Head coach Dave Grant said of CMU, "We've had a very competitive schedule so far and Central Michigan is one of the toughest opponents we'll face."
The Fifth ranked Chippewas come into this week's meet having won an impressive 21 consecutive conference dual meets and 45 of the last 46 MAC dual meets. The Huskies were the last MAC team to beat Central Michigan. The win came in 2003 when NIU edged the Chippewas in DeKalb by a score of 16-15.
One look at Central Michigan's lineup shows why they are the fifth ranked team in the country. CMU's probable starting lineup is loaded with eight wrestlers ranked in the top-twenty nationally, with four of those wrestlers ranked in the top-ten. CMU is lead by heavyweight Bubba Gritter, ranked second in the nation. Gritter is joined in the top ten by the Sinnott brothers, Brandon and Christian, along with Wynn Michalack.
The Huskies will counter CMU's potent lineup with a quartet of ranked wrestlers led by Johnny Galloway (13-2, 3-0), ranked as high as ninth in the country at 165. Galloway will be backed by Pat Castillo (19-11, 3-0), ranked as high as seventeenth at 125, Mike Grimes (20-6, 2-0), ranked as high as twelfth at 149, and Duke Burke (20-6, 3-0), ranked as high as eighteenth at 184. But, if the Huskies hope to repeat the success of 2003 they will need more than big performances by their top four wrestlers. Coach Grant said the key to victory for NIU is, "We need every one of our guys firing on all cylinders."
The most interesting matches of the meet pit a pair of brothers against each other. NIU's Burk brothers, with a combined record of 36-13, will go up against CMU's Sinnott brothers who have a combined record of 42-11. Danny Burk (16-7, 3-0) will square off against Brandon Sinnott (18-6, 2-0) at 174 and Duke Burk (20-6, 3-0) will battle Christian Sinnott (18-6, 2-0) in the very next match at 184 pounds. Both sets of brothers are undefeated in MAC competition and the Burk brothers each carry a five match winning streak into the showdown.
The Huskies will finish their regular season by hosting Eastern Michigan, Eastern Illinois and Southern Illinois in the Convocation Center on Sunday February 18th at 10:00 a.m.
For further information contact Matt Stiles at niuwrestlingsid.com.
Recommended Comments
There are no comments to display.
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now