the takedown in overtime to take an 11-9 win.

Bosch got MSUM on the board with a 9-4 win Lincoln Monroe at 133 to tie the dual at 3-3. Bosch is now 19-1 and is ranked No. 3 in the nation.

Vazquez wrestled a strong match at 141, earning a 7-3 win over Jordan Roths to improve to 7-6 on the season. With the win the Dragons held a 6-3 lead.

"That was a good win for Kristian Vazquez," Nelson said.

Upper Iowa regained the lead at 7-6 with a major decision win at 149 and won at 157 and 165 by decision to make it 13-6. The 165-pound match also went to overtime as MSUM sophomore Brayden Kuntz and Upper Iowa's Nick Georgean battled to a 2-2 regulation tie. Georgean got the takedown to earn the 4-2 sudden victory.

Sophomore Adam Blees ended Upper Iowa's three-match win streak with a tough 5-4 win at 174 over UIU's Dalton Westerlund to cut the Peacock lead to 13-9.

"Adam Blees had a really good win for us at 165," Nelson said.

Decision wins at 184 and 197 put the Peacocks up 19-9.

Senior Nader Abdullatif was strong at 285 as he dominated Tristan Westerlund for a 12-1 major decision to cut the score to 19-13. He is now 13-7 on the season.

MSUM hosts Minnesota State, Mankato at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

Note: Blake Bosch was honored prior to the match for reaching 100 career wins.

Upper Iowa 19, MSU Moorhead 13
125-Maleek Williams (UI) dec. Jared Goldsmith, 11-9, OT
133-Blake Bosch (MSUM) dec. Lincoln Monroe, 9-4
141-Kristian Vazquez (MSUM) dec. Jordan Roths, 7-3
149-Damian Penichet (UI) maj. dec. Dylan Connell, 13-0
157-Zak Benitz (UI) dec. Isaac Novacek, 8-3
165-Nick Georgean (UI) dec. Brayden Kuntz, 4-2, OT
174-Adam Blees (MSUM) dec. Dalton Westerlund, 5-2
184-Nick Baumler (UI) dec. Logan Rhode, 8-3
197-Ryan Parmely (UI) dec. Cody Anderson, 4-1
285-Nader Abdullatif (MSUM) maj. dec. Tristan Westerlund, 12-1