Jan. 11, 2008
DeKALB, Ill. - The Northern Illinois wrestling team opens Mid-American Conference competition Saturday, when the Huskies take on Buffalo at 1 p.m. on Victor E. Court. The Huskies will also wrestle Findlay.
NIU's 12th-year head coach Dave Grants sees the match as milestone moment of the year.
"Obviously we've had some pretty big meets, and this is another big one," Grant said. "It's the first opportunity in the conference, which is the way we get to nationals. It's a very important situation for us to go out and wrestle hard and compete well."
Most of the Huskies starters have had almost two weeks off since competing at the 2007 Midlands Wrestling Championships, one of the biggest tournament in the Midwest.
"We've been training extremely hard since Midlands and we've made some great strides in the last two weeks," Grant said.
The Huskies will have to put that improvement to good use when they face the Bulls, who Grant sees as an unusual opponent.
"Because of how far out east it is, guys tend to have a style about staying on the mat a little more," Grant said. "Also, they're so far away from us we don't have an opportunity to match-up or see common opponents so it's very difficult to get a grasp on how we are in comparison to them."
Grant plans to counter the difficulty of scouting by emphasizing the things he and his team can control.
"We pretty much key on what we do, where we have to go, our style and focus inward on our performances," he said.
Buffalo has wrestlers in the MAC rankings in seven of the 10 weight classes, but Grant knows every match can have an equal effect on the meet's outcome.
"It's a team thing, we've got to be ready for them from 125 to heavyweight," he said.
While the main focus of the weekend may be on the opening of the MAC season, Grant knows better than to overlook Findlay, the 14th-ranked team in Division-II and alma mater of Huskie assistant coach Ryan Ludwig.
"They've had some pretty big wins against division-I competition," Grant said. "It's team we're really going to have to pay attention to and wrestle hard."
The Huskies will open the day against Buffalo at 1 p.m., followed by Buffalo versus Findlay, and Northern Illinois against Findlay will cap off the day of competition.
