DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University wrestling team hosts a Mid-American Conference dual against Eastern Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m. in Victor E. Court. The Huskies look to improve their overall record against the Eagles to 29-5.
 
The first 100 fans will receive an American flag for Military Appreciate Night and the NIU ROTC will be on hand to present the colors prior to the national anthem. Before the meet, two youth wrestling teams will have their own dual on the mats from 4:30-6pm. 
 
With little rest following the meet against EMU, the Huskies will head to Champaign, Ill. on Sunday, Jan. 22 to take on No. 14 Illinois. The dual will take place at Huff Hall and begin at 1 p.m.
 
 
Eastern Michigan
 
Last Bout
The Huskies won seven of ten duals, coming away with a 21-9 victory over the Eagles.
 
Trace Engelkes (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) and Shawn Scott (Holly Mich./Holly) notched wins over ranked Eagles. Engelkes defeated No. 32 Jacob Davis in a 7-2 decision and No. 16 Scott was victorious over No. 20 Anthony Abro.
 
Scouting the Competition
The Eastern Michigan wrestling team carries a strong squad led by two ranked wrestlers, No. 18 Noah Gonser at 125 pounds and No. 14 Gage Hutchison at heavyweight. The Eagles had a convincing win over Old Dominion, 25-14, early this month. The Monarchs previously defeated the Huskies, 22-9.
 
Coach's Corner
"Mindset is important. Good things happen when you aggressively key on your strengths and avoid getting caught up in reacting to your opponent," said head coach Ryan Ludwig. "We are looking forward to meeting our next challenge."
 
One-on-One with Trace Engelkes
"Win or lose, the expectation always stays the same for us. Every match needs to be our best match. When we have all ten guys performing in that peak range we're a very tough squad."
 
"These guys are easy to keep motivated. The best part about wrestling is the competition. Competing is what you look forward to all through training, so as long as you keep that thought of competition in the back of everyone's heads, the motivation comes on its own."
 
Lineup
Below is the probable lineup for both teams:
 
NIU Huskies (4-4, 0-3 MAC)
125: Brock Hudkins (12-7, 1-1 MAC)
OR   Kirk Johansen (1-2, 0-1 MAC)
133: Alijah Jeffery (10-10, 1-2 MAC)
141: Angel Velasquez (9-8, 1-2 MAC)
149: No. 12 Steve Bleise (17-5, 2-1 MAC)
157: Caden McWhirter (14-7, 2-1 MAC)
165: Andrew Scott (4-6, 0-2 MAC)
OR Shaun'Qae McMurtry (4-5, 0-2) 
174: Trace Engelkes (10-2, 1-1 MAC)
184: Bryce Gorman (13-7, 0-2 MAC)
OR Michael Aldrich (6-7, 0-1 MAC)
197: No. 9 Shawn Scott (15-3, 2-1 MAC)
285: Caleb Gossett (9-10, 1-2 MAC)
 
EMU Eagles (5-3, 1-2 MAC)
125: No. 18 Noah Gonser (5-2, 2-1 MAC)
133: Sa'Derian Perry (4-2, 0-1)
141: Kyle Springer (4-3, 1-2 MAC)
149: Nick Barber (4-3, 1-2 MAC)
157: Zac Carson (3-1, 1-1 MAC)  
OR J.J. Wolfe (2-3, 0-1 MAC)
165: Devan Marry (3-3, 1-2 MAC)
174: David Kasper (2-2, 0-1 MAC)
OR Jacob Davis (1-1, 0-0 MAC)
184: Kayne MacCallum (4-3, 2-1)
197: Derek Hillman (5-2, 2-1 MAC)
HWT: No. 14 Gage Hutchison (7-1, 2-1 MAC)
 
Follow the Huskies
You can follow the Huskies and watch the action live at niuhuskies.com or get up-to-date results from trackwrestling.com and @NIUWrestling on Twitter.
 
 
No. 14 Illinois
 
Last Bout
The NIU wrestling team posted four individual victories against No. 10 Illinois, but eventually fell to the Fighting Illini in the dual, 27-14.
 
Trace Engelkes (Winnebago, Ill./Winnebago) led the way for NIU with a dominating display at 174 pounds, scoring five team points for the Huskies with his 24-7 technical fall over Isaac Reinemann. Alijah Jeffery (Marion, Iowa/Linn-Mar) at 125 pounds, and Shawn Scott (Holly, Mich./Holly) at 197 pounds also emerged victorious with three-point decision wins.
 
Scouting the Competition
No. 14 Illinois is led by No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (15-0, 3-0 Big Ten) at 165 pounds. Martinez has won back-to-back national titles at 157 pounds. In addition to Martinez, there are four other Illini wrestlers who are nationally ranked. – No. 6 Zane Richards at 133 pounds, No. 12 Zac Brunson at 174 pounds, No. 13 Emery Parker at 184, and No. 17 Brooks Black as a heavyweight. 
 
One-on-One with Trace Engelkes
On last year's win with a technical fall:
"Nothing is ever given to you in wrestling. As far as I'm concerned, come Sunday, that technical fall might as well have never happened, because it's a new day and a new match and the only way I can guarantee the best out of myself is to approach every match like it's going to be the toughest match of my career. When I do that, I'm at the top of my game."
 
On wrestling a No. 14 Illinois:
"Like always, I believe in everyone on this team's ability to wrestle the best that they possibly can. If everyone else believes that, then intimidation shouldn't be a factor. At the end of the day, the guy standing across from you is just another person, so there's no reason to be intimidated. As long as everybody wrestles to win without that fear of failure creeping up on them, then we should do just fine".   
 
Lineup
Below is the probable lineup for both teams:
 
NIU Huskies (4-4, 0-3 MAC)
125: Brock Hudkins (12-7, 1-1 MAC)
OR   Kirk Johansen (1-2, 0-1 MAC)
133: Alijah Jeffery (10-10, 1-2 MAC)
141: Angel Velasquez (9-8, 1-2 MAC)
149: No. 12 Steve Bleise (17-5, 2-1 MAC)
157: Caden McWhirter (14-7, 2-1 MAC)
165: Andrew Scott (4-6, 0-2 MAC)
OR Shaun'Qae McMurtry (4-5, 0-2) 
174: Trace Engelkes (10-2, 1-1 MAC)
184: Bryce Gorman (13-7, 0-2 MAC)
OR Michael Aldrich (6-7, 0-1 MAC)
197: No. 9 Shawn Scott (15-3, 2-1 MAC)
285: Caleb Gossett (9-10, 1-2 MAC)
 
No. 14 Illinois (2-2, 1-2 Big Ten)
125 Travis Piotrowski (10-7, 2-1)
133 No. 6 Zane Richards (14-2, 2-1)
141 Mousa Jodeh (9-10, 1-2)
149 Eric Barone (3-4, 1-2)
157 Kyle Langenderfer (14-4, 2-1)
165 No. 1 Isaiah Martinez (15-0, 3-0)
174 No. 12 Zac Brunson (20-3, 3-0)
184 No. 13 Emery Parker (18-4, 2-1)
197 Andre Lee (7-8, 0-3)
HWT No. 17 Brooks Black (5-3, 0-0)
 
Follow the Huskies
You can follow the Huskies here or get up-to-date results from both trackwrestling.com or @NIUWrestling on Twitter.
 
Next up on the Mats
The Huskies continue their MAC schedule with a dual against Kent State in Kent, Ohio on Jan. 27 at 7 p.m. followed by a dual versus Central Michigan in Mount Pleasant, Mich. on Jan. 29 starting at 1 p.m.