Jan. 10, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - On the heels of a solid weekend at the Lone Star Duals where Northwestern won two of three, the Wildcats head to the Wendy's Duals on Sunday in Ashland, Ohio. NU (4-1) will face Gardner-Webb at 9 a.m., followed by Purdue at 11 a.m. and Pittsburgh at 3 p.m.
After dropping its first match to Cal Poly last weekend, Northwestern reeled off two wins against Navy and Harvard. Freshman heavyweight Scott Johnson (Kanab, Utah/Kanab) picked up a pair of wins, both by fall. Johnson has three pins this year and a 2-1 dual record.
Sophomore John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) has made big strides from his freshman campaign. Velez saw limited action last year, appearing in only 4 matches, but he is 16-10 this season. His 16 wins are tied with Matt Delguyd for the second most on the team (behind classmate Mike Kimberlin's (Bradley, Ill./Bishop McNamara) 19 wins). Velez is also 3-2 in dual competition.
The Wildcats get their first taste of Big Ten competition this weekend-sort of. Northwestern grapples with conference foe Purdue at noon, but the dual does not count toward the schools' Big Ten records. The Boilermakers are 6-1 and ranked 21st in the land. They are led by the top-ranked 125-pounder, Chris Fleeger, who is 12-0 thus far including five wins against ranked opponents. No. 9 Ryan Lange, at 174 pounds, is 17-4, and No. 15 Oscar Santiago is 16-3 at 165 pounds.
Pittsburgh comes into the weekend with a 1-3 mark. Jordan Sianni leads the Panthers with a 17-4 record at 125 pounds, and Justin Giovinco is 15-5 at 149 pounds. Gardner-Webb, Northwestern's first opponent Sunday, is 2-4.
The 'Cats return to action at home Jan. 17 against Northern Illinois.