Nov. 14, 2010
Site: Evanston, Ill. (Sports Pavilion and Aquatic Center)
Score: Northwestern 37, UW-Whitewater 6
Score: Northwestern 41, South Dakota State 0
Score: Northwestern 26, Northern Iowa 6
Records: NU (5-0, 0-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Sunday, Nov. 21 Keystone Duals (Philadelphia, Pa.)
Complete NU Duals Match-by-Match Results
EVANSTON, Ill. -- In its first home dual action of the season, Northwestern used an aggressive mindset and technically sound wrestling to dominate the NU Duals, winning 36 out of a possible 40 matches to go 3-0 Sunday at NU's Sports Pavilion and Aquatic Center (SPAC). The 'Cats capped off the event with a dominating 26-6 win over Northern Iowa.
"I don't really focus on that as much as the progress we're making," said Wildcat head coach Drew Pariano regarding his team's 5-0 start to the dual season. "Our preseason was outstanding and I think that's showing through right now. Our coaching staff is doing a phenomenal job keeping everyone right where they need to be."
Northwestern opened its afternoon against Wisconsin-Whitewater, scoring three falls in the first four bouts that began with a first-period pin by No. 2-ranked 125-pounder Brandon Precin. Robert Joyce then secured his pin of Matt Oliva at 133 pounds in 4:08 and, after true freshman Kaleb Friedley recorded a 13-0 shutout of Brian Lewis at 141, 10th-ranked Andrew Nadhir notched his fall early in the second period of his 149-pound match versus Adam Spatchek to give NU a quick 22-0 lead.
Redshirt freshman David Helmer stepped in at 157 pounds and earned his first career dual victory as a Wildcat, defeating Whitewater's Corey Schmidt, 11-5. Kevin Bialka and Brian Roddy, Jr. followed with a tech fall and a major decision, respectively, to send NU on its way to 37-6 win.
The Wildcats kept up the intensity in the second round of duals, which resulted in a 41-0 blanking of Division I foe South Dakota State. It's the first time NU has won all 10 bouts in a dual match since a 46-0 win over Gardner Webb on Jan. 13, 2002.
The Wildcats won with bonus points in four of the last seven matches -- including a hard-fought 21-6 tech fall by Jason Welch over Seth Moe at 157 pounds -- and ensured the shutout when heavyweight Ben Kuhar gutted out a 1-0 victory over Kevin Kelly in the final match.
NU then turned its focus to Northern Iowa who, like the Wildcats, are led by a first-year head coach in former Iowa assistant Doug Schwab. Precin again kicked things off for Northwestern with a 6-0 decision over Caleb Flores, amassing more than three minutes of riding time in the process to give the `Cats a 3-0 lead.
Sophomore Levi Mele came out as the aggressor in his first match of the day at 133 pounds, picking up early back points against Steven Fitzgerald and never looking back as he posted an 18-1 tech fall win.
In arguably the most entertaining match of the afternoon, NU's Friedley quickly found himself down 7-1 in the first period of his 141-pound match versus Aaron Senzee. But Friedley began chipping away at the lead, pulling within 7-4 by the time the first period had ended. After a comparatively quiet second period, Friedley made his move with 1:10 to go in the match, tying things at nine with a takedown and racking up back points down the stretch to post an impressive 13-9 come-from-behind win.
Nadhir continued that momentum in his workmanlike 13-9 decision win over Jamal Lawrence at 149 pounds. The eighth-ranked Welch then gritted his way through a tough opponent, UNI sophomore David Bonin, to post a 5-3 win to give the Wildcats a commanding 17-0 lead halfway through the dual.
Roddy then fought for a 5-4 victory against Brice Wolf at 174 pounds, winning on an escape to break a 4-4 deadlock with 1:15 to go in the match, before senior Aaron Jones won by a 4-1 margin at 184 over Ryan Loder.
Junior John Schoen posted NU's final win of the day, battling to a 7-1 victory over Joe Johnson with more than two minutes of riding time to his credit.
"Our young guys in the lineup are doing excellent work, and Kaleb is an example of that," Pariano said. "Nadhir as a senior is providing great leadership and then we have more experience in guys like Schoen who came back from a sudden victory loss in his first match to beat two Division I opponents. There's a lot of good things going on right now but we also need to get a lot sharper."
The 5-0 Wildcats are back on the mat next Sunday when they travel to the Keystone Classic event in Philadelphia.
Be the first to know what's going on with the 'Cats -- Follow @NU_Sports on Twitter, become a fan of Northwestern Athletics on Facebook! and subscribe to the NU Sports Express e-newsletter to receive the latest news, schedule updates and video and to interact with NU. For more information on following specific Northwestern teams online, visit our Social Media page!