Northern Illinois Vs. Northwestern

[FatalCradle]

December 1st at 7:05pm at the NIU Convocation Center.
This dual has the makings of a great matchup! NIU has an underrated squad that is wrestling like it is hungry for respect. Northwestern has some talented individuals, but also some holes in their lineup. This is going to be a heated, in-state battle of rivals in DeKalb. U.S. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert will be in attendance too! Pivotal matchups should be at 125, 141, 174, 184 and Hvy.

Matchups will probably look something like this:
125- Castillo (NIU) vs. Valez (NW)
133- Hiatt (NIU) vs. Quintela
141- Wooton (NIU) vs. Lang (NW)
149- Grimes (NIU) vs. Lozdoski (NW)
157- Owen (NIU) vs. Hagel (NW)
165- Galloway (NIU) vs. Durkee (NW)
174- Burk (NIU) vs. Herbert (NW)
184- McClone (NIU) vs. Tamillow (NW)
197- Hunsinger (NIU) vs. Delguyd (NW)
HWT- Sapp (NIU) vs. Fox (NW)

PREDICTIONS??

[Dhodge]

This dual is by no means a great matchup, i say norwestern wins 7 matches with bonus points at a few weights. I say best turnout for NIU is winning 4-5 matches if they wrestle their best, but they would still loose to bonus points from herbert (how could this be a pivital matchup, Herbert is a BEAST), Tamillow, maybe lang (he majored wooton last year) posibly even at 125. And if northwestern wrestles their best the turnout would be loosing one match at 149. Its just hard to see this dual going NIU's way they just aren't on the same level as Northwestern in my oppinion.

[FatalCradle]

I think you underestimate the boys in DeKalb, my friend.

[Dhodge]

I think it is not me underestimating them, but this site and alot of ppl over estimating them. Yes i would love to see NIU do great things this year, but stop lying to your self. Also why does this site say galloway is ranked 16th? where is that, this is the most recent rankings for 165.
165
1. Letters, Troy, Lehigh, Sr
2. Hendricks, Johny, Oklahoma State, Jr
3. Churella, Ryan, Michigan, Sr
4. Pell, Matt, Missouri, Jr
5. Paulson, Travis, Iowa State, Jr
6. Abdurakhmanov, Muzaffar, American, Sr
7. Nagel, Matt, Minnesota, Sr
8. Nestor, Justin, Pittsburgh, Sr
9. Bracamonte, Joey, Oregon, Sr
10. Baima, Nick, Northern Iowa, Jr
11. Pitsch, Patrick, Arizona State, So
12. Penn, Deonte, Edinboro, Jr
13. Bertulis, James, Bloomsburg, Sr
14. Seibert, Shane, Fresno State, Jr
15. Poeta, Michael, Illinois, Fr
16. Anceravage, Steve, Cornell, So
17. King, Jarrod, Oklahoma, Fr
18. Donar, Jake, Wisconsin, So
19. Durkee, Will, Northwestern, Sr
20. Atkinson, Garrett, North Carolina, Sr

[admin]

Also why does this site say galloway is ranked 16th?
That is an old graphic on the home page supplied by NIU. I believe that was his pre-season ranking before the two open tournaments.

[Hanging out in Cali]

Northwestern is ranked higher than NIU for good reason. Cysewski has got the team moving in the right direction and is starting to compete with some of the better teams in the country. While NIU is also improving and great for Illinois wrestling, it is not yet the same caliber. Northwestern wins 6-7 matches with bonus points at 141, 174, 184, and 197. While the meet may be close with lots of competitive matches, the overall score will not be that close, like 27-10. The best matches should be 157 and 165 with each team taking a close match. If NIU is able to get falls in the matches they win and take both of these weights they can make it close, but Northwestern with a full line-up will win in any scenario.

[baddoz11]

I believe Castillo will beat Velez at 125....Castillo was very impressive at 133 last year and should be even tougher at 125 this year. I think he will impress a lot of people tomorrow night.

