Northwestern Ready to Host North Dakota St. on Sunday

Sunday, November 24

Evanston, Ill.

2 pm CT

Northwestern

North Dakota State

Northwestern Ready to Host North Dakota St. on Sunday

11/21/2019 3:58:00 PM | Wrestling

NORTHWESTERN MEN'S WRESTING: MATCHDAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	LIVE STREAM
Sunday, Nov. 24	North Dakota State	2 p.m. CT	Welsh-Ryan Arena	BTN+
Social: Twitter (@NUWrestle) \| Instagram (@NU W restle) \| Schedule

By Christopher Miller
NUSports.com contributor

EVANSTON, Ill. – No. 16 Northwestern (1-1) hosts North Dakota St (1-1) at Welsh-Ryan Arena for its second home dual of the season this Sunday at 2 p.m. CT. The Wildcats are seeking back-to-back dual wins for the first time this season.

Dating back to the end of last season, the 'Cats have now won three-straight home duals–including two against ranked opponents (No. 24 Illinois on Feb 15, 2019 and No. 14 Northern Iowa last Sunday).

The Bison defeated Cal State Bakersfield, 24-9, in their first home dual before falling last weekend, 22-12, against Big Ten foe Purdue.

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Wildcats at Home for Second-Straight Week

Sunday is the fourth meeting between the Wildcats and Bison. North Dakota State currently leads the all-time series, 2-1.
The last dual with North Dakota State was in 2018 when the Bison narrowly defeated NU, 26-17, in Fargo.
This will be NU's third meet of 2019. The Wildcats were narrowly defeated by Virginia Tech, 21-18, during a match that had nine total lead changes against the now No. 4 ranked Hokies. Northwestern bounced back the following Sunday with a 24-20 win over No. 14 Northern Iowa
Sunday is the Wildcats' last dual until late December. Northwestern will travel to Las Vegas for the Cliff Keen Invitational before returning to Hoffman Estates, Illinois to host the 57th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at the Sears Centre.

Fans can purchase tickets to this year's Midlands' tournament here.

Best Bouts

Northwestern and North Dakota St. each have three wrestlers ranked in this week's Intermat rankings.
Sunday could feature three ranked matchups, including No. 3 (125) Sebastian Rivera against No. 8 Cam Sykora at 133 lbs.
After a hard-fought battle against No. 3 Max Thomsen (Northern Iowa), Yahya Thomas rose to No. 20 in this week's Intermat Rankings. Thomas turned heads after leading for most of the match vs. Thomsen, and will likely grapple with Jaden Van Mannen at 149 lbs on Sunday.
Northwestern's Ryan Deakin is still ranked No. 3 at 157 and will likely battle Jared Franek at that weight class.
North Dakota State's other ranked wrestlers are No. 9 Andrew Fogarty (165) and No. 20 Brandon Metz. Northwestern's Shayne Oster (165) and Jack Heyob (Hwt.) will look to upend the seeded wrestlers.

Additional Wildcats

Earlier this month, five Wildcats turned in promising results in their action of the season at the Michigan State Open, with each wrestler coming away with at least one win in their first collegiate contest. First-year Chris Cannon won the Freshman/Sophomore division at 125, while first-year Trevor Chumbley (149) battled to the third place match in the 149 lb open division. First-years Ankhaa Enkhmandakh (165) and Justin Benjamin (133) each had two wins at the event, while fellow first-year Joh Halvorsen picked up a win of his own at 184 lbs.

The following weekend at the Cyclone Open, Benjamin (133) and Cannon (125) each went 3-0 and finished first in their respective divisions. Troy Fisher picked up three wins in the 174 lb class en route to a fourth place finish, while Chumbley also won three bouts to finish fifth in the 149 lb class.

Several Wildcats will be back in action this weekend at the Lindenwood Open in St. Charles, Mo.

Northwestern Looks Ahead

The Wildcats will participate in The Cliff Keen Invitational on Dec. 6-7 before hosting the 57th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships on Dec. 29-30.
Northwestern does not have a dual meet again until Friday, January 10, when No. 25 Purdue visits Welsh-Ryan Arena.
Northwestern travels to State College to scrap with No. 1 Penn State on Sunday, January 12.
Other marquee matchup throughout the season will include at No. 24 Michigan (1/24), at No. 20 Illinois (2/2), and No. 8 Ohio State (2/9).