Tiebreaker Gives Yellowjackets, 26-25 Win over Wildcats in Heart Dual

BALDWIN CITY, Kan. – After ending the day all tied up at 25-25 and triggering a tiebreaker, Baker men's wrestling ultimately fell in its conference home dual against Graceland on Saturday in the Collins Center with the Yellowjackets winning the meet on a final score of 26-25.

With each side trading forfeits to open the dual, both teams won four matches on the day with the Wildcats earning a couple of major decisions and a pin by Brett Bober.

A Yellowjackets pin put them up 12-6 before Nikolas Slatoff came through with a 19-4 tech fall victory in the 149-pound match to get the Wildcats within a point.

Following a sudden death victory for GU, Joey Hancock tied things up again with the first major decision win for BU. He wrestled to an 11-2 major decision to bring the dual to a 15-15 deadlock.

Bober's pin in the 184-pound bout came at a big moment for the Wildcats after the Yellowjackets picked up their second pin of the dual in the previous round.

With the dual tied up yet again at 21-all, Malachi Karibo's riding time bonus turned out to be a huge difference maker as it pushed him to a win by major decision and gave the Wildcats a 25-21 lead heading into the final round.

After a nail-biting battle in the decisive 285-pound match, Graceland secured a major decision for itself to bring the dual to a 25-25 tie and trigger the tiebreaker which saw the Yellowjackets come out on top due to total number of pins and forfeits.

Finishing off a week in which they split their conference duals after a win against Central Methodist on Wednesday, the Wildcats will head to their final regular-season tournament of the year with a trip to the Missouri Valley Open on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 9 a.m. in Marshall, Mo.

#BakerBuildsChampions