March 6, 2008
KENT, Ohio - The Northern Illinois wrestling team opens competition at the Mid-American Conference Champions, Friday, looking to upend nationally-ranked competitors Central Michigan and Kent State.
The Huskies (11-7, 3-2 MAC) enter the tournament after finishing the regular season third in the MAC standings. Central Michigan, ranked second in the country, took the regular season championship with a 5-0 conference record and a 16-2 overall mark. Second seed and 21st-ranked Kent State went 4-1 in MAC duals and 14-5 overall. Eastern Michigan (15-7-1, 2-3), claimed fourth, followed by fifth-place Buffalo (8-7-1, 1-4) and Ohio (6-16, 0-5).
"We've had a great three weeks of hard training and we're really excited about competing this weekend," 12th-year head coach Dave Grant said. "This tournament is about going against your ranking, and going higher to do better than you did during this season. Turning losses into wins, coming out and being more dominant than the last time."
At stake this weekend are 19 bids to the NCAA Championships, held in St. Louis from March 20-22. Of those bids, 10 are automatic invitations given to the champions of each weight class. The remaining nine are at-large bids, given at the discretion of the NCAA. Last year, Northern Illinois captured three at-large berths in addition to an automatic bid for then-junior Pat Castillo (Western Springs, Ill./Lyons Township), who won the conference's 125-pound tournament and earned an at-large bid to nationals as a freshman.
"He's a guy that's always given us 100 percent and been very consistent throughout our career," Grant said. "He's feeling good, wrestling well, and scoring a lot of points. He's pretty tenacious about how he goes out and competes."
Now a senior, Castillo upped a weight class for the 2007-08 season, but has looked just as dominant, currently ranked 11th in the country. The nation's leader with 15 major decisions recorded a perfect MAC record for the second straight season and hasn't lost a match since December. Castillo will face tough competition at 133, where Eastern Michigan's Sean Clair and Kent State's Dan Mitcheff are ranked in the top-20. Castillo bested No. 15 Clair, 4-3, in February, but has not wrestled No. 19 Mitcheff, who was injured when the pair was scheduled to meet.
Also vying for a return trip to the NCAA Championships is redshirt-sophomore Duke Burk (Peoria, Ill./Notre Dame). Wrestling at 184 pounds last season, Burk fought his way to the MAC finals before losing to Christian Sinnott of Central Michigan. Still, Burk's performance earned him All-MAC honors and a bid to the national championships as a freshman. This year, Burk has trimmed to 174 pounds, where he's recorded a 22-4 record, including a signature win over then No. 8 Nick Hayes of Northwestern, nine major decisions and two technical falls.
To get to the MAC title that eluded him as a freshman, Burk will have to get through top-seed Brandon Sinnott, the brother of Burk's 2007 championship match contender. Brandon Sinnott delivered a 4-1 loss to Burk when the two met in February. Since the loss, Burk has dominated, collecting three wins by a combined score of 47-16.
"We've got to do a couple other things before we get (to Sinnott), but that would be a big match for the rankings at the national tournament," Grant said.
In line with the youth movement that's been going on all season, the Huskies are sending six freshman to compete for MAC titles. Leading the way is redshirt freshman Pat McLemore (Hinckley, Ohio/Padua Franciscan), who, despite sitting out much of the season with injury, has tallied a 10-3 record, including a first place finish at the Cyclone Open. This weekend will also be the MAC tournament premier of true freshman TJ Wunnicke (Dodgeville, Wis./Dodgeville). Wunnicke, a spry 125-pounder, enters the weekend with a 15-11 record and a team-leading 10 pins.
"We have some pretty outstanding freshman in our program," Grant said. "Without these guys we wouldn't have been able to get to double-digit wins in duals. They've been champs in high school and they still have that mentality about getting into events and winning."
Wrestling begins Friday at 11 a.m. (CST), with the championship finals held Saturday, also at 11 a.m. Complete results from the tournament will be posted at www.niuhuskies.com .
