Dec. 2, 2009
Northwestern at Northern Illinois Match Notes -- PDF
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In the midst of a three-match nonconference road swing, Northwestern travels to face Northern Illinois Thursday in NIU's Convocation Center in DeKalb. At 7-2 on the year, junior 149-pounder Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) will be aiming to continue his strong start and help NU overcome a local rival.
Last season, Northwestern avenged a loss to the Huskies in 2007 by defeating NIU 27-12 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats trailed the match by three points with four bouts remaining, but NU swept those final matches and received pins by Jake Herbert and Paul Rands to win going away.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
Northern Illinois engaged in its first dual matches at the Indiana Duals over Thanksgiving weekend, scoring quality wins over Tennessee-Chattanooga and South Dakota State while losing a 27-9 decision to the host Hoosiers.
A pair of NIU grapplers garnered national recognition to start the season. Tristin DeShazer was tabbed No. 15 at 133 pounds by Amateur Wrestling News while Bryan Deutsch checked in at No. 16 at 157 pounds. DeShazer and Deutsch each competed at the 2009 NCAA Championships, with Deutsch earning his qualifying bid by defeating the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 seeds at the MAC Championships last March.
FINDING NEW HOMES
A number of prominent Wildcats made moves to lower weight classes during this offseason despite successful campaigns last year. First and foremost is redshirt sophomore Robert Kellogg (Sioux City, Iowa/Sioux City North), who shifted from 174 to 165 this year after going 9-8 in dual matches for Northwestern as a redshirt freshman. Kellogg already has four major decision victories at 165, including his last two.
Seniors Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) and Kyle Bertin (Cleveland, Ohio/St. Edward) followed suit by moving from 165 to 157 while junior Bobby Joyce (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. John Viator) dropped from 133 to 125 to help fill the void left by the redshirting Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg).
GET YOUR SEATS NOW
Northwestern is without the services of two NCAA qualifiers from a year ago, two-time All-American Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) at 125 pounds and would-be sophomore Jason Welch (Walnut Creek, Calif./Las Lomas) at 157 pounds. Both are spending the 2009-10 campaign redshirting in preparation for next season, but will be on display at the 47th annual Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Precin won his first career Midlands title last year when he defeated Iowa State's Tyler Clark in the final, while Welch placed fifth in his first Midlands as a collegian. Tickets for the Midlands Championships are available by calling 847-491-CATS or by completing and returning the Midlands ticket order form.
LAST TIME OUT
Facing an 18-13 deficit with one match remaining, Northwestern received a tech fall bonus point win by sophomore John Schoen (Homer Glen, Ill./Marist) at 197 pounds to finish in an 18-18 tie vs. Eastern Michigan on Sunday. The Wildcats and Eagles each won five of the 10 bouts in the match. Eastern Michigan held in 18-10 team lead with two matches still to go when NU's Aaron Jones (Macomb, Ill./Macomb) stepped in at 184 and picked up a critical 4-0 decision over Nick Hendrick, setting up the chance for Schoen to pull the Wildcats level. Northwestern lost consecutive 4-0 decisions at heavyweight and 125 pounds to start the match before senior Eric Metzler (Luxemburg, Wis./Luxemburg-Casco) put the Wildcats on the board with a 2-1 decision over Sean Clair. NU surrendered six points with a forfeit at 141 pounds, but Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central) won his seventh match of the season at 149 in a 4-2 decision against J.J. Johnson.