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Grapplers Ready to Start Season at Pointer Open

Huskies prepare for start of 79th varsity season.



Bryan Deutsch and the Huskies open the season at the Pointer Open, Saturday.

Nov. 7, 2008

DeKALB - The Northern Illinois wrestling team begins its 79th season, Saturday, as the Huskies travel to the Pointer Open in Stevens Point, Wis.

The tournament features hundreds of wrestlers from a variety of divisions, giving the Huskies a measuring stick against teams from across the region.

"It's a competitive little tournament with three of four-hundred people," head coach Dave Grant said. "It is good to start in this type of competition before we hit the Big Ten competition next week."

NIU will bring nearly its entire roster to the tournament, where the Huskies had 17 placefinishers in 2006.

Six wrestlers currently on the NIU roster earned sixth place or better at the Pointer Open two years ago. Redshirt sophomore Pat McLemore (Hinckley, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) finished first at 141 pounds, while Tristen DeShazer (Wichita, Kan./Wichita West), Dan Ruettiger (Joliet, Ill./Providence), and Dakota Greenhaw (Monett, Mo./Monett) each took fourth.

Mike Smith (Plainfield, Ill./Plainfield Central) and Bryan Deutsch (Columbia City, Ind,/Columbia City) rounded out NIU's top finishers, taking fifth at 141, and sixth at 165, respectively.

The tournament, in conjunction with the wrestle-offs that were held a week ago in DeKalb, will help Grant determine his dual meet starting line-up.

"This tournament is going to give us the ability to look at what our starting team will be," he said. "This is kind of part two of the opportunity to make that team."

The 10 starters that pass Grant's two-part test will be challenged by Campbellsville, Tennessee-Chattanooga and Purdue, Nov. 15 when the Huskies open the dual meet season at the Boilermaker Challenge. Grapplers who won their matches at NIU Wrestle-Offs have the inside track for the starting slots. If that line-up holds, the Huskies will start five freshmen and five sophomores.

 

 

"The young talent on this team is something I've been very impressed with," Grant said. "That, combined with the experience of guys like a MAC Champion in Pat McLemore, gets us excited about the start of the season."

The Pointer Open starts at 9 a.m., and results from the tournament will be posted at www.niuhuskies.com.