McCullough helps Cardinals pin Highline

DES MOINES, Wash. — With normal starter Tommy Stephenson out with the flu, Cooper McCullough made the most of his opportunity at 157 pounds.

Against an NIC transfer, no less.

McCullough pinned Highline’s Liam Corbett — who wrestled as a freshman at NIC in 2016 — in 2 minutes, 58 seconds as the Cardinals rolled to a 39-7 win over the Thunderbirds.

Jacob Swift (174) won by technical fall and Levi Perry (184) won by major decision for NIC.

“Cooper gutted out a great match,” NIC assistant coach Keri Stanley said. “Both Jacob and Levi wrestled really well. It was a good start to the trip with some sick guys. We just came out and wrestled hard. Usually, you’ve got a bit of a lull when you travel all day, but all the guys came out and wrestled hard and put points on the scoreboard.”

NIC travels to Burnaby, British Columbia, to face NAIA Simon Fraser tonight.

125 — Esco Walker, NIC, d. Jacob Mendoza, 4-3. 133 — Austin Wallace-Lister, HCC, md. Diego Nunez, 11-1. 141 — Nicholas Hara, NIC, by forfeit. 149 — Brent Evans, NIC, d. Adrian Avena, 10-7. 157 — Cooper McCullough, NIC, p. Liam Corbett, 2:58. 165 — Trey Meyer, NIC, by forfeit. 174 — Jacob Swift, NIC, tf. Ben Gore, 20-4. 184 — Levi Perry, NIC, md. Mitchell Owens, 14-5. 197 — Amos Daigbe, HCC, d. Trager Abatti, 8-5. 285 — Damian Trujillo, NIC, p. Ilai Wilson, 1:50.