NIU look to pin a win against SIUE 1/29/10

Publish Date:01/29/2010

By Patrick Tretina

DeKALB | Conference meets haven’t gone well for the Huskies. NIU wrestling takes a break from MAC action tonight as it hosts Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville at 7 p.m. in the Convocation Center. In light of their recent struggles, the Huskies (7-7, 0-2 MAC) couldn’t be facing a better opponent in winless SIUE (0-11, 0-0 MVC). “We’ve got to concentrate and put out solid performances,” said NIU head coach Dave Grant. “We have to bring that same intensity as we would with MAC meets regardless.” The Huskies will look to rebound after three-straight losses to MAC rival No. 17 Kent State, Michigan State and University of Findlay. “We wrestled hard [in practice] this week,” Grant said. “We saw a glimpse of what we can do early in the Kent State duals.” Redshirt juniors Vince Castillo (15-3) and Bryan Deutsch (10-4) have been holding things together in the 141 and 157 pound weight classes, respectively, for the Huskies as of late. Castillo is on a four-match win-streak that started with a 4:05 pin against Findlay’s Chris Andrews and followed that up by out-scoring his remaining opponents 16-4. Deutsch brings his five-match win-streak to the table tonight, out-scoring his recent opponents 22-13 with an impressive last second holdout win against No. 28 ranked Mallie Shuster of Kent State last Friday. “Deutsch has been wrestling tough, and he really works hard,” Grant said. “He’s got a great attitude [and] we can really count on him to lead the team.” Despite the Cougars’ winless record, Grant isn’t concerned about the team’s past performances becoming a factor. “Our guys need to wrestle to the best of their ability,” Grant said. “We need to set the tempo for the rest of the meet early.”