Northwestern University Athletics
Two B1G Road Duals Await No. 18 Northwestern
1/25/2012 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Jan. 25, 2012
No. 18 Northwestern (6-3, 2-3 Big Ten)
at No. 8 Illinois (11-2, 3-2 Big Ten)
Fri., Jan. 27, 2012 • 5 p.m.
Site: Huff Hall, Champaign, Ill.
TV: Big Ten Network (LIVE)
Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLive
Live Scoring: TrackWrestling.com
No. 18 Northwestern (6-3, 2-3 Big Ten)
at Purdue (7-8, 2-4 Big Ten)
Sun., Jan. 29, 2012 • Noon
Site: Holloway Gymnasium, West Lafayette, Ind.
Webstream: Boilermaker All-Access
Twitter Updates: @NU_SportsLive
Live Scoring: TrackWrestling.com
EVANSTON, Ill. -- No. 18 Northwestern hits the road this weekend to wrestle two duals away from Welsh-Ryan Arena. The weekend begins at 5 p.m. Friday in Champaign, Ill., when the 'Cats take on the eighth-ranked Illini. Friday's dual will air live on the Big Ten Network. NU then heads to West Lafayette, Ind., for a match with Purdue at noon Sunday.
After three-straight Friday's at Welsh-Ryan Arena, NU's dual vs. Illinois is the only Friday road dual on the 2011-12 schedule.
Last Time Out
After back-to-back weekends of home and away duals, Northwestern had just one match last weekend and downed Michigan State, 30-12. The 'Cats had four falls in the bout, including three in the first five matches. True freshman Jameson Oster (133), sophomore Kaleb Friedley (149), redshirt freshman Pierce Harger (165) and junior Levi Mele (125) all recorded pins for NU.
Then-No. 17 Mike McMullan took on his third top-10 opponent in as many matches and defeated No. 10 Mike McClure, 3-1. After a scoreless first, McClure took the 1-0 lead with an escape early in the period. McMullan then scored the lone takedown of the match on the edge of the mat to lead, 2-1. He then added a third-period escape to hang on for the 3-1 win. McMullan now has defeated top-10 wrestlers in back-to-back matches as he also edged then-No. 8 Bobby Telford of Iowa, 7-5 on Jan. 15.
Welch to Appear on Takedown Radio
Junior Jason Welch is scheduled to be a guest on the Takedown Wrestling Radio show Saturday, Jan. 28 at approximately 10 a.m. CT. Fans can listen online at Takedownradio.com or KXNO.com or via the I Heart Radio App for smart phones and tablets. If you're in the Des Moines, Iowa area, tune in to AM 1460 KXNO.
Scouting the Illini
Illinois is 11-2 on the year, 3-2 in conference action and finished sixth at Midlands. The two Illini dual losses on the year came at Iowa (20-13) and vs. Minnesota (26-9). Seven Illini wrestlers are ranked by InterMat, including three in the top-10. The Illinois ranked wrestlers are as follows: No. 5 Jesse Delgado (125), No. 5 B.J. Futrell (133), No. 16 Eric Terrazas (149), No. 10 Conrad Polz (165), No. 12 Jordan Blanton (174), No. 18 Brad Dieckhaus (184) and No. 16 Mario Gonzalez (197).
Northwestern and Illinois wrestled an exciting dual last year in Evanston with the 'Cats winning 27-13. NU won six bouts, including a decisive pin by John Schoen at 197 lbs. to seal the dual victory for Northwestern. Schoen trailed most of the match but in the third period, finished a shot and drove Gonzalez to his back. Gonzalez was injured on the takedown, but the officials granted Schoen the pin and six points for Northwestern to give the Wildcats a 24-13 lead heading into the final bout at heavyweight.
