Jan. 9, 2011
Site: Pittsburgh, Pa. (Fitzgerald Field House)
Score: No. 21 Northwestern 42, Millersville 6
Score: No. 21 Northwestern 44, Drexel 3
Score: No. 21 Northwestern 17, No. 20 Pittsburgh 15
Team Record: 13-0 (1-0 Big Ten)
Next NU Event: Friday, Jan. 14 vs. No. 15 Illinois -- Evanston -- 7 p.m. CT
PITTSBURGH, Pa. -- After putting away Millersville and Drexel by a combined score of 86-9 in its morning matches, No. 21 Northwestern stepped up to face 20th-ranked Pittsburgh in the marquee matchup of Sunday's Pitt Duals. Despite missing two starters, NU was able to split the outcomes of the 10 matches and claim a 17-15 road win thanks largely to bonus-point victories by Levi Mele at 133 and Andrew Nadhir at 149.
By sweeping the competition at Sunday's matches, Northwestern stayed perfect on the dual season at 13-0. The Wildcats have only Big Ten opponents remaining on the schedule before hosting the Big Ten Championships in March, beginning with Illinois on Friday, Jan. 14, when NU hosts Family Fun Night Presented by Coke Zero.
"I'm extremely pleased with the way we wrestled from top to bottom, especially when we're without two starters against a good Pitt team," said NU head coach Drew Pariano. "For Marcus (Shrewsbury) to step in and get a win was huge for us, and to see (Robert) Kellogg, (Ben) Kuhar and (Kevin) Bialka compete the way they did was very impressive. Andrew Nadhir wrestled outstanding and Levi Mele did as well. This was a team effort and it's a nice boost going into the rest of Big Tens."
Knowing that his team would be without its regular 174 and 197 pounders against a difficult Pittsburgh opponent, undefeated and top-ranked Brandon Precin set the tone for the match with an 8-1 decision over Anthony Zanetta, who was a semifinalist at Midlands just two weeks ago.
Sophomore Levi Mele then came up big at 133, where he fought to ensure the major decision in his 10-1 victory against Shelton Mack for his seventh dual win of the year and 12th overall. After freshman Kaleb Friedley lost a tough 9-2 outcome to ninth-ranked Tyler Nauman at 141 pounds, Nadhir came up big with a strong outing and a 20-7 major decision against Pitt's Dane Johnson to give NU an 11-3 edge.
Jason Welch took care of business at 157 pounds, avenging a Midlands loss to the Panthers' Donnie Tasser with a 5-2 decision. After that, NU's Kevin Bialka wrestled well but suffered a 5-2 loss to Ethan Headlee at 165, and junior Robert Kellogg -- answering the call and wrestling up a weight class at 174 to prevent an NU forfeit -- was narrowly edged, 8-6, by talented Pitt senior Andy Vaughn.
After a Panther victory at 184 and with the nation's No. 4-ranked heavyweight looming in the last match, sophomore Marcus Shrewsbury stepped up in place of John Schoen at 197 against Pitt's Phil Sorrentino. Shrewsbury, in just his third dual match of the year, came out as a 3-2 winner to give the 'Cats a 17-12 lead entering the final bout. In that match, Ben Kuhar stayed strong against the highly ranked Tomei, falling by a slim 3-2 decision as Northwestern remained unbeaten on the year.
Earlier in the day, Northwestern blew past Millersville, 42-6, with all but one victory coming with bonus points. Kuhar recorded his first pin of the year, needing just 2:06 to put Bradley Ladd flat to the mat, while Nadhir, Welch, and Schoen each ended their matches early with tech fall wins.
Following that match, NU downed Drexel by a 44-3 margin with Friedley and Aaron Jones recording falls.
Match-by-match outcomes from the Pittsburgh Duals are listed below.
No. 21 Northwestern 17, No. 20 Pittsburgh 15
125: #1 Brandon Precin (NU) dec. Anthony Zanetta (Pitt), 8-1 (NU 3, Pitt 0)
133: Levi Mele (NU) maj. dec. Shelton Mack (Pitt), 10-1 (NU 7, Pitt 0)
141: #9 Tyler Nauman (Pitt) dec. Kaleb Friedley (NU), 9-2 (NU 7, Pitt 3)
149: #12 Andrew Nadhir (NU) maj. dec. Dane Johnson (Pitt), 20-7 (NU 11, Pitt 3)
157: #10 Jason Welch (NU) dec. Donnie Tasser (Pitt), 5-2 (NU 14, Pitt 3)
165: Ethan Headlee (Pitt) dec. Kevin Bialka (NU), 5-2 (NU 14, Pitt 6)
174: Andy Vaughn (Pitt) dec. Robert Kellogg (NU), 8-6 (NU 14, Pitt 9)
184: Max Thomusseit (Pitt) dec. Aaron Jones (NU), 4-1 (NU 14, Pitt 12)
197: Marcus Shrewsbury (NU) dec. Phil Sorrentino (Pitt), 3-2 (NU 17, Pitt 12)
285: #4 Ryan Tomei (Pitt) dec. Ben Kuhar (NU), 3-1 (NU 17, Pitt 15)
No. 21 Northwestern 42, Millersville 6
125: #1 Brandon Precin (NU) win by forfeit, (NU 6, MU 0)
133: Robert Joyce (NU) maj. dec. Mark Massimini (MU), 10-1 (NU 10, MU 0)
141: Kaleb Friedley (NU) maj. dec. Mike Greck (MU), 16-2 (NU 14, MU 0)
149: #12 Andrew Nadhir (NU) Tech. Fall Steve Hess (MU), 21-6 (NU 19, MU 0)
157: #10 Jason Welch (NU) Tech. Fall Dakota Kuhn (MU), 15-0 (NU 24, MU 0)
165: Kevin Bialka (NU) dec. Brandon Vernalli (MU), 7-4 (NU 27, MU 0)
174: Shane Smith (MU) FALL Robert Kellogg (NU), 0:37 (NU 27, MU 6)
184: Aaron Jones (NU) maj. dec. Jason Foor (MU), 12-0 (NU 31, MU 6)
197: John Schoen (NU) Tech. Fall Daniel Cox (MU), 16-0 (NU 36, MU 6)
285: Ben Kuhar (NU) FALL Bradley Ladd (MU), 2:06 (NU 42, MU 6)
No. 21 Northwestern 44, Drexel 3
125: #1 Brandon Precin (NU) win by forfeit (NU 6, DU 0)
133: Levi Mele (NU) FALL Frank Cimato (DU), 2:07 (NU 12, DU 0)
141: Kaleb Friedley (NU) win by forfeit (NU 18, DU 0)
149: #12 Andrew Nadhir (NU) win by forfeit, 21-6 (NU 24, DU 0)
157: #10 Jason Welch (NU) Tech. Fall Charles Annast (DU), 15-0 (NU 29, DU 0)
165: Kevin Bialka (NU) dec. Joe Booth (DU), 7-2 (NU 32, DU 0)
174: Justin Wieller (DU) dec. Robert Kellogg (NU), 4-1 (NU 32, DU 3)
184: Aaron Jones (NU) FALL Shawn Fausey (DU), 4:01 (NU 38, DU 3)
197: John Schoen (NU) dec. Brandon Palik (DU), 8-4 (NU 41, DU 3)
285: Ben Kuhar (NU) maj. dec. Max Wright (DU), 12-0 (NU 44, DU 3)
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