Last season’s matches against Iowa and Michigan State could not have been more different for Northwestern.
A stunning come-from-behind victory over the Hawkeyes sharply contrasted with a disappointing fall-from-ahead defeat to the Spartans.
This weekend, the Wildcats will get a chance to create pleasant memories against both Big Ten rivals. The 13th-ranked Cats (8-4, 3-2 Big Ten) will take on the 18th-ranked Spartans (4-5, 2-2) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena before traveling to Iowa City, Iowa, on Sunday to face the ninth-ranked Hawkeyes (9-6, 3-3).
For NU, the memory of last year’s victory over Iowa, its first since 1968, is still fresh.
After falling behind 19-3 to the No. 8 team in the nation, the unranked Cats mounted a tremendous comeback, notching 19 unanswered points to steal the victory. John Velez, who wasn’t supposed to wrestle because of an injured shoulder, took the mat anyway with the score tied at 19 and clinched the upset with a gutsy 10-8 decision.
“That was the most exciting wrestling match you could have,” Velez said. “To start out losing that badly, then to make a gradual comeback and finally end it in a winning crescendo like that was great – It created a lot of good memories for all of us.”
But NU got a taste of its own medicine later in the season when it let a 15-0 lead slip away to Michigan State. With key performers like Velez and Ryan Lang out the lineup for the Cats, the Spartans ripped off 20 consecutive points to end the match.
“It was frustrating,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “Any time you have a 15-0 lead, you only need one more win, and we couldn’t get it. We knew we were the better team but we didn’t have everyone in there.”
The Cats, with seven ranked wrestlers, will get their chance for redemption this year against a team with only four ranked wrestlers.
One of those four is fifth-ranked senior R.J. Boudro, who has a 21-3 record at 174 pounds but is 0-4 in his career against NU’s second-ranked sophomore Jake Herbert.
Another intriguing storyline will be Velez’s attempt to knock off the third-ranked wrestler at 125 pounds for the second consecutive week. Velez, an eighth-ranked senior, pinned Illinois senior John Ott last Sunday, knocking Ott out of the third position in the rankings. Now he will face Spartans junior Nick Simmons, the position’s new occupant.
When the Cats travel to Iowa on Sunday, they will be facing a squad that still figures to be tough despite the absence of third-ranked sophomore Mark Perry at 174 pounds due to injury.
One key battle figures to come at 184 pounds, where NU’s 11th-ranked sophomore Mike Tamillow will try to repeat last season’s upset over seventh-ranked senior Paul Bradley. Tamillow will be wrestling with renewed confidence after he made up for a surprising loss against Ohio State by upsetting Illinois senior Pete Friedl.
“The night before the match I was feeling crappy and the day of I was feeling crappy,” Tamillow said. “But 20 minutes before the match I started feeling good. I really just pulled a 180 in my attitude.”
With last season’s upset of the Hawkeyes and last weekend’s shocker against the Illini fresh in their minds, the Cats are bubbling with confidence.
“Much like our football team, we may not be the best on paper, but we have the weapons to give people heart attacks,” Velez said. “They know we have the guns and the ammo to get it done. If we come out with guns blazing, we’ll be OK.”
Reach Andrew Simon at [email protected].
