Wrestling has a tough weekend ahead as it looks to bounce back from a loss at Ohio.

The Huskies (4-6, 0-3 MAC) take on Eastern Michigan Eagles

(8-3, 1-0 MAC) 6 p.m Friday in

Ypsilanti, Mich.

NIU will then wrestle in the Wendy’s Duals starting at 11 a.m. Sunday in Ashland, Ohio. The Huskies will face Ashland University

at 11 a.m. and Purdue University (3-4) at 1 p.m.

The Huskies are looking to recover from a 33-9 loss against the No. 25 Ohio Bobcats. In that defeat, only two wrestlers — Caleb Busson and Shawn Scott — were able to secure wins.

The Huskies will need to see improved performances if they want to beat the Eagles. With one conference meet under their belts, head coach Ryan Ludwig said his team is ready for the challenge.

“Now that we’ve come into MAC play, we do little bit more individualization,” Ludwig said. “We’re doing individual workouts. We’re going over scouting our opponents, kind of custom building the way each guy is going to wrestle his match.”

Eastern Michigan is coming off a 1-2 performance at the Pitt Duals, which included a 26-10 win over Duke. The Eagles are good at recovering from losses. After a 24-9 loss to Michigan State, they beat No. 15 Stanford 18-16.

The Eagles have a pair of redshirt seniors who could cause problems for the Huskies.

Jared Germaine (125) will prove to be the toughest matchup for NIU. Germaine is 9-0 this season and shows no signs of slowing down.

Heavyweight Khodor Hoballah is 9-5 this year and has been on a hot streak, only losing twice in his last eight matches.

MAC meets hold extra significance for the Huskies. Redshirt freshman Braun Marquez said the team will be able to bounce back from the Ohio loss easier with another in-conference match.

“I think we’ll come on strong and compete and get the victory,” Marquez said. “[MAC meets] are more competitive. We just want to be the best team in the MAC.”

The Wendy’s Duals give the Huskies a pair of opponents who could give them problems. Despite being a DII school, Ashland is a still a dangerous team that boasts a returning All-American in Michael Labry (133). The sophomore is 23-2 this season.

Purdue, NIU’s second opponent in the duals, is coming off a series of tough losses that saw the team face three ranked opponents. The Boilermakers will come into the duals motivated to get a win.

The weekend’s meets should give the Huskies a chance to get

things back on track. Ludwig said his team is in a good position to bounce back.

“We see a lot of good things week to week whether we come up with a win or a loss,” Ludwig said. “In a dual meet situation there [are] always good things to take away. I think our guys are internally motivated to get this dual meet win. We know it’s an important one for us and they all are, but I think our guys are pretty good at rallying through adversity and I think we’re ready to go.”