Wrestling finishes the home portion of its schedule with a dual meet against 18th-ranked Wildcats of Northwestern University (6-7) after a week away from dual meet action.

The Huskies (7-7) come into Friday night’s action having lost four duals in a row, including their most recent dual meets against MAC rival Eastern Michigan, 22-17, and fifth-ranked University of Missouri, 39-3.

Head coach Ryan Ludwig said there are a few things his team beed to execute well in order for NIU to break their losing streak during the dual against Northwestern.

“Yeah, the story is the same for every wrestling match: You go out [and] you get on your offense,” Ludwig said. “You compete with confidence and fire. You score your opportunities to attack you convert on and score on. You get off bottom as fast as you can and you ride your opponent hard. So, the formula stays the same; it’s the application that counts.”

Despite their record, the Wildcats should provide a tough test for the Huskies. The Wildcats come into Friday’s action with losses in their last two duals, including a 23-13 defeat at the hands of the University of Michigan Wolverines. Their most recent action came Friday against Purdue, a meet that resulted in a 21-15 defeat for Northwestern. Northwestern’s conference record (1-5) can be a bit deceiving, but after digging deeper it’s a little misleading.

According to this week’s Intermat.com college wrestling rankings, eight Big 10 conference teams are in the top 25, meaning the Wildcats are better than their record might indicate.

Junior Nick Smith, who wrestles at 133 pounds, said everybody needs to come into the dual with the same mindset.

“I think everyone just has to expect just to have a really tough match,” Smith said. “…You come ready for anything and we’re gonna need the guys that have tough matches to keep it close and the guys that are supposed to win get bonus points, and hopefully we can come out on top.”