This weekend’s Big Ten Tournament is a new season for Northwestern in a number of ways. After their worst season in seven years, the Wildcats are looking forward to a chance for late-season redemption.
“The Big Ten is a new year-everyone is 0-0,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “If you haven’t had a good year, you can make it a good year by doing well this weekend and qualifying for nationals.”
The Cats had three wrestlers seeded for the conference’s end-of-season tournament at Michigan. Senior Eric Metzler is seeded fifth in the 133-pound weight division, while junior Andrew Nadhir and redshirt freshman Brian Roddy Jr. are each seeded sixth in the 149- and 174-pound classes, respectively.
“I kind of expected to be seeded where I was,” Nadhir said. “But seeding doesn’t matter, you have to beat the best guys anyway.”
The competition includes one wrestler from each of the Big Ten’s 11 schools, the top eight of whom are seeded.
The number of wrestlers who advance from the Big Ten tournament to the NCAA tournament varies by weight class. In Metzler’s (133), the top five make it. In Nadhir’s (149), the top eight move on. For Roddy’s (174), the top six advance.
“I want to win it,” said Nadhir, who is ranked 14th in the country. “It is realistic, I don’t think I was wrestling my best when I lost to (them) earlier.”
In addition to the Cats’ three seeded wrestlers, Cysewski said he believes a number of his unseeded players could make an impression this weekend.
“Schoen was eighth in the division last year at 197, he’s been pretty good right now and is making adjustments,” he said. “Also, Bobby Joyce at 125 and Levi Mele at 141 could surprise some people.”
If all three finished where they are seeded, they would advance to the national tournament in Omaha, Neb. The Cats sent four wrestlers to last year’s NCAA championships, including NCAA champion Jake Herbert. Two of those qualifiers-sophomore Jason Welch and senior Brandon Precin-redshirted this year and are ineligible to compete for a spot in Omaha.
“We have to go in there and feed off other guys and take off their momentum,” Nadhir said. “If one of our guys gets a big upset, we’ll build off that in the next match.”
After five losses in Big Ten play, Nadhir is focusing on being more aggressive.
“I have to go after them, attack, and not let them dictate the pace of the match,” Nadhir said. “I’m excited to get a second chance to face some of these guys, there’s no worse feeling than losing and not getting another shot.”
The Big Ten tournament represents an opportunity for NU to reverse the legacy of what has otherwise been a disappointing season. The Cats finished second-to-last in the conference, going 1-7 against other Big Ten squads.
“This time of year we’re healthy,” Cysewski said. “Which psychologically is a good thing.”
The tournament will be only the second time in the last two months that NU has had a healthy lineup, and Cysewski said he expects the Cats to put on their best wrestling in Ann Arbor, Mich.
“We’re wrestling our best right now, we’ll surprise people and qualify some who wouldn’t otherwise qualify right now. The last 10 days we’ve been rested, we’re healthty, tournament time is in the air. This is the most important weekend for everyone.”[email protected]
