EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern Wrestling resumes dual action this weekend when the Wildcats welcome No. 18 Purdue to Welsh-Ryan Arena for their first Big Ten match of the season beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Following that, the Wildcats travel to State College to take on No. 3 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.
Quick Notes:
- Northwestern is 2-0 in home duals this season, defeating No. 14 Northern Iowa and North Dakota State in November. Dating back to last season, the Wildcats have won four-straight duals at home, marking their longest home winning streak since Matt Storniolo took over as head coach.
- Entering this weekend, the Wildcats currently have three consensus Top-10 wrestlers among the four major wrestling rankings (Intermat, Open Mat, FloWrestling and Track Wrestling). Ryan Deakin is the consensus No. 1 at 157 lbs, Sebastian Rivera is ranked as high as No. 3 at 133 lbs, while Michael DeAugustino is ranked No. 6 at 125 lbs in Track Wrestling's latest rankings.
- This marks the second-straight season in which the Wildcats have had three wrestlers ranked in the Top-10 at the same time. Prior to last season, that had not been done since 2015.
- Redshirt first-year Michael DeAugustino burst onto the national scene in December with stellar performances in two of the biggest non-conference tournaments in NCAA Wrestling. First, he placed third in the 125 lb division at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after going 5-1 as an unranked seed with wins over two top-10 seeds. Later in the month, he finished second in the annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, winning his first four matches to advance to the championship round. This was a second-straight Midlands in which a Wildcat wrestled in the 125 lb championship (Sebastian Rivera, 2018).
- Redshirt junior Ryan Deakin will take the mat for the first time since winning the 157 lb class at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational for a second-straight year on Dec. 7. Deakin capped off a phenomenal showing with two decisive wins over FloWrestling's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers, defeating Iowa State's David Carr, 9-3, in the semifinals and North Carolina State's Hayden Hidlay, 6-2, in the championship. Deakin did not trail during either bout.
Potential Bouts to Watch:
- vs. Purdue, 125 lbs: #5 Devin Schroder (Purdue, 17-2) vs. #7 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern, 11-3)
- This would be the first-ever meeting between Schroder and DeAugustino. Last season, Sebastian Rivera earned a 20-4 Tech. Fall over Schroder during the Big Ten Championships.
- vs. Purdue, 157 lbs: #8 Kendall Coleman (Purdue, 21-4) vs. #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern, 8-0)
- This would be the first meeting between Coleman and Deakin.
- vs. Purdue, 197 lbs: #2 Christian Brunner (Purdue, 20-2) vs. Lucas Davison (Northwestern, 6-4)
- This would be the third time this season Brunner has faced off against Davison. During the CKLV Invitational, Brunner won a narrow 3-1 decision after securing a takedown in the final seconds of the third period. The two then faced off in the quarterfinals of this year's Midlands, with Brunner taking an 8-5 decision.
- vs. Penn State, 157 lbs: #4 Brady Berge (Penn State, 1-0) vs. #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern, 8-0)
- This would be the first time Berge and Deakin have faced off.