[Huskie184]

I am obviously very bias here, but I think that a lot of these matches will be great ones:
125-If you have seen each wrestle, they are each very quick and slick. Should be a great match with a lot of action.
133-Each has been wrestling great so far in their open tournament appearances.
141-Match of the night for sure. Lang did major Josh last year, but I watched the match, and this year will be much different I think. I am not saying Josh will win, but it will be much closer.
149-We are definately favored here with Mike. He is ranked top 10 in the country and has wrestled that way so far. Brandon is a tough kid though and could keep this one close.
157-I have no idea about Northwestern's guy at all here. I know Aaron looks tough at Stevens Point then kinda froze up in Omaha. I hope he wrestles his best.
165-I have not seen Durkee wrestle but I heard he lost to Cozart at MSU. Cozart is tough but I have wrestled Johnny and COzart and Johnny is better. But that does not mean anything, but this will be a great bout.
174-Herbert is an animal and has been wrestling tough. Danny has been wrestling tough too though, earning himself a #14 ranking, but like I have been told, rankings and a takedown still scores you 2 points. I am not gonna say Danny is gonna win, but he is ready.
184-Tamillow has been wrestling tough so far. He had a great season for a true freshman last year and had some huge wins. I like how he wrestles as he never stops. McClone never stops either and is mean, so this will be a hard fought 7 minuter.
197-Derek beat Delguyd at MSU last year and then lost to him in the dual and then Delguyd had a great national tournament. Each is very strong and is athletic for a big guy.
285-Sapp is my man. He looked tough against Fox last year and beat him. Fox did have a better year last year and is ranked 5th in the latest rankings I have seen. Sapp is underrated and can wrestle with anyone when on and in shape, which he is hopefully both right now.

I am not gonna say we are gonna win or we are gonna lose. I am just looking for a great dual with great wrestling. And I also hope that a lot of people show up for the instate rivals.

[James_Oliva]

I'm obivously a little biased here, being a Northern Alum, people always seem to look past NIU. I don't think Northwestern has any "for sure wins" (no such thing) either.

125: Valez and Pat Castillo should be a close match. Pat's pretty tough, could surprise some people during the season.

133: I think Andy Hiatt's wrestling in a weight class that he should've been at all along (although that was impossible with Sam there before).

141: Lang and Wooton are both pretty funky. Josh beat Daniel Frishkorn this weekend, an All-American last seaon. Regaurdless of what happened last year, I don't think you can look past Wooton.

149: Lozdoski's going to be very good, but Mike's starting to turn the corner and I think will be a legit contender to All-American.

157: Aaron's gotta wrestle more consistenly and I don't know enough about Hagel to say anything.

165: Johnny Galloway has got to be one of the most over looked wrestlers out there (of course he does most of it to himself). How many times does he have to beat Jake Donar for it not to be considered an upset (totally unrelated here)? Johnny has more pure ability than just about anybody that has been at NIU during Grant's tenure. When he decides to wrestle he's dangerous, but....

174: Danny's very good at keeping matches close, that's all I'm really hoping for, as I don't think he can pull the upset here (but I'd like to be wrong).

184: Mike Tamillow is a stud. I started working out with him at the end of his senior year, I can't believe how quickly he's progressed. I really wished he would have chosen Northern but as a fan, at least I have somebody to follow in Evanston. McClone is tough and I actually saw him beat John McGovern (3x DIII Champ, lots of freestyle accolades, ect.), head coach at DIII Univ. of Dubuque at an Open tourney in the spring. Though McGovern is past his prime and no longer competing, I was still impressed by the walk-on freshman's performance. McClone is mean and very aggressive, but his technique is very sloppy.

197: I like Matt Delguyd, he's tough and has been at the core of Northwestern's turn around the last four seasons. I respect Matt a lot, however, Derrick has beaten him. They were one-and-one last season. Delguyd had a good NCAA tournament, while Derrick lost most of the year after breaking his orbital bone. I'd like to think that Derrick has improved since last year, so we'll see. Deffinatley no bonus points here.
HWT: Fox is tough and as performed well in his short tenure at NU, Sapp does have a win over him and has beaten several good heavies in his 3 season at NIU. However, again consistency is a problem.

Overall, I'm impressed by how quickly NU has turned around their program the last two seasons. I think it's funny to hear NIU isn't ast NU level yet, when NU has only been competitively good for about a season. I think we had three or four straight years of beating them, but things have changed and NIU's still in a bit of a rebuilding period. I don't think NU will blow NIU out of the water by any stretch. I wouldn't venture to guess the score but I can see each team winning five matches a piece.

Should be interesting.


Thanks,
J.D. Oliva
Infinite Entertainment

[Gantry]

Some great discussion so far, I'll repost my TheMat previews. Northwestern definitely has the edge but NIU can definitely make a match out of it!

----

I'll give it a shot, but keep in mind that I'm a NIU grad and am definitely biased. NIU has a very tough team from top to bottom but Northwestern matches up very well with NIU and matches their strong weights. For NIU to win, they will have to come out on top in vitually all the tossup matches.

