Northwestern Opens Dual Slate Tuesday At Northern Illinois

EVANSTON, Ill. (December 18, 2023) – Northwestern wrestling officially lifts the lid on the dual potion of its 2023-24 schedule on Tuesday afternoon when it makes the short trip west to DeKalb, Ill. for a matinee with Northern Illinois. The Wildcats and Huskies are set to clash at 1 p.m. on Victor E. Court inside the Convocation Center.

SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS
Northern Illinois, which will also battle Kent State and Harper College on Tuesday, sits at 4-1 on the year. The Huskies are fresh off a 19-15 win over Cal Baptist this past Friday in DeKalb, Ill.

Led by Head Coach Ryan Ludwig, who is in his 13^th season with the Huskies, Northern Illinois returns five top-eight finishers from last season's Mid-American Conference (MAC) Championships. Highlighting the aforementioned group is the pairing of Blake West and Matthew Zuber. West, currently sitting at 11-2 on the year at 125 pounds, placed second overall at the league meet last season, while Zuber, who took eighth at 184 pounds, has a team-best 12 wins to his name in 2023-24.

SERIES STUFF
Tuesday's matchup will be the 38^th installment of the rivalry between Northwestern and Northern Illinois in wrestling, a series in which the 'Cats own a 25-10-2 (.703) advantage. Northwestern extended its lead in the all-time series when the two teams met last season on February 10, 2023, as eight Wildcats recorded victories in a 30-6 win at the Convocation Center.

PROBABLE LINEUPS
Northwestern
125: Massey Odiotti
133: Patrick Adams
141: #33 Joel VanderVere
149: Aiden Vandenbush
157: #14 Trevor Chumbley
165: #19 Maxx Mayfield
174: David Ferrante
184: #24 Troy Fisher
197: #28 Evan Bates
285: Jack Jessen

Northern Illinois
125: Blake West
133: Nathaniel Genobana -OR- Lucian Brink
141: Danny Curran -OR- Jacob Brya
149: Tommy Curran -OR- Jaivon Jones
157: Tommy Zuunbayan -OR- Alec Rees
165: Tommy Bennett -OR- Jake Evans -OR- Jake Stiles
174: Hayden Pummel -OR- Ricardo Salinas
184: Matthew Zuber -OR- Shane Moran -OR- Devonjae Hudson
197: Sean Carroll
285: Jacobi Jackson -OR- Jacob Christensen

*All individual rankings courtesy of InterMat (December 12)

UP NEXT
Northwestern returns to action December 29-30 when it hosts the 59^th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at NOW Arena in Hoffman Estates, Ill. More information, including a link to purchase tickets, can be found here.

Northwestern Opens Dual Slate Tuesday At Northern Illinois

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Players Mentioned

Patrick Adams

Evan Bates

Trevor Chumbley

David Ferrante

Troy Fisher

Jack Jessen

Maxx Mayfield

Massey Odiotti

Aiden Vandenbush

Joel VanderVere

Northwestern University Athletics