Cougars' Jake McKiernan closes out season on high note, despite SIUE 30-15 loss at Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. - Jake McKiernan closed out the regular season on a high note Sunday with a fall in SIUE's 30-15 loss at Wisconsin.

McKiernan collected a 2-minute, 20-second fall over Andrew Salemme at heavyweight.

"This was the last dual meet in his senior year so it was a nice way to go out," said SIUE Head Coach Jeremy Spates. "He was coming off an injury from last season that he has missed a lot of time. It was good to see him get a pin."

Christian Dulaney also scored six team points by accepting a forfeit at 197 pounds.

SIUE freshman standout Justin Ruffin earned a win in a high-scoring match, besting Garrett Model at 157 pounds 17-14.

"Justin built up a big lead," said Spates. "He did a good job of holding his opponent off and getting a win."

Spates saw improvement after back-to-back events against Big Ten teams.

"We had a little bit more fight than we did yesterday. I liked a lot more of what I saw today," he added.

The Cougars are now idle until March 8-9 when the team travels to Norfolk, Virginia, for the Mid-American Conference Tournament.

"A lot of it is peaking now and making sure guys are healthy," said Spates. "There isn't a lot technically that we will work on. We just have to gets our heads right and our bodies right to get ready for our first MAC Tournament."

Wisconsin 30 SIUE 15
125 - Ethan Rotondo (Wisconsin) over Gage Datlovsky (SIUE) (MD 13-5)
133 - Jens Lantz (Wisconsin) over Austin Macias (SIUE) (TF 19-4 5:57)
141 - Michael Cullen (Wisconsin) over Lucas Bernal (SIUE) (MD 12-3)
149 - Cole Martin (Wisconsin) over Tyshawn Williams (SIUE) (MD 19-8)
157 - Justin Ruffin (SIUE) over Garrett Model (Wisconsin) (Dec 17-14)
165 - Evan Wick (Wisconsin) over Nate Higgins (SIUE) (MD 15-2)
174 - Ryan Christensen (Wisconsin) over Cameron Kelly (SIUE) (MD 13-0)
184 - Mason Reinhardt (Wisconsin) over Sergio Villalobos (SIUE) (TF 25-10 6:59)
197 - Christian Dulaney (SIUE) won by forfeit
285 - Colton McKiernan (SIUE) over Andrew Salemme (Wisconsin) (Fall 2:20)

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