This weekend, a total of 19 wrestlers ranked by InterMat are probable to take the mat; four for Northwestern, eight for Penn State and seven for Iowa.
Fans can watch both matches this weekend on the Big Ten Digital Network, which airs on Wildcat All-Access on NUsports.com.
Friday Night Promotions
Friday is Family Fun Night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, presented by Coke Zero, where families will enjoy free hot dogs courtesy of Vienna Beef and free Coke Zero in a color-changing Northwestern wrestling mug. Fans are invited to stay after the match to get your Northwestern Wrestling schedule poster signed by the team at the post-match autograph session.
Pariano to Appear on Takedown Radio This Saturday
Northwestern head coach Drew Pariano will be a guest on the Takedown Radio broadcast airing this Saturday. Pariano is scheduled to be on the show in the 10 a.m. hour and fans can listen to a live streak online at www.takedownradio.com. Northwestern wrestling fans in the Des Moines, Iowa, area can listen live on 1460 WXNO.
Scouting the Nittany Lions
Penn State is currently the top-ranked team in the country according to InterMat, and WIN Magazine polls. The Nittany Lions are 5-1 in dual action, losing their lone match of the season on Nov. 20, 23-14 to Minnesota. Since then, PSU has won four-straight duals, including a 50-0 shutout of Lock Haven and most recently, a 36-6 win over Michigan State last weekend. The Nittany Lions also won the team title at the Southern Scuffle with four individual champions. Eight Nittany Lions are currently ranked, including No. 10 Nico Megaludis (125), No. 1 Frank Molinaro (149), No. 9 Dylan Alton (157), No. 1 David Taylor (165), No. 2 Ed Ruth (174), No. 2 Quentin Wright (184), No. 12 Morgan McIntosh (197), No. 6 Cameron Wade (Hwt). Penn State has four returning All-Americans on this year's roster (Molinaro, Taylor, Ruth and Wright).
Scouting the Hawkeyes
Iowa won the team title at the 49th Annual Ken Kraft Midlands Championships at Welsh-Ryan Arena and is out to a 7-1 record in dual action. The Hawkeyes saw their 84-dual unbeaten streak come to an end Saturday night against Oklahoma State. Despite splitting 10 matches, the Cowboys outscored the Hawkeyes 54-51 in match points to earn the 17-16 victory. Iowa visits Nebraska Friday before hosting the Wildcats on Sunday. Like Penn State, Iowa has a number of ranked wrestlers in the latest InterMat poll, including No. 2 Matt McDonough (125), this week's Big Ten Wrestler of the Week, No. 2 Tony Ramos (133), No. 3 Montell Marion (141), No. 2 Derek St. John (157), No. 9 Mike Evans (165), No. 11 Ethen Lofthouse (174), No. 19 Grant Gambrall (197) and No. 8 Bobby Telford (Hwt). All, with the exception of St. John, are listed as probable starters for Sunday.
How Do You Rank?
Depending on what wrestling poll you look at, Northwestern is wrestling either the No. 1 or No. 3 team in the country Friday night and then the No. 2, or No. 4 team Sunday. Either way, this weekend brings tough competition for the Wildcats, who come in ranked as high as 17th and are also tabbed at No. 22 in two other polls. Here's a breakdown of the InterMat, WIN Magazine and USA Today/NWCA Coaches Polls.
InterMat WIN NWCA
Northwestern 22 22 T17
Penn State 1 1 3
Iowa 4 T2 2
Probable Starters
Weight Northwestern Penn State Iowa
125 #7 Levi Mele #10 Nico Megaludis #2 Matt McDonough
133 Jameson Oster Frank Martellotti OR Derek Reber #2 Tony Ramos
141 Colin Shober OR Pat Greco Bryan Pearsall #3 Montell Marion
149 Kaleb Friedley #1 Frank Molinaro Mark Ballweg OR Mike Kelly
157 #3 Jason Welch #9 Dylan Alton Nick Moore
165 Pierce Harger #1 David Taylor #9 Mike Evans
174 #9 Lee Munster #2 Ed Ruth #11 Ethen Lofthouse
184 Robert Kellogg OR Marcus Shrewsbury #2 Quentin Wright Jeremy Fahler OR Vinnie Wagner
197 John Schoen #12 Morgan McIntosh #19 Grant Gambrall OR Tomas Lira
Hwt #19 Mike McMullan #6 Cameron Wade #8 Bobby Telford
*InterMat rankings used
Last Time Out
Last weekend, the Wildcats opened up the 2011-12 Big Ten dual campaign, hosting No. 7 Michigan and then visiting Wisconsin. The Wolverines escaped Welsh-Ryan Arena with a 28-9 win, but Northwestern bounced back with a 33-9 victory over the Badgers on Sunday. Northwestern relied heavily on bonus points in its bout on Sunday with three major decisions and two pins. Despite all of the wins by bonus points, redshirt freshman Pierce Harger recorded the biggest win of the weekend for the 'Cats, upsetting Wisconsin's No. 8 Ben Jordan 4-2 at 165 lbs.
Juniors Levi Mele and Jason Welch both went 2-0 on the weekend. Mele got the 'Cats out to a 6-0 lead vs. Michigan by pinning Grant Pizzo in 3:36 and then added a major decision to his record, defeating Wisconsin's Austin Hietpas 14-1 on Sunday. Welch won his 11th and 12th bouts of the season, knocking off Michigan's Brandon Zeerip 2-0 on Friday and then pinned his third opponent of the season, Shawn Perry from Wisconsin, in 3:41 Sunday. With the wins, Mele improves to 19-2 on the season and Welch is a perfect 12-0.
Have We Met?
Friday's match will be the first time Northwestern has wrestled Penn State at any event this year, but the Wildcats and Hawkeyes are somewhat familiar with one another as Midlands featured a number of bouts between the two teams. Three exciting rematches could take place Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye at 174, 197 and heavyweight. In the Midlands finals at 174 lbs., No. 5 seed Lee Munster met second-seeded Ethen Lofthouse and the NU redshirt freshman defeated the Hawkeye 7-3 to win the title. Two other matches featuring the Wildcats and Hawkeyes went to overtime at Midlands. At the 197 lbs. seventh place match, unseeded John Schoen was edged 3-1 in sudden victory by No. 7 seed Grant Gambrall and No. 10 seed Mike McMullan also lost a close 4-2 overtime match against No. 3 seed Bobby Telford.
In the Bonus
This year, Northwestern is racking up the bonus points, as 71 of its 152 wins have been by either major decision, technical fall or fall. Individually, Levi Mele and Jason Welch also have a number of wins with bonus points. Mele has scored extra points in 11 of his 21 matches (or 52.4 percent of his bouts this year) while Welch has eight bonus point wins in 12 bouts (66.7 percent). Northwestern has 37 pins, 26 major decisions and eight tech falls on the season.
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