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Northwestern Wrestling Notes
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Feb. 2, 2006

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's 16th-ranked wrestling team returns home this weekend after nearly a month on the road to face Ohio State at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 3 at Welsh-Ryan Arena and No. 3 Illinois at 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 5 at Rolling Meadows High School. Friday's match also will feature a reunion of former Northwestern wrestlers who will be honored in a ceremony during the mid-match break.

The Wildcats enter the weekend looking to make up ground in the Big Ten standings after falling to No. 4 Michigan 22-15 last weekend. The 'Cats turned in a frantic rally late in the match and nearly pulled off the upset, but Michigan used it's lead from a five-match winning streak earlier in the dual to hang on for the win.

Northwestern can even its conference record with a solid performance versus the Buckeyes.

Ohio State is looking for its first conference win this season after it fell to top-ranked Minnesota and No. 3 Illinois at home last weekend. In their first Big Ten match of the season, the Buckeyes fell to No. 15 Indiana, 31-7.

Despite its winless conference mark, Ohio State has a plethora of talented wrestlers, including four ranked in the top-20 of most recent USAToday/NWCA/Intermat poll.

The Buckeyes' 174-pound wrestler Blake Maurer moved to 13-7 this season with a pair of upsets last weekend. Maurer topped Minnesota's 10th-ranked Gabriel Dretsch in sudden victory before pinning Illinois' Donny Reynolds at 2:15. Maurer is slated to wrestle Northwestern's second-ranked Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), who looks to keep his 29-match win steak alive this weekend.

The Wildcats then turn their attention to in-state foe Illinois on Sunday. The undefeated Illini are coming off wins at No. 15 Indiana and Ohio State last weekend. Illinois enters this weekend with six individuals ranked in the NWCA poll--five ranked top-10.

At 125 lbs., eighth-ranked John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) is expected to face Illinois' third-ranked Kyle Ott. Velez topped Ott 5-3 in their only meeting last season.

Another interesting matchup could come at the 184-pound weight class where No. 11 Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) looks to face fourth-ranked Pete Freidl. It will be the first meeting between the two wrestlers.

At 165 lbs., Will Durkee (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shady Side Academy) looks to face the Illini's eighth-ranked Michael Poeta. Durkee fell to Poeta 4-2 in a tight third-round bout earlier this season at Midlands.

Senior Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) needs just one win this weekend to reach the 100-win plateau. He will become only the 10th wrestler in program history to do so.

Probable Starting Lineup

Wt.  Wrestler	      Overall	Dual	Big Ten	Pins
125--John Velez 	17-4	9-1	3-0	--
133--Daniel Quintela 	7-12	1-6	0-3	--
141--Ryan Lang	        12-2	4-1	1-1	7
149--Jimmy Kim	        3-10	2-6	0-3	--
157--Greg Hagel	        14-11	4-6	0-3	2
165--Will Durkee	15-8	5-4	0-3	4
174--Jake Herbert	23-0	9-0	3-0	9
184--Mike Tamillow	16-4	5-3	2-1	3
197--Matt Delguyd	21-6	9-1	3-0	--
285--Dustin Fox	        19-7	7-3	1-2	2