125 - Velez is a stud, but Pat Castillo is a heck of a wrestler and will surprise people this year. It'll be a closer match than most think, but the experienced Velez has to be the favorite. Velez was injuried at the MSU Open so I'm not sure he's completely healthy for this one. Castillo finished a respectable 4th at Omaha last weekend, avenging his loss to Travis Lang of Minnesota and losing a close one to Donahue of Nebraska. 3-0 NW

133 - If Andy Hiatt is good with the weight, he has to be a slight favorite. Hiatt is cutting down from 141 and took 6th at the Kaufman Brand, losing 3-1 to Jorgeson in his final match. Quintella took 5th at the less competitive MSU Open, so I'm giving Andy the regular decision here. 3-3 TIE

141 - This is going to be the barnburner - Ryan Lang vs Josh Wooten. Both guys are all out goers and get themselves into crazy situations. Lang has looked very good this year, beating Andy Simmons in the MSU Open finals. Wooten placed 3rd at the Kaufman Brand, beating Frishkorn and Hirschberger along the way. If Wooten stays out of the funk Lang back points, he's got a good chance to win. It's a tossup but I'm going with Wooten since I'm a homer. 6-3 NIU

149 - This is NIU's one clear favorite weight with #6 Mike Grimes against Lodowski. Grimes doesn't rack up a ton of points, but I'm going with a major here based on their histories. 10-3 NIU

157 - Slight favorite to Northwestern's Greg Hagel here. Hagel had an up-and-down true freshman campaign last year, but he also had to bump up two weights due to injury late in the season. He has the high school pedigree (Blair Academy, 4th at senior nationals) and had a nice pin over superfreshman Matt Coughlin at the MSU Open. Aaron Owen (brother of NIU all-american Scott) is much improved this year but struggled at the Kaufman Brand, making Hagel the favorite. Owen can win this match though if he wrestles his hardnosed style. 10-6 NIU

165 - If NIU has any shot of winnning this dual, they have to win 165. Johnny Galloway is a great neutral wrestler with lots of big move potential. Will Durkee is a senior transfer who has looked solid this year, taking second to Rocky Cozart at the MSU Open. Galloway didn't place at Kaufman Brand, but took Eric leukde of Iowa to OT before getting pinned. If Johnny wrestles for the full seven minutes and stays off bottom, I think he takes this at home. 13-6 NIU

174 - This is where NIU is going to have a tough time, in the upper weights. Danny Burk has looked great this year, winning the Pointer Open then placing second at Kaufman Brand, beating Turner and Bertiniolo of ISU in the process. He placed ahead of Brandon Mason as well and his only loss was to a non-collegiate in the finals. All that being said, Herbert is head and shoulders above anyone he has wrestled. Burk stays in great position and doesn't tire, but I think he's going to have a hard time fighting off Herbert's offense. Given the way Herbert is tearing it up this year, I gotta go with a major here but wouldn't be surprised to see Burk make a match out of it. 13-10 NIU

184 - NIU's best wrestler at this weight is probably true freshman Duke Burk, but the coaches have deicded to redshirt him despite victories at the Pointer Open and the 20-and-under Kaufman Brand. I think it's the right decision and either Nick McClone or Dave Herrera will wrestle here. Tamillow is a heck of a wrestler and keeps getting better. If McClone goes out, he is going to definitely be giving up size and strength, as McClone started the year at 174 and Tamillow was at 211 in the freestyle season. Major for Northwestern. 14-13 NW

197 - Derrick Hunsinger of NIU is a goer and as strong as they come. He has done ok but not great in his two tournies so far and is still getting back into the swing of things after missing much of last season with a broken orbital socket in his eye. Matt Delguyd is a proven, solid wrestler with a Big Ten championship under his belt. I don't think it'll be a major, but Delguyd is a clear favorite. 17-13 NW

HWT - Joe Sapp is a solid, steady wrestler but Dustin Fox is the favorite here. Fox will have some size on Sapp, which is saying something. Offensively, I think Joe is going to have a tough time scoring, giving Fox a win with a few TDs. 20-13 NW

That's how I have it. NIU will definitely compete at most weights, but Northwestern has some impressive firepower from 174 to HWT. I'll be there and rooting for the Huskies, hopefully they can pull it off...

[tha dizzle]

mcgovern only won nationals 2 times for central.

[Hanging out in Cali]

I was pretty close with my 27-10 pick and with some of the matches. I said that there would be lots of close matches, but the overall score would not reflect it. NIU is a very good team just not yet the same caliber. I think this was a great showcase of two very good Illinois teams and both teams should be proud of their efforts. Unfortunately, in wrestling, the overall team score never shows how well the individuals wrestle. Good luck to both teams the rest of the year. I hope they will continue to improve and showcase Illinois wrestling along with U of I at nationals. Good Job guys.