At Saturday’s Elmhurst duals, senior 157-pound wrestler Scott Owen was the only Huskie to pin all three of his opponents. He improved his record this season to 13-0 with four of those wins coming by pins and two others coming by technical fall. He currently is ranked fifth in the nation.

“Right now as far as competing, it’s the best he’s ever looked as far as his takedowns and all-around appearance,” coach Dave Grant said.

The last NIU wrestler to start 13-0 was Jeremy Goeden in 1997-98. Goeden finished the season 32-3 and ranked as high as sixth in the nation. He also earned All-America honors.

The Huskies’ 5-0 start this season is their first such start since 1971-72.

Workouts continue: Although the team will not compete again until Dec. 29, they will continue their normal practice schedule this week, which includes two-a-day practices.

“It’s a lot of work, but I think it’s paid off,” 133-pounder Sam Hiatt said of two-a-days this season. “We’ve been in better shape than everybody we’ve wrestled. I don’t think we’ll get outworked or out-hustled this year.”

Next week, the wrestlers will lift weights and go home Dec. 14. They will return to campus Dec. 26.

“It’ll be good to rest a little bit, but we’ll still work out on our own,” Hiatt said.

Tough break: The Huskies will have a lot of tough competition over the break. They will be among 50 teams competing in the Midlands Championships on Dec. 29. One of those teams is Minnesota who currently is ranked first in the nation.

“You win that tournament and you’re probably going to be ranked number one in the nation,” Grant said.

On Jan. 5, the Huskies will travel to Columbus, Ohio for the Buckeye duals. Their opponents will be host school Ohio State, Indiana and Tennessee-Chattanooga. The Buckeyes currently are ranked seventh in the nation and the Hoosiers currently are ranked 20th.

On Jan. 12, the Huskies will host 10th ranked Northern Iowa.

Rivera ready: Injured 125-pound wrestler Alexis Rivera still hasn’t been cleared to wrestle. With the Midlands Championships three weeks away, he expects to be cleared by then.

Rivera looks forward to the tournament.

“I can get my name out there,” he said. “It will be a good chance for me to wrestle some good guys, some ranked guys.”

Rivera was expected to start at the 125-pound class before he broke his hand two months ago. Since he is an NCAA qualifier, Grant will give him a chance to start. Rivera and current starter Marlon Felton probably will wrestle-off for the job. Grant also will evaluate their performances at the Midlands.

This season, Felton is 10-2 with three pins.