DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team will have another chance to build on its impressive start to the 2015-16 season this weekend when the Huskies travel to another open tournament – this time on Saturday at the Joe Parisi Lindenwood Open in St. Charles, Mo.

Coming off placing nine Huskies on the podiums at the Michigan State Open last Sunday, including gold medalist Steve Bleise and runner-up Shawn Scott, the NIU wrestling team will face a diversified and talented field of teams at Lindenwood, featuring numerous Division I, Division II and Division III powers.

Bleise (Chelsea, Mich./Chelsea) and Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly) both earned national selections in the top 10 of their weight classes this week and will be looking to prove themselves worthy of that respect with good showings against wrestlers from all over the region from numerous different levels.

NIU wrestling head coach Ryan Ludwig described the Lindenwood Open as a “top-flight competition” and expects the Huskies to maintain their level of intensity that has been so successful the first two weeks of the season thus far.

“We want to continue to compete hard and be aggressive in pursuit of scoring opportunities,” Ludwig said. “This is another top-flight competition, and we are certainly looking forward to the challenge.”

The Huskies will again take a large squad of NIU grapplers to Saturday’s event in the team’s final open tournament for quite awhile.

After the Lindenwood Open, NIU wrestling continues its dual season with the team’s home opener up next on Thursday, Dec. 3 when the Huskies welcome ranked Central Michigan to the Convocation Center in DeKalb for a Mid-American Conference dual at 7 p.m.

Be sure to follow @NIUWrestling on Twitter for updates from the team this weekend and throughout the 2015-16 season.

--NIU--