Feb. 4, 2010
Match Notes: NU vs. Penn State/Ohio State 
EVANSTON, Ill. — After a three-match homestand, head coach Tim Cysewski and his Wildcats embark on road swing that will see them square off with four teams ranked among the nation's top 12. The grueling Big Ten stretch begins Friday with a trip to No. 12 Penn State (10-5-1, 2-2) that will be followed by a stop at fourth-ranked Ohio State (14-1).
Live scoring for Friday's 6 p.m. CT match at Penn State is available by clicking here. The match is also being streamed live on the BigTenNetwork.com. Sunday's match at Ohio State is slated to get underway at 10 a.m. CT.
What to Watch For
Northwestern junior Andrew Nadhir has carried his early-season momentum into the Big Ten dual campaign, going 3-0 against Purdue, Indiana and Illinois while ascending to No. 13 in the most recent InterMat rankings. Like many of his NU teammates, Nadhir faces a pair of tough tests this weekend when he meets two top-5 149-pounders in No. 5 Frank Molinaro of Penn State and No. 2 Lance Palmer of Ohio State.
Nadhir posted arguably the top win of his career against Palmer at last year's Big Ten Championships, defeating then fouth-ranked Palmer 9-8 in the first overtime period to earn a berth in the conference semifinals. Awaiting Nadhir after this weekend's road trip is a meeting with Iowa's top-ranked and 2008 NCAA champion Brent Metcalf on Feb. 12.
Future 'Cats Receive National Attention
Northwestern's coaching staff has inked the No. 2-ranked recruiting class in the country for 2010, a six-member group that features five high school seniors currently ranked in the top 10 in the nation at their respective weight classes. Lee Munster of Fox Lake, Ill., and Mike McMullan of Easton, Pa., are each ranked No. 1 nationally and will go a long way toward adding to NU's depth at the upper weights. Fans can get an advance look at a few members of Northwestern's stellar recruiting class in the articles linked below:
Lee Munster
Pierce Harger
Colin Shober
Mike McMullan
Scouting the Nittany Lions
Penn State (10-5-1) is in the first year of a transition year under the direction of new head coach Cael Sanderson, who made the move to State College after three years at the helm of his alma mater Iowa State. Sanderson is arguably the most decorated college wrestler of all time after going 159-0 and winning four NCAA championships for the Cyclones. Sanderson's current roster features five grapplers with top-15 national rankings headlined by Molinaro at 149, No. 7 Dan Vallimont at 165 and Cyler Sanderson, the younger brother of PSU's head coach, ranked No. 7 at 157.
The Nittany Lions suffered Big Ten losses to the class of the conference in Iowa and Ohio State but are coming off a nice 22-13 victory on the road at Wisconsin. PSU claimed a narrow 18-15 decision when these teams last met on Feb. 1, 2008, when two Nittany Lion victories in the last three bouts offset early wins by Mike Tamillow, Dustin Fox and Brandon Precin.
Scouting the Buckeyes
Coming off a season in which it placed second at the NCAA Championships, Ohio State has remained a force on the national scene, going 14-1 with its only loss coming at the hands of second-ranked Iowa State at the NWCA National Duals. Head coach Tom Ryan has six ranked competitors, with Palmer (20-1) and No. 6 Colt Sponseller (20-3) leading the way.
Ohio State defeated Northwestern 23-18 in last season's meeting after a pin by Jake Herbert was countered by a fall at 197 by OSU's Mike Pucillo, who wrestled up one weight class. Pucillo, a 2008 national champ, is 15-4 this season and ranked No. 7 at 184.