Scouting the Boilermakers
Purdue is 7-8 overall and 2-4 in Big Ten duals so far this year. The Boilermakers also wrestled at Midlands, placing 10th. Purdue has three ranked wrestlers on its roster, including No. 9 Cashe Quiroga at 133, No. 13 Ivan Lopouchanski at 149 and No. 19 Braden Atwood at 184. Matt Fields is listed as Sunday's probable starter at 133 lbs. as it is Senior Day for the Boilermakers. Last year, Northwestern won eight bouts against the Boilers in a 32-6 victory at Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Probable Starters
| No. 18 Northwestern | No. 8 Illinois | Purdue | |
| 125 | No. 9 Levi Mele (20-4) | No. 5 Jesse Delgado (22-3) | Camden Eppert (7-9) |
| 133 | Jameson Oster (9-9) | No. 5 B.J. Futrell (19-3) | Matt Fields (20-7) |
| 141 | Colin Shober (11-9) OR Pat Greco (9-9) |
Daryl Thomas (10-8) | Brandon Nelsen (17-8) |
| 149 | Kaleb Friedley (15-7) | No. 16 Eric Terrazas (17-5) | No. 13 Ivan Lopouchanski (10-3) |
| 157 | No. 2 Jason Welch (15-0) | Jackson Morse (8-7) | Tommy Churchard (14-13) |
| 165 | Pierce Harger (14-8) | No. 10 Conrad Polz (13-1) | Kyle Moiser (11-9) |
| 174 | No. 13 Lee Munster (15-7) | No. 12 Jordan Blanton (16-3) | Drake Stein (10-10) |
| 184 | Robert Kellogg (2-10) OR Marcus Shrewsbury (2-8) |
Tony Dallago (14-7) | No. 19 Braden Atwood (17-8) |
| 197 | John Schoen (12-11) | No. 16 Mario Gonzalez (15-4) | A.J. Kissel (2-2) |
| Hwt | No. 15 Mike McMullan (16-7) | Pat Walker (11-11) | Roger Vukobratovich (16-10) |
Have We Met?
Just like the Iowa dual, Friday's match with the Illini could have a few potential rematches from Midlands. Jason Welch and John Schoen both recorded hard-fought victories over their Illini foes at Midlands. Welch wrestled Jackson Morse in his second bout at Midlands and faced a sizeable deficit before coming back to pin Morse in the second period (4:39). Schoen and Gonzalez had another exciting match in the wrestlebacks of Midlands where Schoen emerged the 7-5 winner. Schoen was wrestling in his third-straight overtime bout and had two leads on Gonzalez, including a lead late in the third, but Gonzalez scored a takedown with 19 seconds remaining to tie everything up. In overtime it was Schoen scoring the winning takedown with 19 seconds left to secure a spot in the top eight at 197 lbs. At 125 lbs., No. 4 seed Levi Mele met top-seeded Jesse Delgado in the third place match. Delgado handed Mele one of his four losses on the year as he pinned Mele in 3:44. Jameson Oster faced fourth-seeded B.J. Futrell in the second round and Futrell won with a 15-5 major decision.
Falling Fast
NU has 41 pins so far this season and has been making quick work of its opponents as 21 of those, or 51.2 percent, are first-period falls. Northwestern is on pace to pass last year's pin total rather quickly as the 'Cats had just 45 falls during the entire 2010-11 season. Kaleb Friedley is second on the team with seven pins as six of those came in the first period, including two in less than a minute. Four of Pierce Harger's five falls also came in the first period. Levi Mele leads NU this year with nine pins, but just one came in the first three minutes of the match.
Winning Welch
Jason Welch is out to a perfect 15-0 start and has won a majority of his matches in dominating fashion. Nine of his 15 wins have come with bonus points (five major decisions, three pins and a tech fall) and he has outscored his opponents 103-23 so far this year (doesn't include point totals in his three bouts won by fall). In fact, the most any opponent has scored on Welch this year is four points, but the three times an opponent scored four on Welch, he won those bouts by major decision. Welch's 6-3 victory over MSU's No. 13 Anthony Jones gave him his 70th career victory at Northwestern. At 15-0, Welch is one of 12 undefeated wrestlers (with at least six matches) left in all of NCAA Division I.
Up Next
Northwestern takes a break from Big Ten action next weekend hosting Northern Illinois at 7 p.m., Friday, Feb. 3 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. That is the lone match scheduled for next week. NU wrestles three-straight nonconference opponents before closing out the Big Ten season at home Friday, Feb. 17 vs. Indiana.
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