Heading into their first Mid-American Conference home dual meet of the season, the Bobcats are focused on recording their first conference victory in front of the home crowd against Northern Illinois.
Although neither team has yet to win a conference meet, Ohio (1-3, 0-2 MAC) has not competed in a conference dual meet since much earlier in the season, when the team struggled with slow starts.
“I expect to send out 10 guys that will wrestle as hard as they can for seven minutes,” Ohio coach Joel Greenlee said. “We have done well recently in our open meets, and I want to continue that in our duals.”
Northern Illinois (6-4, 0-1 MAC) is on a three-meet winning streak in duals, but the Huskies have not wrestled in many close matches, unlike the Bobcats.
Ohio’s four dual meets have been decided by two, eight, five and one point, respectively. In the 10 dual meets in which the Huskies have competed, eight have been decided by seven points or more.
“They’ve beat some weak opponents by a lot and lost to some good ones by a lot. It’s just how their season has gone,” Greenlee said. “We try to schedule teams similar to us, but really it has just all come down to the matchups and draws.”
Friday’s meet in The Convo will be the 20th meeting between the Bobcats and the Huskies on the mats. At 10-8-1, Northern Illinois holds a slight edge over the Bobcats.
Although the Huskies have had success in the past, the Bobcats were victorious last season (30-11) and have won the past three duals as they seek to even the all-time series.
“Obviously, the past is important, but we are just focusing on the present meet,” Greenlee said. “We’ve won the recent meets, and we can not do anything about the past. Hopefully, we’ll continue the streak.”
Ohio’s toughest match will likely be in the 133-pound weight class against Huskie wrestler Rob Jillard, who leads Northern Illinois with 12 wins, including six in dual meets. Nick Smith (125-pound), who has a record of 10-2 on the season, also will be a tough match for the Bobcats.
Tonight’s dual will be the first of three home meets for the Bobcats after only hosting one previous dual in the season.
cl027410@ohiou.edu
