Gymnastics: Northern Illinois dominated their Senior Night showdown with Eastern Michigan, winning 194.775-192.550. Megan Melendez, Jaelyn Olson, Kim Gotlund and Natalie Sutter all won individual honors on the night.
Baseball: Northern Illinois went 1-2 at Minnesota's Dairy Queen Classic with all three contests coming down to the last inning. In Friday's tournament lid-lifter, the Huskies fell to Utah, 6-1. On Saturday afternoon, NIU and Dartmouth were locked in a pitchers' duel, but it was the Big Green who came away with a 1-0 win. In the tournament finale, Alex Klonowski's complete game two-hitter lifted the Huskies to a 2-1 win over the host Golden Gophers.
Softball: NIU split their Sunday doubleheader in Carbondale, Ill., as part of Southern Illinois' Coach B Classic. In the first game, the Huskies squeaked out a 3-2 win against Butler, but lost in extras to Saint Louis in the second game.
Men's Tennis: NIU split a pair of Saturday contests at home. In the first match, the Huskies swept Western Illinois, 7-0, before falling to the Green Bay Phoenix, 4-1.
Men's Golf: The Huskies took second place Saturday at the 36-hole Forest Hills Collegiate. Bryce Emory paced NIU with a fifth place showing.
While the starters were in Buffalo, a quartet of Huskies placed at the Jim Fox Open in Dubuque, Iowa. Leading the way was Billy Chancey, who won the 165-pound bracket. Meanwhile, Shawn Fayette took second at 149, while Braun Marquez (125) and Gabe Morse (149) each netted third place showings.
Here is the match-by-match breakdown of how each Huskie did in northeast Iowa.
125: Braun Marquez - Third Place Kyle Larson (Iowa State) dec. Braun Marquez (NIU), 5-1 Braun Marquez (NIU) pins Chris Alvarez (Kennedy-King), 3:27 Braun Marquez (NIU) pins Tom Foy (Wheaton), 2:09
149: Shawn Fayette - Second Place Shawn Fayette (NIU) pins Dylan Wright (St. Cloud State), 1:50 Shawn Fayette (NIU) dec. Eric Powell (Dubuque), 6-1 Roger Wildmo (Michigan State) pins Shawn Fayette (NIU), 0:47
149: Gabe Morse - Third Place Roger Wildmo (Michigan State) pins Gabe Morse (NIU), 4:00 Gabe Morse (NIU) pins Gage Burt (Wheaton), 1:13 Gabe Morse (NIU) tech. fall Jason Clark (Simpson), 16-0 Gabe Morse (NIU) maj. dec. Dylan Wright (St. Cloud State), 9-0 Gabe Morse (NIU) dec. Duane Richardson (Upper Iowa), 3-1 Gabe Morse (NIU) dec. Eric Powell (Dubuque), 8-4
165: Billy Chancey - First Place Billy Chancey (NIU) pins Matt Ellis (Wheaton), 2:01 Billy Chancey (NIU) dec. Peter Huang (Wheaton), 4-0 Billy Chancey (NIU) wins by injury forfeit over Matt Vercillo (Wartburg)
Former Northern Illinois assistant coach and NIU alum Dan Roushar was hired as the running backs coach of the New Orleans Saints over the weekend. Roushar will join Sean Payton's staff after spending his last six seasons at Michigan State. During the past three seasons at MSU, Roushar served as the Spartan's offensive coordinator, where he helped the likes of Kirk Cousins, Le'Veon Bell and Andrew Maxwell set new school records.
Prior to his stint in East Lansing, Mich., Roushar spent the 1997-2002 seasons coaching the Huskies' offensive line and serving as offensive coordinator. While coaching NIU, Roushar helped groom Ryan Diem into an NFL prospect, while recruiting future NFL starter Doug Free to DeKalb. He has also spent time at Butler, Rhode Island, Ball State, Illinois and Cincinnati.
Roushar graduated from NIU in 1984 with a bachelor's degree in physical education, while also earning two varsity letters as a quarterback with the Huskies.
Wrestling: The Huskies capped their MAC slate on a positive note, defeating Buffalo, 20-18. Nick Smith, Rob Jillard, Andrew Morse and Matt Mougin got wins for NIU early before Jared Torrence won the meet with an overtime decision at heavyweight.
Gymnastics: Northern Illinois recorded a season-best score for the second consecutive meet, but it was not enough in a 195.175-194.375 loss at Iowa State. Kim Gotlund posted career-best scores on the balance beam and uneven bars.
Men's Golf: NIU opened their spring season Monday and Tuesday with a fourth place finish at the MAC Match Play in Dade City, Fla. After upsetting second-seeded Akron in the first round, the Huskies lost to eventual champion Bowling Green to close out Monday. On Tuesday, Northern dropped a tight contest against Eastern Michigan in the third-place match.
Women's Basketball: The Huskies got their first two MAC wins of the year, both coming on the road. NIU shot 59.2 percent from the field and 66.7 percent from three-point range Wednesday to down Ohio, 73-52. Sunday at Kent State, the Huskies topped the Golden Flashes, 52-47.
After taking a break in January, the NIU Weekly radio show returns to the air this Saturday on 670 The Score. Fans can listen to the show starting at 7:30 a.m.
This week, NIU Football head coach Rod Carey talks about the new coaching staff and the 2013 recruiting class that was just announced Wednesday.
Men's Basketball: Northern Illinois was involved in two tight contests over the past week with different results. On Wednesday, Abdel Nader's jumper with 2.2 seconds left helped the Huskies beat Kent State, 67-65. Three days later, Toledo came in to the Convocation Center and emerged with a 69-64 win over NIU. Women's Basketball: The Huskies dropped two games during the week. Despite trailing at the half, NIU surged back from an 18-point deficit to take a lead against Eastern Michigan, but ultimately lost in a 67-62 decision. On Super Bowl Sunday against MAC East leader Miami (Ohio), the Huskies pushed the RedHawks, but lost, 65-51.
Women's Tennis: Northern Illinois suffered their first loss of the season Saturday, falling in a 6-1 decision to Southern Illinois.
Wrestling: NIU couldn't snap their losing streak Saturday, as they fell to #7 Missouri and Eastern Michigan. In the first half of the doubleheader, the Huskies dropped a close 22-17 decision to EMU. They followed that up with a 39-3 loss to the nationally-ranked Tigers.
Gymnastics: Northern Illinois suffered their first loss of the season Friday night, as they were ousted by Ball State, 192.475-192.075. NIU outscored BSU in three events and Megan Melendez won the balance beam, but it was not enough against the Cardinals.
 News of the success of the Northern Illinois University football team has reached across the pond to Ireland. Right guard Aidan Conlon, who's parents hail from Castlebrock and Ballinalee, Ireland, was featured in the Longford Leader. The story talks about Conlon's success at NIU, his roots in Ireland and his aspirations to play professionally. It's great to see the Northern Illinois football story go international.
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