IllinoisWrestling.Com

Here are the final seeds for the Midlands - brackets will be drawn after weighins are complete.

http://www.illinoiswrestling.com/2008-2009/results/Final_Seeds.pdf

I’ll be there shooting photos at the finals…

Between the Midlands and Northwestern’s Big Ten home schedule, I had the opportunity to see 11/20 finalists actually wrestle before the NCAA Championship Finals. Now if Northwestern had wrestled home matches against, Ohio State and Michigan this year, that number would have jumped up to 16 finalists…and it’s possible those matches could have been at home (e.g. they saw them on the road I believe this year).

I’d encourage local high school wrestlers and ikwf and iesa wrestlers to get more involved with attending wrestling matches. I don’t think we are going to lose NU as a wrestling program any time soon, but we have lost or will lose a 3 wrestling program in the past two years.

Get involved in all three of the Division I programs we have in the state and the many other Junior College programs and D2 and D3 programs that still remain in Illinois…let’s put some butts in seats next year and support these wrestlers…

Jeff Pape
WrestlingGear.Com - Wrestling Shoes and Wrestling Equipment
PapeLacrosseEquipment.Com - adidas Lacrosse shoes, glove, and more

EVANSTON, Ill. - A pair of Northern Illinois wrestlers went undefeated on the opening day of the 2007 Midlands Wrestling Tournament, and the Huskies sit in fifth place of 53 teams entering the final day in Evanston.

Northern Illinois has totaled 39 points as a team, 11.5 off the event-leading Iowa, and only two behind Mid-American Conference foe Central Michigan, which sits tied for third.

Pat Castillo (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township) earned two major decisions during Saturday’s action. After a first-round bye, the 133-pounder defeated Laramie Schaffer of Iowa State 13-4, then beat Christian Smith of Liberty 11-2. The wins are Castillo’s sixth and seventh major decisions of the year.

Huskie Duke Burk (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame) also impressed on day one at Midlands. The redshirt sophomore capitalized on three victories to move on to the quarterfinals of the 174-poud bracket. Burk, the third-seeded wrestler in his class, will face Iowa’s Jay Borschel, the sixth seed, Sunday.

NIU continues competition at Midlands Sunday at 12 p.m. The final session begins at 7:20 p.m. and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.

Here are the photos…

http://www.illinoiswrestling.com/2007_2008/photos/2007_niu_vs_nu/

I did not use a flash so I let the red and white lights make the photos a little more “art” then I have done in the past. Also, I was able to catch some cool sequences of action by not using the flash…not sure if I like the photos this way…although it’s probably our only duel that will be in a dark place with spot lights.

Jeff Pape
WrestlingGear.Com, Ltd - Wrestling Shoes and Wrestling Equipment

DeKALB, Ill. - Redshirt sophomore Duke Burk defeated Northwestern’s Nick Hayes, giving Northern Illinois wrestling the final push it needed to upset the No. 5 Wildcats, 22-19, Friday at the Convocation Center.

Burk (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame), ranked 13th in the nation at 174 pounds, executed a first-round takedown to catalyze a 3-1 win over the eighth-ranked Hayes. Burk said some pre-match studying helped him toward the win.

“He wrestled my brother (former NIU wrestler Danny Burk) last year,” Burk said. “I watched the tape of that, so I kind of knew what (Hayes) was going to do going in.”

Burk used that knowledge to counter when Hayes attacked.

“He got a single-leg, but I’m pretty comfortable scrambling and scrambled enough to get my own takedown,” Burk said.

That takedown proved to be the difference in the match. Burk’s victory gave the Huskies a 22-16 advantage, which they rode to the three-point triumph.

The win caps off a run of dual meets against the top teams in the country for Northern Illinois. The Huskies lost to both No. 3 Iowa State and No. 1 Minnesota before besting the Wildcats.

“After you’ve (wrestled good team) so many times, I think those top-ranked teams don’t get that extra confidence walking into your building,” NIU head coach Dave Grant said.

Northern Illinois redshirt freshman Jake Smith (Bennington, Neb./Bennington) opened the night with a 5-4 win at 197. Smith narrowly defeated Carl Howe thanks to a late stalling penalty against the Wildcat and an escape by Smith with 13 seconds left on the clock.

Huskie veteran Pat Castillo (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township), a redshirt senior at 133 pounds, earned a major decision 12-4 win over Robert Joyce for Northern Illiois’ third win of the night. Castillo captured an impressive five takedowns en route to victory.

“You can look at the score, and every match was key,” Grant said. “You turn any match around and they win.”

Grant’s squad also earned points thanks to two Northwestern forfeits. Wildcat head coach Tim Cysewski did not field a wrestler at 141 pounds or in the heavyweight division.

Victor E. Court filled-up with 701 spectators for the match, a factor Grant thinks helped his team to the win.

“I really believe the crowd helps in a lot of those situations,” he said. “Like with Duke and 20 seconds left coming down to the end and for Jake Smith, it was a boost for him.”

The NIU wrestling team became the second Huskie squad to upset a Northwestern team ranked in top-10 this season. Earlier in the year, the Northern Illinois men’s soccer team upended the ninth-ranked Wildcats 2-1 in double-overtime.

The Huskies return to action Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Convocation Center when they host Augustana (Ill.) at 1:05 p.m.

“The eight guys that wrestled tonight did an outstanding job,” assistant coach Drew Pariano said. “I couldn’t be happier with them.”

Sophomore Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) stayed unbeaten on the season, winning on a fall against T.J. Wunnicke at 1:30 into the match in the 125-lb. division. Redshirt freshman Andrew Nadhir (Bloomfield Hills, Mich./Detroit Catholic Central), redshirt sophomore Dominic Marella (Roselle, Ill./Conant) and graduate Adil Kolovic (Chicago, Ill./Niles West High School) also picked up victories on the night.

“Precin’s propensity to pin is absolutely unparalleled this year,” Pariano said.

Nadhir took a 4-13, 19-10 win after three periods of wrestling. Nadhir notched six takedowns overall. Gould won by a 4-10, 19-13 decision after three periods as well, with two take downs.

Marella scored a takedown at 1:36, escaped in the second period and scored another takedown in the third frame for the 0-6, 19-16 win.

Filling in at 184 lbs., Kolovic followed a scoreless first session with two reversals in the second two periods and won his first Big Ten match, 1-4, 22-19.

“It’s a truly amazing accomplish for Kolovic to come from wrestling in Division III and now come away with a win in his first dual meet,” Pariano said.

NU had to forfeit two weight classes, as it did not have enough healthy wrestlers to compete at 141 lbs. and the heavyweight divisions.
“To have to give up 12 points in a college match is a very difficult margin to overcome,” Pariano said.

Next up for the Wildcats are the NU Duals against North Dakota State and Southern Illinois at 2 p.m. Dec. 8 at Welsh-Ryan Arena.

Huskies Take 29-5 Win Over Northern Colorado

Northern Illinois takes one dual win at Rochester Duals.

	Northern Illinois’ Kalen Knull captured a win for the Huskies, Saturday.