Jan. 20, 2006
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 16 Northwestern travels to Minneapolis for its Big Ten opener versus No. 1 Minnesota at 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20 at the Sports Pavilion. The Wildcats then face No. 22 Wisconsin at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 22 at the UW-Field House.
Friday's match will be the first action for both NU and Minnesota since both competed at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals last weekend.
The Wildcats went 1-2 in a field filled with top-25 teams, while Minnesota claimed the team title by defeating then-No.1 Oklahoma State.
Wisconsin enters the weekend after going 2-1 at the Lonestar Duals. The Badgers beat unranked Brown and North Carolina, but fell to UT-Chattanooga.
At the national duals, Northwestern had five wrestlers win at least two matches, led by sophomore All-American Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) who went 3-0, including a pin of Hofstra's fourth-ranked Mike Patrovich at 2:05. He is now 20-0 this season.
Herbert is expected to face a pair of ranked wrestlers this weekend in Minnesota's 16th-ranked Gabriel Dretsch and Wisconsin's ninth-ranked Kelly Flaherty.
Herbert went 2-0 last season versus Dretsch and pinned Flaherty in 1:04 in their only meeting last year.
Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy), who is 15-5 this season, went 2-1 at the national duals including two overtime wins for the Wildcats. Durkee is ranked No. 17 at 165 lbs.
Senior Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) went 2-1 last weekend at the national duals, improving his record to 18-6 this season.
Delguyd is slated to face the Golden Gophers' Justin Bronson and Wisconsin's 18th-ranked Dallas Herbst this weekend. Delguyd is currently ranked No. 10 in the country at 197 lbs.
No. 8 John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings), who also went 2-1 at the national duals, looks to win his Big Ten opening match for the second-consecutive year. Velez, the nation's No. 8 wrestler at 125 lbs., is expected to face Minnesota's Andrew Domingues Friday.
Sophomore Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) recorded a 3-0 record at the duals, with two wins from forfeit. Fox took advantage of his time on the mat, however, as he pinned Hofstra's Jon Andriac at 2:38.
Fox, who now stands at 18-5 this season, is set to face Minnesota's top-ranked Cole Konrad at the 285-pound weight class Friday.
Probable Starting LineupWt. Wrestler Overall Dual Big Ten Pins 125--John Velez 14-4 6-1 -- -- 133--Daniel Quintela 7-9 1-3 -- -- 141--Ryan Lang 11-1 3-0 -- 7 -or- Marty Gould 0-4 0-4 -- -- 149--Jimmy Kim 3-4 2-0 -- -- 157--Greg Hagel 14-8 4-3 -- 2 165--Will Durkee 15-5 5-1 -- 4 174--Jake Herbert 20-0 6-0 -- 9 184--Mike Tamillow 14-3 3-2 -- 3 -or- Joe Gulotta 5-8 0-2 -- -- 197--Matt Delguyd 18-6 6-1 -- -- 285--Dustin Fox 18-5 6-1 -- 3