“As usual, our schedule is very challenging,” Illinois head coach Jim Heffernan said. “We try to make sure that our wrestlers face some of the best teams and individuals nationally throughout the year to best prepare them for the postseason. Between our duals and tournament schedule, we have achieved that.”
After facing Missouri on Nov. 12, the Fighting Illini’s next event will be the Cliff Keen Las Vegas Invitational on Dec. 3-4, one of the top early tournaments in collegiate wrestling. Illinois then returns home for final exams before hosting Purdue on Dec. 19. Just before the calendar turns to the new year, the Illini compete in the 48th annual Midlands Championships in Evanston, Ill., on Dec. 29 and 30.
Illinois then welcomes West Virginia to Huff Hall on Jan. 7 before continuing Big Ten action at Northwestern on Jan. 14 and at Wisconsin on Jan. 16. The Illini return home to wrestle SIU Edwardsville on Jan. 21 and Minnesota on Jan. 23. The Orange and Blue will travel to Ann Arbor, Mich., to face the Wolverines on Jan. 30 before coming back to Huff Hall on Feb. 4 to face Ohio State.
On Feb. 11, the Illini square off with Penn State in University Park, Pa., before traveling to Lock Haven for a dual on Feb. 12. Former Illini NCAA champion Matt Lackey currently is an assistant coach at Lock Haven. After returning home from the east coast, the Illini welcome Indiana to Huff Hall for the final dual of the season as well as the third-annual “Great Escape” promotion.
The 2011 Big Ten Championships will be held at Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston, Ill., on March 5-6, 2011, and the 2011 NCAA Championships will be held in the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia, Pa., from March 17-19.
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