Northwestern University Athletics
Minimum of Four Wildcats Are Bound for NCAA Championships
3/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 8, 2009
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- In addition to Northwestern's trio of Big Ten finalists, sophomore Keith Sulzer locked up his second consecutive trip to the national tournament, coming out of a 141-pound Big Ten weight class that was allocated seven automatic bids by the NCAA. Classmate Andrew Nadhir is set to wrestle Wisconsin's Kyle Ruschell Sunday for the league's fifth and final automatic spot at 149 pounds.
Sulzer will face Minnesota's Mike Thorn, who is ranked eighth nationally, in his fifth-place match on Sunday. Thorn claimed a 5-1 decision the last time the two wrestlers met on Feb. 8.
Northwestern fans can watch NU's Jake Herbert, Brandon Precin and Jason Welch in their attempts to win Big Ten titles thanks to the live broadcast by the Big Ten Network beginning at 1 p.m. CT.
Sixth-seeded and 16th-ranked Sulzer faced Ohio State's 2008 NCAA champion at 141, J Jaggers, in the consolation semifinals on Sunday. Sulzer brought Jaggers to overtime when the two met in Northwestern's regular season dual match on Feb. 20. On this day, Sulzer reversed an early takedown to tie the match at two, but Jaggers escaped and soon took control of the match, earning three back points as the first period wound down. He didn't let up, putting Sulzer in a hold and winning by fall at 4:20.
Coming off an excellent opening day of competition, Nadhir began Sunday against Jake Patacsil of Purdue, ranked seventh nationally. Patacsil collected back points in the first period to take a 4-0 lead before a flurry of action left Nadhir with the potential to catch the Boilermaker on his back. But Patacsil recovered and, while holding a 9-0 lead, sent Nadhir into the fifth-place match with a pin at the 4:25 mark.
Wisconsin's Ruschell, who enters this afternoon's match with a 25-7 record and a No. 5 national ranking, dealt Nadhir one of his two in-conference losses this season with an 8-4 decision back on Jan. 25 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Earlier in the tournament, Nadhir upset Ohio State's Lance Palmer, who boasted a No. 4 national ranking.
Redshirt freshman John Schoen concluded his first Big Ten Championships with a 1-3 record and an eighth-place finish—matching his pre-tournament seed—after coming up short against Indiana's sixth-seeded Matt Powless on Sunday. Powless struggled to score on Schoen, notching only an escape to begin the second and a takedown midway through the period. Despite Schoen's acrobatic efforts, he could not come away from the grasp of Powless in the third as the Hoosier's riding time advantage gave him a 4-0 victory.
The Big Ten received just four automatic NCAA bids at the 197-pound weight class.
Entering this afternoon's championship, third-place and fifth-place matches, NU stands in eighth place with 69.5 points.
Northwestern's Sunday Results
Consolation Semifinals
141: #5 J Jaggers (OSU) FALL #6 Keith Sulzer (NU), 4:20
149: #5 Jake Patacsil (PU) FALL #6 Andrew Nadhir (NU), 4:25
Seventh-Place Match
197: #6 Matt Powless (IND) dec. #8 John Schoen (NU), 4-0
