Northwestern got a taste of the Big Ten’s best against No. 10 Penn State and No. 3 Ohio State last weekend. That was nothing compared to what it faced against No. 1 Iowa.
The top-ranked Hawkeyes (20-0, 5-0 Big Ten) rolled over the unranked Wildcats (5-11-1, 0-6 Big Ten) 49-0 Friday night in Iowa City, Iowa, NU’s first shutout since Nov. 24, 2000, when the Cats lost 41-0 to Arizona State in Tempe, Ariz.
“It pretty much sucked,” junior Andrew Nadhir said. “They were supposed to beat us, but you never go in thinking you are going to get beat or get beaten really badly.”
Nadhir, who is NU’s only ranked wrestler at No. 13 in the 149-pound weight class, has endured a difficult past two weeks. Last weekend the junior lost in a major decision against fourth-ranked Frank Molinaro of Penn State before being pinned by No. 2 Lance Palmer of Ohio State. Against the nation’s top-ranked 149-pounder Brent Metcalf, Nadhir was pinned once again.
“I haven’t performed well in three matches, and it has shown in the results,” Nadhir said. “It’s frustrating because I don’t think I’ve wrestled the way I trained, didn’t prepare the way I needed to. There’s a lot of time left for me; the past can be forgotten at the Big Ten tournament.”
A forfeit in the 141-pound weight class and five pins alone gave the Hawkeyes 36 points on Friday. The closest call for the Cats came in the 197-pound weight class. Redshirt freshman John Shoen and Iowa’s Luke Lofthouse were tied up with 25 seconds left in the match. Lofthouse managed to fight free and score a point to edge Shoen 4-3.
“We went out there and didn’t wrestle, and you’re going to get killed like that when you’re playing a team like Iowa,” Nadhir said. “We didn’t prepare as a team, and we weren’t mentally prepared to rise to the challenge.”
Even though NU suffered its worst loss in a decade, Nadhir said the Cats will learn from the defeat.
“I’d say there aren’t any positive takeways,” Nadhir said. “Maybe a wakeup call. We learned we need to be better prepared.”
The shutout at Carver-Hawkeye Arena came in front 7,125 fans, the largest crowed NU has competed in front of this season.
“They draw very well,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “It’s great to wrestle in front of fans, whether they are cheering for you or not. Some guys didn’t get affected by it, others did. If you’re listening to the crowd, you’re not focusing on the match.”
The Hawkeyes recognized Cysewski prior to the match. NU’s coach graduated from Iowa in 1977 and coached the Hawkeye Wrestling Club.
“It was nice they did that; I was kind of surprised,” Cysewski said. “I appreciate it, a lot of friends were there, and it was good to see them. I told them I’ll be around next year even though it’s a different job description.”
Still looking for their first conference win, the Cats travel to No. 19 Wisconsin on Friday and welcome Michigan to Welsh-Ryan Arena on Sunday.
The match against the Wolverines will be Cysewski’s last home bout as head coach.[email protected]
