No. 11 Northwestern Visits No. 2 Iowa, No. 16 Nebraska This Weekend

NORTHWESTERN WRESTLING: DUAL INFORMATION
DATE	Opponent	TIME	LOCATION	Watch
Friday, January 13	#2 Iowa	8 p.m.	Carver Hawkeye-Arena Iowa City, Iowa	ESPNU
Sunday, January 15	#16 Nebraska	2 p.m.	Devaney Center Lincoln, Neb.	B1G+
Social: Twitter: @NUWrestle \| Instagram: @NUWrestle

EVANSTON, Ill. (January 12, 2023) – Fresh off an impressive showing at home to open Big Ten Conference action, No. 11 Northwestern wrestling (2-0, 1-0 B1G) hits the road this weekend for a pair of daunting tests.

The Wildcats open the road swing on Friday night against No. 2 Iowa inside Carver-Hawkeye Arena at 8 p.m. in a dual that can be seen on ESPNU. No. 16 Nebraska will provide the opposition Sunday's weekend finale at 2 p.m. inside the Devaney Center.

Currently winners of their last seven duals, the 'Cats are in the midst of their longest win streak since rattling off eight consecutive victories in a run that spanned the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons.

LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern picked up wins in six of the day's nine bouts, including five straight tilts to close the dual, as it rolled to an 18-11 victory over No. 9 Minnesota in the Big Ten Conference opener this past Saturday Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Maxx Mayfield (165 pounds) opened the afternoon with a bang, using a last-second takedown to knock off No. 22 Andrew Sparks by a 6-4 margin. After coming up on the wrong end of decisions in the following three bouts, Lucas Davison picked up his eighth straight win at 285 pounds, dispatching Garrett Joles, 4-1.

Chris Cannon used a four-point near fall in the waning seconds of his bout at 133 pounds to get past No. 22 Aaron Nagao, 7-4, before Frankie Tal-Shahar (141 pounds) made the most of a first-period takedown in a 2-1 triumph over No. 10 Jakob Bergeland.

At 149 pounds, Yahya Thomas was forced into overtime to extend his win streak to nine, edging out a 2-1 win against No. 15 Michael Blockhus. Trevor Chumbley (157 pounds) closed out the dual in style for Northwestern, knocking off No. 8 Brayton Lee, 8-4.

SCOUTING IOWA
Under the direction of five-time Big Ten Coach of the Year Tom Brands, Iowa, which sits at No. 2 in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Top 25, sports a spotless 9-0 mark in 2022-23 that includes a 2-0 ledger in Big Ten action following wins over Illinois, 25-19, and Purdue, 37-6, over the weekend.

Eight of the Hawkeyes probable starters for Friday night reside in the top 15 of the FloWrestling rankings at their respective weight classes, none of whom have been more impressive than Spencer Lee, who carries a 45-bout win streak into Friday's matchup at 125 pounds. Lee, a three-time NCAA Champion, picked up falls in both Hawkeye wins last weekend.

SCOUTING NEBRASKA
Nebraska, which hosts Minnesota on Friday night, has rattled off wins in its last three duals, most recently coasting past Gardner-Webb and Campbell by identical scores of 37-6 on January 7 in Buies Creek, N.C.

Now in his 23^rd year at the helm for the Huskers, head coach Mark Manning features a dynamic one-two punch in the pairing of All-Americans Peyton Robb and Mikey Labriola. Robb sits atop the FloWrestling rankings at 157 pounds after placing fourth at last season's NCAA Championships, while Labriola, a four-time All-American at 174 pounds, is ranked second.

SERIES STUFF
Friday's nationally televised showdown in Iowa City will mark 83^rd all-time meeting between Northwestern and Iowa in wrestling, a series in which the Hawkeyes have dominated to the tune of 74-7-1 (.908).

Iowa extended its win streak in the series to 13 last season at Welsh-Ryan Arena, downing the 'Cats in a 33-6 decision that included wins by Cannon and Tal-Shahar.

Nebraska owns a 16-2 (.889) lead in the 18 previous meetings between the Wildcats and Huskers. Since joining the Big Ten prior to the 2011-12 season, Nebraska has won all eight duals between the two programs.

Nebraska picked up a 23-12 win over the 'Cats in the 2022 meeting between the two sides in Evanston. Four 'Cats picked up victories, with Cannon, Lucas Davison, Michael DeAugustino, and Ryan Deakin all registering decision wins.

WEEKEND PROBABLES
#11 Northwestern
125: #4 Michael DeAugustino
133: #11 Chris Cannon
141: #10 Frankie Tal-Shahar
149: #4 Yahya Thomas
157: #9 Trevor Chumbley
165: HM Maxx Mayfield
174: #21 Troy Fisher -OR- Ankhaa Enkhmandakh
184: Evan Bates
197: HM Andrew Davison
285: #4 Lucas Davison

#2 Iowa
125: #1 Spencer Lee
133: #12 Brody Teske -OR- Cullan Schriever
141: Drew Bennett
149: #8 Max Murin
157: #17 Cobe Siebrecht
165: #10 Patrick Kennedy
174: #17 Nelson Brands
184: #8 Abe Assad
197: Zach Glazier
285: #3 Tony Cassioppi

#16 Nebraska
125: #8 Liam Cronin
133: HM Boo Dryden -OR- Alex Thomsen
141: #5 Brock Hardy
149: Dayne Morton -OR- Blake Cushing
157: #1 Peyton Robb
165: #21 Bubba Wilson
174: #2 Mikey Labriola
184: #15 Lenny Pinto -OR- Brandyn Van Tassell
197: #25 Silas Allred
285: Cale Davidson

*All rankings courtesy of FloWrestling (January 9)

UP NEXT
Northwestern opens a brief two-dual homestand on Friday, January 20 when it welcomes to No. 25 Illinois to Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m.

No. 11 Northwestern Visits No. 2 Iowa, No. 16 Nebraska This Weekend

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Players Mentioned

Evan Bates

Chris Cannon

Trevor Chumbley

Andrew Davison

Lucas Davison

Ryan Deakin

Michael DeAugustino

Ankhaa Enkhmandakh

Troy Fisher

Maxx Mayfield

Frankie Tal-Shahar

Yahya Thomas

Northwestern University Athletics