Eastern’s wrestling team struggled this past weekend at the University of Northern Iowa Open.

“It was an extremely tough tournament,” Eastern head coach Ralph McCausland said.

Eastern only had three wrestlers finish with winning records in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“We made some technical mistakes,” McCausland said. “We missed capitalizing on some opportunities.”

Junior Matt Veach did have a strong individual effort. After losing his first match, he won his next seven to claim fifth place in 165-pound weight class.

He took fifth place by defeating Matt Neumeller of St. Cloud State 6-4.

Junior Pat Dowty finished just shy of fifth place in the 133-pound weight class. According to McCausland, Dowty had several opportunities and was one match away from fifth but finished 4-2 after losing a close match 3-2.

Fellow 133 pounder junior Mike Stanley finished with four wins also.

Senior Frank DeFilippis had a disappointing 2-2 finish.

Northern Iowa went on to dominate their guests. Six Northern Iowa grapplers claimed first place in their weight class.

Eastern will head to Northwestern Saturday for a dual meet.

“The dual meet is just a change of focus,” McCausland said. “We need to focus on eliminating mistakes and capitalizing on opportunities.”