Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats, Hoosiers Square Off in Pivotal Big Ten Match
2/13/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Feb. 13, 2009
NU vs. Indiana Match Notes and Statistics
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 16 Northwestern seeks its first road victory when it travels to Bloomington to take on 20th-ranked Indiana at 1 p.m. Sunday. A number of Wildcats have an opportunity to pick up statement wins against the Hoosiers, including junior All-American Brandon Precin (125) and freshman standout Jason Welch (157).
FACING THE HOOSIERS
Indiana has battled its way to a 1-2-1 start in Big Ten competition to bring its overall record to 14-4-1. After opening its conference schedule with three edge-of-your-seat outcomes—a 17-17 tie with Penn State and a pair of two-point losses to Ohio State and Michigan—the Hoosiers got in the win column with a 21-12 victory last weekend against in-state foe Purdue.
Fans in attendance Sunday will be treated to a marquee matchup at 125 between NU's third-ranked Brandon Precin and IU's fifth-ranked Angel Escobedo, who captured the 2008 NCAA championship for the Hoosiers. Escobedo won all three bouts against Precin in 2007-08 but this year has suffered losses to Penn State's Brad Pataky and Iowa State's Tyler Clark, who Precin defeated in the finals of the 2008 Midlands Championships.
The 157-pound contest also figures to be a tightly contested battle when NU's 14th-ranked Jason Welch faces Indiana's 13th-ranked sophomore Kurt Kinser. In Northwestern's opening tournament of the year, Kinser caught Welch with a first-period pin at the Michigan State Open on Nov. 9. Welch, who is coming off a win against Minnesota's Tyler Safratowich and a solid performance against No. 2 Mike Poeta of Illinois, has gone 15-5 since the loss to Kinser and has not lost a match by more than five points.
At 174, IU's Trevor Perry has also garnered a No. 15 ranking thanks to a 23-10 record this season. He'll face Northwestern's Robert Kellogg, who won a critical three points for NU against Minneosta in a 3-2 sudden victory decision to up his Big Ten mark to 3-2 in his first season as a starter.
LAST TIME OUT
Sunday in Minneapolis, Northwestern posted to five match victories against No. 8 Minnesota but came up on the short end of an 18-16 decision. Precin won a compelling bout against No. 7 Zach Sanders at 125, taking a 6-0 lead in the third period with a three-point near-fall before Sanders returned the favor to tie the match and nearly pin Precin in the waning seconds. But Precin held the riding time advantage to win, 8-7, and improve to 23-1 this year. Sophomore Andrew Nadhir recorded his fourth win in five matches at 149 with an 8-3 decision over Joe Grygelko, while Welch, Kellogg and Jake Herbert also picked up victories.
WILDCAT TO WATCH
Sophomore Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Central Catholic) has taken the reins as NU's starting 149-pounder recently. After a 3-8 dual mark in 2007-08, Nadhir has won six of his 10 dual matches this season on his way to an 11-7 overall mark and a 4-1 record in the Big Ten. He'll have a chance for his fifth win in six matches against Nick Walpole of Indiana on Sunday.
NORTHWESTERN LEADERS
-Jake Herbert leads all Wildcats in dual match points scored this season with 77 on the strength of seven pins and two tech falls in duals. The rest of the top-5 is (in order): Brandon Precin (61), Jason Welch (33), Robert Kellogg (32) and Keith Sulzer (30).
-Herbert also has the fastest pin of the season, which came in his first match back on Nov. 9 against Hunter Collins-Montoya of Michigan in just 14 seconds. Freshman Eric Galka has the next fastest fall, an 18-second effort that marked the fastest pin of the 2008 Midlands Championships.
-Checking in on the active career wins leaders, Herbert has upped his total to 138—compared to just four collegiate losses—which is the third-highest in NU history. Precin stands at 93 followed by Dominic Marella (40), Sulzer (39) and Eric Metzler (32).
NORTHWESTERN PROBABLES
125: Brandon Precin (#3) (Jr., 23-1)
133: Eric Metzler (Jr., 4-3) or Bobby Joyce (So., 4-10)
141: Keith Sulzer (#16) (So., 15-7)
149: Andrew Nadhir (So., 10-8)
157: Jason Welch (#14) (Fr., 19-6)
165: Dominic Marella (Sr., 5-11) or Kyle Bertin (So., 5-8)
174: Robert Kellogg (RFr., 12-9)
184: Jake Herbert (#1) (Sr., 23-0)
197: John Schoen (RFr., 5-15)
285: Paul Rands (Fr., 5-7)
INDIANA PROBABLES
125: #5 Angel Escobedo (16-2, 3-1)
133: Matt Ortega (20-7, 1-3)
141: Andrae Hernandez (13-8, 1-1) or Scott Kelly (14-15, 0-2)
149: Nick Walpole (22-15, 1-3)
157: #12 Kurt Kinser (15-3, 3-1)
165: Paul Young (24-9, 2-2)
174: #15 Trevor Perry (23-10, 2-2)
184: Eric Cameron (19-12, 0-2) or Nick Avery (6-8, 0-1) or Seth Parker (6-4, 0-1)
197: Matt Powless (17-9, 3-1)
285: Nate Everhart (21-11, 4-0)
