Northern State had some exciting wrestling victories Thursday night, just not quite enough of them.

The No. 13 Wolves could never get over the hump and eventually fell to No. 18 Augustana 21-13 in a Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference dual at Wachs Arena.

While Northern coach Rocky Burkett saw positives on the evening, he was hoping the Wolves could secure a few more wins.

“We’re missing a couple of guys, but at the same time, man we had too many opportunities to win a one-takedown match and we didn’t win them,” Burkett said. “There’s probably three or four. We have to make them go our way.”

Burkett would like for the Wolves to be able to reverse that trend in the near future.

“I told our guys we’re going to a tough tournament next weekend and we’re going to go to national duals after that, there’s going to be opportunities to win tough matches like that,” Burkett said. “You’ve got to have something in your bank account to go draw on man. You’ve got to go deep and if you’re not putting something in there during the week, you’re not going to have anything in there to win that match.”

Northern did win four matches, including a couple in exciting fashion against the Vikings.

Jason Henschel Jr. overcame an early 3-0 deficit to grab a 10-4 decision at 133 pounds. The junior from Wichita, Kan., took a 4-3 lead with a second-period takedown, and then decided to go on top to start the final period.

“I knew once I got that takedown in the second, I kind gassed him out. I rode him out hard,” Henschel said. “Once I got a take down, I could feel he was kind of breaking already so I was like OK, I can get a turn here, so I chose top. I’m going to go top.”

Henschel, rated 11th in the country, did just that, putting his opponent on his back to record a four-point near fall and secure the win, much to the delight of the partisan crowd.

“Once I start getting to my stuff and I can feel it,” Henschel said, “I hear the crowd, I’m like alright, it’s time to go.”

The Wolves also capped the evening with a solid win by Nathan Schauer from Ashley, N.D. Schauer pulled away from a 3-2 lead heading into the final period to record a 10-3 victory at 285 pounds.

“He won some positions. He was kind of dead to right, was getting taken down. That kid slapped a cradle on him,” Burkett said. “We could’ve given that up. That could have ended the match. We kept fighting, so proud of him.”

Northern also received wins from top-rated Wyatt Turnquist at 149 pounds, and Sam Kruger at 174 pounds.

The Wolves head to the UIndy Midwest Classic Dec. 16-17 in Indianapolis.

Henschel talked about his goals for the rest of the season.

“Right now, getting into situations that I need to work on, like winning scrambles,” Henschel said, “and basically helping my teammates get better, improving their work, and just getting us ready for the next upcoming things.”

FINAL RESULTS