NIU wrestling coach Dave Grant says his wrestlers are looking forward to wrestling at home this Sunday against Eastern Michigan and Buffalo after spending the first two weeks on the road.

In addition to being the Huskies’ home opener, it also will be their first dual meet of the season.

Senior Scott Owen says that wrestling dual meets is a lot different from wrestling in tournaments.

“You get in there and it’s one match and you just got to take it one at a time,” Owen said about wrestling in a tournament. “When you’re competing for a dual meet you got to be ready to go because it’s one match and you got to put it all on the line.”

The first dual meet will be against Eastern Michigan, who the Huskies tied 18-18 in last year’s dual meet. EMU was ranked sixth in the pre-season Mid-American Conference poll.

“Their team has improved a lot over the years,” Grant said. “They’ve changed coaches and things have been coming up for them.”

Following the EMU meet, the Huskies will face Buffalo who defeated the Huskies 19-15 last season and are ranked fourth in the pre-season MAC poll.

“They placed ahead of us in the conference, so it’s real important for us to beat those guys,” Grant said.

Starting for the Huskies on Sunday will be 133-pound Sam Hiatt, 149-pound Alex Nelson, 157-pound Scott Owen, 174-pound Bill Lowney and heavyweight Jon Lovrich, who is returning from an injury. The other five starters will be determined during wrestle-offs that will be held today.

Because Alexis Rivera has not been cleared to wrestle, NIU’s Marlon Felton and David Aranda will compete for the 125-pound starting position in a best-of-three match in practice. Eric Loizeaux and Oliver Vasquez for the 141-pound position. Loizeaux needs to win one match, Vasquez needs to win two.

Bryce Hasseman and Jeremy Benesh will compete for the 165-pound position in a best-of-three match in practice today as well. Ben Heizer and James Oliva will compete for the 184-pound position with Heizer needing to win one match and Oliva needing to win two. Jack Dennis and Greg Reardon will compete for the 197-pound position.