King of the Hill NIU wrestler Pat Castillo now stands alone. The senior is now the top wrestler at 133 pounds according to the new MAC wrestling rankings, which were released Feb. 28. Castillo was previously tied at first with Kent State's Dan Mitcheff...

Two NIU athletes recently were named MAC players of the week. After going 4-0 and picking up two major decisions along the way, NIU wrestler Pat Castillo was named MAC wrestler of the week Feb. 12. The two major decisions gave Castillo a total of 15 on...

After a rough loss to No. 5 Central Michigan Thursday night, the NIU wrestling team was able to bounce back by going 3-0 against Eastern Michigan, Gardner-Webb and Clarion Saturday in Ypsilanti, Mich. "The true test for main character is when you come...

Central Michigan is a man among boys when it comes to MAC wrestling. Thursday night the Chippewas improved their MAC winning streak to 27 consecutive dual meets with a 41-3 victory over NIU in front of 859 fans in Mount Pleasant, Mich. Central Michigan...

NIU 8-6, 2-1 Coach's Take-Dave Grant The Huskie wrestling team faces its biggest challenge in the MAC tonight against No. 5 Central Michigan. The Chippewas defeated the Huskies 27-9 last season in DeKalb. "We should go in with the same kind of attitude...

NIU sophomore Duke Burk is 19-3 this season and is ranked No. 13 in the nation. The Peoria native talked with the Northern Star about his name, DeKalb and the Super Bowl. Northern Star: First of all, how did you get the nickname "Duke"? Duke Burk: When...

Friday was another rough night for the NIU wrestling team, as it fell 24-13 to Northern Iowa at the NIU Convocation Center. "These guys are wrestling hard and a lot of these matches were pretty close," NIU head coach Dave Grant said. "As we go through,...

Northern Illinois (8-5 2-1 MAC), No. 25 Northern Iowa (3-5-1, 1-0 Western Wrestling Conference) 7 P.M. at the Convocation Center What makes this meet different? The Huskies face Northern Iowa in the last home dual meet for NIU's seniors. It will be the...

It was a first for the NIU wrestling team. For the first time this season the Huskies suffered a MAC defeat. On Friday night Kent State came to the Convocation Center and left with a 20-16 win. "We fought hard, the duel went back and forth quite a bit,"...

When thinking of the term cage match, usually the thought of UFC or the WWE comes to mind. However, the term cage match has a different meaning to the NIU wrestling team: a meet against a MAC opponent. "Coach Grant always says when it comes to MAC competition...

You always want to win them all, but losing one out of four isn't a failure. That's exactly what the NIU wrestling team did this weekend. The weekend started with a 26-10 win over Ohio (4-11 overall, 0-2 MAC) on Friday. "When we wrestle a MAC school,...

Youth is not a disadvantage. At least, that's what the NIU wrestling team has found this season. NIU has relied on big contributions this year from its young wrestlers, and MAC-ranked T.J. Wunnicke is one of those guys. A two-time state champion in high...