Northwestern in 11th After First Day of Big Ten Championships

March 8, 2003

MADISON, Wis. - Opportunity is knocking for three Northwestern wrestlers. Jason Erwinski (Tinley Park, Ill./Mt. Carmel), Andrew Curran (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) and Matt Delguyd (Mayfield, Ohio/Mayfield) advanced to the second day of the 2003 Big Ten Championships on Saturday in Madison, Wis. Each has a shot at reaching the NCAA Championships if he can get a win Sunday. NU is in 11th place as a team.

The top seven competitors at each weight class advance to the NCAAs and two other at-large berths will be voted on by the coaches. Curran, Delguyd and Erwinski are all on the borderline, as each will next wrestle in the seventh-place match Sunday.

Unseeded Curran picked up the 'Cats' first win Saturday. Down 2-1 to seventh-seeded Josh McClay of Minnesota, Curran notched an escape late in the third period to send the match into overtime. He ended the contest with a takedown, finishing the day 1-2.

Delguyd, who also went 1-2 on the day, followed suit minutes later against eighth-seeded Jon Bush of Purdue, recording a reversal in double overtime to seal the win.

Sixth-seeded Erwinski dropped both of his matches Saturday but still will get a shot for seventh place.

Northwestern wraps up the Big Ten Championships on Sunday, with session three set to begin at noon Central time.

Click here for complete results of the 2003 Big Ten Championships.

CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

125: No. 5 Twan Pham (ILL) dec. John Velez (NU), 2-1 SV
133: No. 1 Ryan Lewis (MINN) pinned Tommy Vargas (NU), 2:12
141: Cal Ferry (ILL) dec. No. 8 John Giacche (NU), 2-1
149: No. 1 Jared Lawrence (MINN) pinned Josh Ballard (NU), 4:27
157: No. 8 Clovis Crane (PU) dec. Mike Kimberlin (NU), 11-8
165: No. 3 Jacob Volkmann (MINN) major dec. No. 6 Jason Erwinski (NU), 10-0
174: No. 8 Pat Owen (MICH) pinned Andrew Curran (NU), 2:57
184: No. 1 Jessman Smith (IA) pinned Brendan Curran (NU), 1:11
197: No. 7 Tyrone Byrd (ILL) dec. Matt Delguyd (NU), 6-0


CONSOLATION

125: No. 3 Nick Simmons (MSU) pinned Velez (NU), 2:46; Velez eliminated
133: No. 7 Shane Martin (MSU) dec. Vargas (NU), 2-0; Vargas eliminated
141: No. 7 Clark Forward (MICH) dec. No. 8 Giacche (NU), 6-3; Giacche eliminated
149: No. 7 Dan Jankowski (PU) dec. Ballard (NU), 10-4; Ballard eliminated
157: No. 7 Nate Wachter (PSU) dec. Kimberlin (NU), 3-2; Kimberlin eliminated
165: No. 2 John Clark (OSU) dec. Erwinski (NU), 13-6
174: A. Curran (NU) dec. No. 7 Josh McClay (MINN), 4-2 SV
 Brady Reinke (UW) dec. A. Curran (NU), 6-2
184: No. 7 Casey Kapustka (OSU) dec. B. Curran (NU), 9-2; B. Curran eliminated
197: Delguyd (NU) dec. No. 8 Jon Bush (PU), 7-5 SV
 Lee Kraemer (UW) dec. Delguyd (NU), 3-2