Northwestern has mostly avoided the possible consequences of scheduling 13 duals and two tournaments prior to getting to the meat of its season.

The Wildcats (13-0, 1-0 Big Ten) have not only been able to come out undefeated in all of their duals thus far. They also have avoided the injury bug that can plague teams in such a physical sport.

Coach Drew Pariano said he sees the negatives of such a packed schedule, but he focuses on the positives it has provided NU this season.

“It helps prepare our guys for the grind of a collegiate wrestling season,” Pariano said.

Their opponent on Friday, Illinois, took the opposite approach to scheduling, having only three duals and three tournaments prior to this match-up. The Fighting Illini (2-1, 1-0) have been successful despite having only four upperclassmen projected to start.

Illinois finished tenth in the Midlands Championships in December with three wrestlers placing in the top-3 of their weight divisions. Eric Terrazas was one of those wrestlers, capturing third place in the 149-pound division at the Midlands Championships with an overtime victory over NU’s redshirt senior Andrew Nadhir.

In their two meetings in duals, Nadhir beat Terrazas both times by very close margins. The Cats lost both duals to the Fighting Illini by a combined score of 52-19 including a 30-6 drubbing last season in Evanston.

“I know I can beat him because I beat him a couple of times,” Nadhir said. “I wasn’t wrestling very well at Midlands and I was making mistakes. I want to avenge that loss but I am not satisfied with losing to anybody.”

The Big Ten has eight teams ranked in the latest Top 25 poll. NU got off to a strong start in Big Ten play with a 28-9 victory over Indiana last month in Bloomington and Nadhir sees a victory over the in-state rival as a stepping stone to great success for this team.

“We’re a young team, so to get some momentum will be huge for us,” Nadhir said. “I feel confident that we can sweep our Big Ten duals and this is the first time I can say that and I’ve been here for five years.”

The Big Ten season has not been kind to NU over the last three years. The Cats have gone 6-17-1 in that span including a 1-7 record last season. They started this season on the right foot with the win over Indiana, but Pariano said there is still a bigger goal in mind for the Cats.

“The Big Ten duals are extremely important,” Pariano said. “But the ultimate goal is to succeed at the NCAAs.”