After a second-place finish last year at the MAC championships, the NIU wrestling team will try to improve at this season’s conference tournament on Saturday and Sunday in Athens, Ohio.

To prepare for the tournament, the Huskies (12-5 overall, 4-1 MAC) looked at videotape of previous matches.

“Everyone should know what to expect,” NIU 165-pounder Alex Nelson said. “We went over our match tapes with the coaches and fine-tuned some things. I lost to the guy from Ohio earlier in the season, but now I know what I have to do in certain situations against him.”

NIU was given a seed of four or higher in eight of the 10 weight classes. George Kirgan, 174 pounds, was the fourth seed but is done for the season because of a herniated disc in his back. Danny Burk will take his spot as an unseeded wrestler.

Central Michigan, winner of the regular-season title, has all of its wrestlers ranked in the top four in conference.

While NIU doesn’t have as many seeded wrestlers as CMU, NIU coach Dave Grant looks for the team to get momentum from another area.

“We have had a successful year in the MAC,” Grant said. “We’re looking to carry that into the MAC tourney. Our guys have wrestled well, and we were dominant in the last two meets of the year. We expect big things this year.”

Top-seeded 149-pound Josh Wooton looks forward to another shot at CMU, which beat the Huskies 25-10 on Jan. 30.

“They are obviously a huge rival to us in the MAC,” Wooton said. “We are looking forward to going into the tournament and beating them. Central is the team to beat; maybe it could be Ohio though.”

NIU lost six seniors to graduation last year, and Grant said he looks for others with experience to help lead.

Second-ranked 184-pound Ben Heizer won the MAC title last season. Sam Hiatt, the 15th-ranked 133-pounder, also took first place a year ago. Assistant coach Scott Owen was the other Huskie who took first last season.

“This has been a good season,” Grant said. “We have had a lot of freshmen step up for us this year. We also have great leadership from Heizer, Hiatt and Wooton.”