It’s alma mater weekend for all three Northwestern wrestling coaches as the team faces No. 14 Illinois and No. 3 Iowa in dual meets.

The Fighting Illini (7-1) travel to Welsh-Ryan Arena for their Big Ten season opener against the Wildcats (7-6, 0-1 Big Ten) on Friday at 7 p.m. Two days later, NU heads to Iowa (10-2) to take on the Hawkeyes at 2 p.m.

NU assistant coach Lindsey Durlacher, a former All-American at Illinois, took second place in the 1997 NCAA championships. Assistant coach Tony Ersland and head coach Tim Cysewski were both Hawkeyes wrestlers. Ersland was a 1997 Big Ten and NCAA championship team member, and Cysewski, also an All-American, brought the Hawkeyes a third-place NCAA finish in 1976.

Junior John Giacche said Durlacher spoke to the Cats about wrestling his former team this weekend.

“I think it’s a big deal for them to perform well against where they came from,” Giacche said. “Ersland and Cysewski are definitely proud of where they came from, but they don’t talk about it all that much.”

The Cats are looking to rebound from last season’s 40-3 loss in Champaign.

“Last year definitely didn’t go the way we wanted it to,” Giacche said.

NU’s only wrestler to come away with a victory in the meet was junior Jason Erwinski.

“Illinois is our biggest rivalry, especially considering both teams recruit kids from Illinois,” Giacche said.

NU has lost its last seven matches against the Illini, although Illinois holds a narrow 34-29-2 all-time advantage over the Cats.

Erwinski said the contest with Illinois is particularly meaningful to him.

“I’m from Illinois,” he said. “I know the guys and the coach … they don’t like me, and I don’t like them.”

The Tinley Park native said the dual should be interesting since his high school team, Mt. Carmel, wrestled against almost all of the Illini at one point.

He noted two important matchups in the Illinois meet. NU sophomore Ryan Kane will wrestle No. 3 Matt Lackey, a junior, in the 165-pound weight class. Heavyweight Mike Little, a sophomore, will take on Illinois’ John Lockheart, who is ranked fourth.

“As of right now, we’re focused on Illinois because we’ve got that one tomorrow,” Erwinski said. “But you can never look past Iowa.”

NU lost to Iowa 45-3 last year, extending the Hawkeyes’ 28-2 all-time advantage.

Little will conclude his weekend grappling with Hawkeyes freshman Steve Mocco, No. 1.

Giacche said NU practices have been good this week, and the coaches have been pleased.

Sophomore Ryan Cumbee’s ankle is still hurt, Giacche said, and it is uncertain whether or not he will wrestle this weekend.