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    No. 12 NU Opens Big Ten Slate at No. 3 Minnesota
    Marquee match at heavyweight featuring two All-Americans
    NUSPORTSDOTCOM
    True freshman Dominick Malone is out to a 6-1 start at 125 lbs.

    NUSPORTSDOTCOM
    True freshman Dominick Malone is out to a 6-1 start at 125 lbs.
     NUSPORTSDOTCOM

    Dec. 5, 2012

    No. 12 Northwestern (3-0) at No. 3 Minnesota (6-1)
    7 p.m. • Sports Pavilion (Minneapolis, Minn.)
    Live Stats: TrackWrestling.com
    Live Video: Wildcats All-Access
    Live Blog: GopherSports.com
    Live Tweets: @GopherWrestling

    2012-13 Northwestern Wrestling Season Stats Get Acrobat Reader


     

     

    Friday's Match
    No. 12 Northwestern opens up the always-competitive Big Ten schedule Friday on the road at No. 3 Minnesota in Minneapolis. Match time is set for 7 p.m. inside the Sports Pavilion. This is the lone match of the weekend for Northwestern and first conference dual until No. 4 Ohio State visits Evanston on Sunday, Jan. 6.

    Best of the Big Ten
    Northwestern’s first three conference duals are against some of the top teams in the Big Ten. The Wildcats get an early test against third-ranked Minnesota Friday and then January also begins with back-to-back top-10 opponents when No. 4 Ohio State stops by Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday, Jan. 6 and the next weekend, No. 9 Nebraska visits on Saturday, Jan. 12.

    After that, NU has five more Big Ten matches (Michigan State, Michigan, Purdue, Illinois and Indiana) and No. 14 Michigan is the highest-ranked team out of that group. The Wildcats will not face defending NCAA Champions and No. 1-ranked Penn State or No. 5 Iowa on this year’s Big Ten dual schedule.

    Last Time Out
    Northwestern won 17 of 20 bouts in its home-opener last Saturday at Welsh-Ryan Arena, shutting out Stevens Tech, 45-0 and then following that up with a 33-12 victory over Duke. The Wildcats won 10 matches with bonus points, including five by fall. NU’s shutout of Stevens Tech was the first for the program since shutting out South Dakota State in 2010.

    NU’s biggest win of the day came at 197 lbs. against Duke as then-unranked Alex Polizzi upset then-No. 18 Conner Hartman, 6-2.

    Probable Starters
    125 - #15 Dominick Malone (6-1) vs. #8 David Thorn (4-1)
    133 - #9 Levi Mele (5-1) OR John Coukos (2-5) vs. #5 Chris Dardanes (4-0)
    141 – Jameson Oster (5-1) OR Colin Shober (1-4) OR Pat Greco (5-3) vs. #14 Nick Dardanes (9-2)
    149 – Dylan Marriott (4-4) vs. Seth Lange (3-3)
    157 - #2 Jason Welch (9-0) vs. Brad Dolezal (13-4) OR Danny Zilverberg (4-1)
    165 - #12 Pierce Harger (8-0) vs. #12 Cody Yohn (8-3)
    174 - #8 Lee Munster (7-0) vs. Logan Storley (9-0) OR Alec Ortiz (0-1)
    184 – Marcus Shrewsbury (3-3) vs. #4 Kevin Steinhaus (8-0)
    197 - #17 Alex Polizzi (6-2) vs. #13 Scott Schiller (10-0)
    285 - #8 Mike McMullan (6-1) vs. #1 Tony Nelson (10-0)
    Lineups subject to change

    "Like" Northwestern University Wrestling on Facebook!
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    Latest Rankings
    Northwestern moved up to No. 12 in the latest USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll and has a number of wrestlers ranked in the various polls. Here’s a look at the latest rankings:
     
    • USA Today/NWCA/AWN Division I Coaches Poll (Team Rankings)
    • AWN Individual Rankings
    • InterMat Rankings
    • WIN Magazine Rankings

    Scouting Minnesota
    Minnesota was ranked No. 1 in the country last week but dropped two spots in the USA Today/NWCA AWN Division I Coaches Poll after losing to then-No. 3 Oklahoma State, 22-15. The Gophers are 6-1 on the year and Friday will be their second Big Ten dual after opening the conference slate with a win at Nebraska (27-2) on Nov. 16. Minnesota finished runner-up at the 2012 NCAA Championships and return five of its seven All-Americans, including NCAA Champion Tony Nelson. The heavyweight bout will be one of the marquee matches Friday as Nelson and NU’s Mike McMullan squared off at last year’s NCAA Championships. McMullan met Nelson in the semis and that was the Wildcat’s lone loss en route to his third-place finish. Nelson entered the season with a 25-match winning streak and is 10-0 so far this year, extending his streak to 35 matches.

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