EVANSTON, Ill. – Northwestern Wrestling resumes dual action this weekend when the Wildcats welcome No. 18 Purdue to Welsh-Ryan Arena for their first Big Ten match of the season beginning at 7 p.m. CT. Following that, the Wildcats travel to State College to take on No. 3 Penn State on Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

Quick Notes:

Northwestern is 2-0 in home duals this season, defeating No. 14 Northern Iowa and North Dakota State in November. Dating back to last season, the Wildcats have won four-straight duals at home, marking their longest home winning streak since Matt Storniolo took over as head coach.
Entering this weekend, the Wildcats currently have three consensus Top-10 wrestlers among the four major wrestling rankings (Intermat, Open Mat, FloWrestling and Track Wrestling). Ryan Deakin is the consensus No. 1 at 157 lbs, Sebastian Rivera is ranked as high as No. 3 at 133 lbs, while Michael DeAugustino is ranked No. 6 at 125 lbs in Track Wrestling's latest rankings.
- This marks the second-straight season in which the Wildcats have had three wrestlers ranked in the Top-10 at the same time. Prior to last season, that had not been done since 2015.
Redshirt first-year Michael DeAugustino burst onto the national scene in December with stellar performances in two of the biggest non-conference tournaments in NCAA Wrestling. First, he placed third in the 125 lb division at the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational after going 5-1 as an unranked seed with wins over two top-10 seeds. Later in the month, he finished second in the annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships, winning his first four matches to advance to the championship round. This was a second-straight Midlands in which a Wildcat wrestled in the 125 lb championship (Sebastian Rivera, 2018).
Redshirt junior Ryan Deakin will take the mat for the first time since winning the 157 lb class at Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational for a second-straight year on Dec. 7. Deakin capped off a phenomenal showing with two decisive wins over FloWrestling's No. 1 and No. 2 ranked wrestlers, defeating Iowa State's David Carr, 9-3, in the semifinals and North Carolina State's Hayden Hidlay, 6-2, in the championship. Deakin did not trail during either bout.

Potential Bouts to Watch:

vs. Purdue, 125 lbs: #5 Devin Schroder (Purdue, 17-2) vs. #7 Michael DeAugustino (Northwestern, 11-3)
- This would be the first-ever meeting between Schroder and DeAugustino. Last season, Sebastian Rivera earned a 20-4 Tech. Fall over Schroder during the Big Ten Championships.
vs. Purdue, 157 lbs: #8 Kendall Coleman (Purdue, 21-4) vs. #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern, 8-0)
- This would be the first meeting between Coleman and Deakin.
vs. Purdue, 197 lbs: #2 Christian Brunner (Purdue, 20-2) vs. Lucas Davison (Northwestern, 6-4)
- This would be the third time this season Brunner has faced off against Davison. During the CKLV Invitational, Brunner won a narrow 3-1 decision after securing a takedown in the final seconds of the third period. The two then faced off in the quarterfinals of this year's Midlands, with Brunner taking an 8-5 decision.
vs. Penn State, 157 lbs: #4 Brady Berge (Penn State, 1-0) vs. #1 Ryan Deakin (Northwestern, 8-0)
- This would be the first time Berge and Deakin have faced off.

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Wildcats Open Big Ten Season This Weekend

Quick Notes:

Potential Bouts to Watch:

••••••

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lucas Davison

Ryan Deakin

Michael DeAugustino

Sebastian Rivera

Northwestern University Athletics

Wildcats Open Big Ten Season This Weekend

Quick Notes:

Potential Bouts to Watch:

••••••

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Lucas Davison

Ryan Deakin

Michael DeAugustino

Sebastian Rivera

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