Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Do Battle Against No. 1
1/24/2008 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 24, 2008
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Tenth-ranked Northwestern looks to reverse a three-match losing streak against the No. 1 ranked Iowa Hawkeyes on Sunday in Iowa City, Iowa.
NU has gotten off to a quick start this season with a victory at Midlands and two second-place finishes, followed by two wins at National Duals, which led to eighth place.
In the latest NWCA/Intermat rankings, the Wildcats have five wrestlers ranked in the top 12 of their weight class, led by heavyweight Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) at No. 1. Senior Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) registers at No. 3 at 197 lbs., followed by Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/Lakewood St. Edward) at No. 4 at 149 lbs. Sophomore Brandon Precin (North Royalton, Ohio/Lakewood St. Edward) is No. 5 at 125 lbs. and senior Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) is 12th at 174 lbs.
Last Time Out...
At the National Duals, Northwestern placed eighth, which was the first time in program history it has placed in back-to-back years. The Wildcats lost to No. 10 Nebraska in the first round, then bounced back to defeat both No. 16 UT-Chattanooga and No. 8 Missouri. NU then lost to No. 11 Ohio State and in the seventh-place match, the 'Cats then lost to No. 4 Iowa State. Senior Dustin Fox finished the tournament 5-0, while Brandon Precin, Mike Tamillow, Ryan Lang and Nick Hayes won four of their five matches. Fox defeated the second-ranked heavyweight in the nation in Ohio State's J.D. Bergman on the way to his 5-0 record. National Duals wrapped up the last non-conference matches for the 'Cats this season.
Scouting the Hawkeyes...
No. 1 Iowa features a strong line up with top-20 ranked grapplers at every weight class, save 197 lbs. Joey Slaton at 133 lbs. and Mark Perry at 165 lbs. are both ranked No. 2 in the nation in their weight class. Perry won his weight at the 45th annual Midlands Championships, then swept the individual awards afterward. At the National Duals, Iowa took the Division I title as a team for the first time since 1996. The Hawkeyes also reclaimed their dominance at Midlands with a team win.
The Series...
Iowa leads the series, 63-7-1, and has won the last three duals. The Hawkeyes hold a 27-3 advantage in Iowa City. Northwestern's last win in the series was 22-19 at Evanston in 2005, which snapped Iowa's 35-match win streak against the Wildcats.
Last Time Against Iowa...
Second-ranked Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and fourth-ranked Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) won the first two matches, but the fifth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes took the next seven to defeat the eighth-ranked Wildcats, 24-14 at Rolling Meadows High School. The 'Cats wrestled their seventh-straight match without injured and top-ranked Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward).
The second-ranked Tamillow led the dual off at 197 lbs. and scored an early takedown of Rick Loera, wrestling in place of the injured Dan Erekson. Tamillow started down in the third, but notched an escape to make the score 10-1. With both wrestlers standing, the Wildcat took Loera down again to make the score 12-1. With the Wildcats needing bonus points, Tamillow scored another takedown and then let Loera escape. He took Loera down again for two more points to pull ahead, 16-4. With the riding time, Tamillow put the 'Cats ahead 5-0 with a 19-4 technical fall.
Fourth-ranked Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) and Iowa's Matt Fields battled to a Fox victory. With the riding time, Fox's 2-0 decision gave NU the early 8-0 lead.
After seven-straight Iowa victories, the Hawkeyes led the match 24-7.
With Iowa comfortably ahead, head coach Tom Brands forfeited the 184-pound match. Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) took his 101st win as a Wildcat, but Iowa took the dual, 24-14.
Iowa 24, Northwestern 14 197: Tamillow (NU) tech fall Loera 19-4 (5-0) 285: Fox (NU) dec. Fields 2-0 (8-0) 125: Falck dec. Precin (NU) 5-2 (8-3) 133: Galanakis dec. Metzler (NU) 6-1 (8-6) 141: Tsirtsis maj dec. Kohlberg (NU) 15-4 (8-10) 149: Grunder maj dec. Gould (NU) 12-4 (8-14) 157: Morningstar dec. Marella (NU) 8-3 (8-17) 165: Perry maj dec. Hagel (NU) 10-0 (8-21) 174: Luedke dec. Hayes (NU) 6-2 (8-24) 184: Herbert (NU) win by forfeit (14-24)
