Possible NCAA berths will be on the line tonight for members of the NIU wrestling team.

The Huskies (4-3) will square off against Ohio (5-4-1) at 7 p.m. in the annual Showcase Meet.

NIU has had great success in recent years against Ohio and its Mid-American Conference opener. The Huskies have won eight straight matches against the Bobcats, including last year’s 26-10 win, and five straight MAC openers.

Head coach Dave Grant knows Ohio won’t be a pushover and is happy to wrestle at the Convocation Center for the first time this season.

“With Ohio, it’s always a tight match,” Grant said. “We’ve been on the road quite a bit so it’s good to get back home.”

Grant and his wrestlers also know the great meaning to these MAC matches.

“They know the importance of the MAC for the fact that you qualify through our conference,” Grant said. “Everybody wants to be wrestling at the national tournament in St. Louis.”

Freshman Izzy Montemayor will likely start things off for NIU at 125 pounds. Montemayor leads the Huskies with an 18-7 record and will face Tim Silvers (7-11).

Another key matchup pits redshirt sophomore Tresten DeShazer (17-7) against Quentin Keyes (11-8) in the 133-pound class. DeShazer is ranked fifth in the nation in pins with 13.

Fellow redshirt sophomore Bryan Deutsch (14-7) will face Clay Tucker (15-10) in the 157-pound matchup.

In the heavyweight class, freshman Zak Saevre (9-10) will be competing against Andy Hartshorn (10-10) in place of redshirt sophomore Dakota Greenhaw. According to Grant, Greenhaw has a broken bone in his foot and is currently in the process of rehabbing it.

In the 149-pound match, NIU will send either freshman Steve Zimmerman (13-2) or redshirt junior Will McDermott (5-3) to face Kevin Christensen (3-8). McDermott wrestled this past weekend because of a hamstring injury to Zimmerman.