When Aaron Jones first came to Northwestern he was more concerned with how he performed in the classroom than how he fared on the mat.
The Illinois native didn’t necessarily have the innate cunning or physical prowess of fellow senior Brandon Precin, who went on to qualify for the NCAA Championships during his freshman campaign .
“I started off not knowing a whole lot of technique,” Jones said. “And the more I learned the better I became.”
And Jones didn’t just get better, he got much better – an improvement that was confirmed when he defeated No. 7 A.J. Kissel of Purdue’s squad last Friday. Jones’ performance against the Boilermakers earned him Big Ten wrestler of the week honors for the first time in his career, making him the first NU wrestler since 2008 to receive the honor.
“Aaron has come so far in his career; when he got to Northwestern we weren’t sure he could put on two wrestling shoes,” coach Drew Pariano said. “And now he’s beating the No. 7 guy in the country.”
Jones’ story is representative of a five-man senior class that has, by many measures, over-achieved since arriving at NU.
When No. 16 NU (16-2, 4-2 Big Ten) hosts No. 12 Wisconsin (9-4-1, 0-3-1) on Friday night, it will honor its senior class.
It’s a class that is led by two-time All-American Brandon Precin as well as Andrew Nadhir, Bobby Joyce, Robert Holbrook and Jones. The most memorable season during the seniors’ tenure came in 2007 when the Wildcats finished fourth at the NCAA Championships and sixth at the Big Ten Tournament.
Precin qualified for his first of three NCAA tournaments that year and went 2-2.
“All these guys are dedicated to this program,” Pariano said. “If you have senior leadership like that you have a strong nucleus for a team.”
Pariano said that the seniors lead by example.
“Andrew (Nadhir) talks with guys one-on-one and will tell you if you are not giving 100 percent,” Pariano said. “Brandon (Precin) is a quiet guy, but when everyone else is icing down, he’s still going.”
Nadhir wrestled his first season at 157 pounds due to an injury, before he recovered and was able to wrestle at his normal weight of 149 pounds in the 2008-09 season. His first year back down at 149 pounds Nadhir made a memorable run at the Big Ten tournament.
Nadhir upset Ohio State’s No. 4 Lance Palmer in the quarterfinals before losing to Penn State’s No. 2 Bubba Jenkins in the semi-finals.
“That tournament proved to me that I could compete at this level,” Nadhir said.
The Cats will face a tough conclusion to their season when they face the Badgers, who have three top-10 nationally ranked wrestlers in the five upper weight divisions.
“We did a great job getting hard fought wins (against Purdue on Friday night),” Pariano said. “Those were kids that on paper were not favored to win.”
Wisconsin enters the contest after dropping two duals last weekend including an 18-16 defeat at the hands of Purdue, who NU defeated last Friday.
Pariano said he is confident the losses will not affect Wisconsin.
“They’re the type of team that won’t let that affect them,” he said. “If anything that will make them more ready to face us.”
Jones will look for another upset victory when he faces the Badgers’ No. 4 Travis Rutt.
Nadhir will be out for revenge when he looks squares off against Wisconsin’s Cole Schmitt on Friday. Schmitt handed Nadhir his first loss of the season in the semifinals at the Midland Championships in December. Nadhir redeemed his other Midlands loss with a victory over Illinois’ Eric Terrazas on Jan. 14.
“It’s just another match where it’s a guy that I thought I should have beat him last time, but (revenge is) on my mind,” Nadhir said.
