No. 14 ‘Cats Host No. 25 Illinois For Alumni Night Friday

NORTHWESTERN WRESTLING: DUAL INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	Live Stream
Friday, January 20	#25 Illinois	7 p.m.	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Ill.	B1G+
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EVANSTON, Ill. (January 19, 2023) – After back-to-back matchups on the road, No. 14 Northwestern wrestling begins a two-dual homestand on Friday evening when it welcomes No. 25 Illinois to Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. The matchup with the Fighting Illini will also serve as the program's Alumni Night.

LAST TIME OUT
Northwestern dropped a pair of decisions last weekend, falling to No. 2 Iowa, 27-9, and No. 16 Nebraska, 22-15.

Three 'Cats picked up victories against the Hawkeyes, none bigger than No. 4 Yahya Thomas' thrilling 3-2 win over No. 8 Max Murin at 149 pounds. No. 11 Chris Cannon (133 pounds) and Andrew Davison (197 pounds) also put points on the board for Northwestern.

No. 4 Lucas Davison (285 pounds) and Maxx Mayfield (165 pounds) provided the fireworks in Sunday's weekend finale with the Cornhuskers. Davison registered his third fall of 2023, needing only 43 seconds to put away Cale Davidson, while Mayfield, wrestling in his hometown, used a four-point near fall in the third period to distance himself from Bubba Wilson in a 7-2 decision. Cannon and Thomas added wins of their own to close out 2-0 weekends and remain undefeated in Big Ten Conference action.

SCOUTING ILLINOIS
Ranked 25^th in the latest National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) Top 25, Illinois (4-3, 2-1 B1G) is coming off back-to-back wins at home against No. 13 Wisconsin, 18-17, and Purdue, 31-9. The Fighting Illini pushed No. 2 Iowa to the limit in the Big Ten opener for both sides back on January 6, dropping a 25-19 decision.

Now in his second year at Illinois, head coach Mike Poeta's team features a trio of wrestlers ranked inside the top 10 of the FloWrestling rankings. That group is paced by Edmond Ruth, who has rattled off 20 consecutive wins since a season-opening defeat to climb up to No. 4 at 174 pounds.

At 133 pounds, No. 8 Lucas Byrd, a two-time All-American, is set for a showdown with Cannon in a battle of Big Ten unbeatens, while No. 9 Zac Braunagel hasn't tasted defeat since early December and is coming off a 19-6 major decision victory in Illinois' aforementioned win over Purdue last weekend.

Both Ruth and Braunagel claimed individual titles at the 58^th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships in Hoffman Estates, Ill. this past December.

SERIES STUFF
Friday evening's matchup in Evanston will serve as the 86^th installment of the rivalry between Northwestern and Illinois in wrestling. The Fighting Illinois lead the all-time series, which dates back to 1922, 49-34-2 (.588).

Northwestern prevailed when the two in-state foes met last season in Champaign, Ill., rolling to a 26-13 win. The 'Cats posted wins in six of the day's 10 matches, highlighted by falls from both Thomas and Andrew Davison and a technical fall from Ryan Deakin.

PROBABLE LINEUPS
#14 Northwestern
125: #5 Michael DeAugustino
133: #11 Chris Cannon
141: #10 Frankie Tal-Shahar
149: #4 Yahya Thomas
157: #14 Trevor Chumbley
165: #24 Maxx Mayfield
174: #19 Troy Fisher
184: Evan Bates -OR- Jon Halvorsen
197: HM Andrew Davison
285: #4 Lucas Davison

#25 Illinois
125: Maximo Renteria
133: #8 Lucas Byrd
141: HM Danny Pucino
149: Jake Harrier
157: #12 Mike Carr -OR- Anthony Frederico
165: #12 Dan Braunagel
174: #4 Edmond Ruth
184: HM Dylan Connell
197: #9 Zac Braunagel
285: Matt Wroblewski

*All individual rankings courtesy of FloWrestling (January 16)

UP NEXT
Northwestern is back on the Welsh-Ryan Arena mat on Friday, January 27 when it plays host to No. 16 Wisconsin at 7 p.m.

No. 14 ‘Cats Host No. 25 Illinois For Alumni Night Friday

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Players Mentioned

Evan Bates

Chris Cannon

Trevor Chumbley

Andrew Davison

Lucas Davison

Ryan Deakin

Michael DeAugustino

Troy Fisher

Jon Halvorsen

Maxx Mayfield

Frankie Tal-Shahar

Yahya Thomas

Northwestern University Athletics