Jan. 7, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's wrestling team (6-1) opens competition in 2004 with matches against Eastern Michigan at 6 p.m. (CT) Friday in Ypsilanti, Mich. and Eastern Illinois at 2 p.m. Sunday in Charleston, Ill.
Last year, the Wildcats were 4-1 at the same point in the season and tied for 25th place at the Midlands Wrestling Championships. This year's team is two wins better and outdid itself at Midlands by taking 17th place, due in large part to John Velez's (King Mills, Ohio/Kings) fourth-place performance.
Velez, who has a team-high 14-3 record, will be expected to lead the team this weekend.
"John is wrestling at a high level, which is what we expect of him," said head coach Tim Cysewski. "We started well so far this season, although I feel we could have been 7-0. The team needs to maintain a high level of intensity, because these are big matches this weekend."
Eastern Michigan (1-1) has already faced a Big Ten school this year, losing to Michigan 29-16 Dec. 14. The Eagles are led by a quartet that was ranked in the Mid-Atlantic Conference preseason top four in their respective weight classes-sophomore Chad Roush at 157 lbs., junior J.J. Holmes at 165 lbs., senior Tim Hoff at 174 lbs. and junior Eddie Magrys at 184 lbs.
EMU will compete against Ohio on Wednesday before playing host to NU.
"We want to go in there with an attitude that we want to dominate from start to finish," said Cysewski. "The Eagles have great wrestlers, and we cannot let our guard down at all."
Eastern Illinois (4-4) has had a busy schedule so far, competing in four open tournaments, three dual tournaments and Midlands. The Wildcats will have to be wary of Pat Dowty, a 133-pound wrestler who has competed in the past two NCAA tournaments. The senior nabbed second place at the Central Missouri Open in November and heads an experienced team.
The Panthers, who were edged 21-20 by NU last year, are scheduled to wrestle against Northern Iowa Friday night.
"NU and Eastern Illinois is a good intrastate rivalry," said Cysewski. "They are a team we match up well against."
Looking ahead, the 'Cats stay on the road when they look to knock down Iowa on Jan. 17 and begin Big Ten play.