A five-meet home slate, including the Huskies' lone Showcase Meet of the season and a dual meet with in-state rival Northwestern, highlight the Northern Illinois University wrestling schedule for 2009-10, NIU head wrestling coach Dave Grant announces today.
"We have 18 dual meets," Grant said. "We're really excited about the fact that we're giving our student-athletes opportunities to wrestle coast-to-coast. It's so important now to get guys opportunities to wrestle top-ranked individuals. We have three Big Ten teams we're wrestling this year.
"It's a great schedule," Grant said. "We have our whole starting team back from last year and we're excited about the possibility of taking this team to the next level."
After Wrestle-offs, Nov. 6 at in the Convocation Center, the Huskies travel to East Lansing, Mich. to compete in the Michigan State Open Nov. 15. It's the first of two trips the Huskies will make to East Lansing this season. The Huskies head to Big Ten country two weeks later when NIU travels to Bloomington, Ind. for the Indiana Duals Nov. 28, before returning home to face the Wildcats Dec. 3 in the Convocation Center.
"Our showcase meet against Northwestern, a top-ranked program, is the one meet we really key on for our fans," Grant said. "We encourage people to come out. We do a great job of putting on a fantastic show."
A trip to Fargo, N.D. to compete against Oregon State and North Dakota State Dec. 13 is the first of five-straight road meets for Northern Illinois. During that stretch, the Huskies will also travel to Evanston, Ill. for the Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30. NIU opens Mid-American Conference competition Jan. 14, 2010 when the Huskies head to Athens, Ohio to take on the Bobcats of Ohio University. The Huskies return to Michigan State Jan. 16 to compete against Michigan State, Stanford and Findlay.
Northern Illinois is back home Jan. 22 against Kent State and face off against SIU-Edwardsville the following week, Jan. 29. The Huskies close out the 2009-10 regular season at home, taking on Northern Iowa Feb. 12 and Buffalo Feb. 21 before heading off to Mt. Pleasant, Mich. for the Mac Championships, Mar. 5-6.
The Huskies will look to end their campaign in the same place they concluded every season for the past 38 years, in the NCAA Championships. This year's NCAAs will take place in Omaha, Neb. Mar. 18-20.
