Being a student-athlete at a Division I university is not the easiest thing to do. But NIU wrestler Mel Heckman has proved that he can hit the books as hard as he can hit his opponents. Besides posting a 9-6 record last season, which included five pins,...

The football during Saturday's NIU—Southwestern Louisiana game squirmed out of players' hands as if it were a block of ice, and considering the weather (25 below-zero wind chill), it must have felt like one too. The Huskies and Southwestern Louisiana...

The NIU wrestling squad opens its regular season this weekend in a six-team tournament hosted by Northwestern University. The tourney will give the young Huskies a chance to see where they stand as far as wrestling outside of practice. "We're taking a...

The NIU wrestlers recently hit the mats again in preparation for the upcoming season. But this season the Huskies will not only be armed with strength but with head coach Ed Vatch's confidence as well. "We're facing a really tough schedule this season,"...

NIU tailback T.C. Dantzler isn't familiar with his new role. He is used to gathering attention at center stage as one of NIU's premier wrestlers. Last year, he qualified for the NCAA Championships as a 158 pounder. Now, the junior finds himself clearly...

The sight of pigskins flying through the air is coming back to DeKalb soon, and not just because it's tornado season. The Huskies' football team is set to return to the field (or in NIU's case, the carpet) to prepare for the coming season starting on...

Nine of the 16 NIU sports teams get additional travel money to go on "special trips," which account for an extra $35,000 in the budget. These special trips include the winter team's voyages and the spring break trips. Teams can only take in-season trips....

NIU wrestler T.C. Dantzler kept alive the streak of sending a Huskie to the NCAA nationals for each of the past 20 seasons. However, the streak of not bringing home a champion also survived. Dantzler, the only Huskie to participate in the event, lost...

Thanks to T.C. Dantzler, the NIU wrestling program will have a competitor in the NCAA Championships for a 20th consecutive season. Dantzler started strong at Saturday's NCAA West Regional Championships with a 13-0 shutout, followed by a 6-1 decision....

In order to survive in Saturday's NCAA West Regionals at Illinois State, NIU's wrestling squad will need an all-around top-notch performance by all. Despite the notion of team competition, the Huskies will divide into their separate weight classes and...

On a night when veteran engines were sputtering, two underclassmen jump-started the NIU wrestling team. Sophomore Jim Gussman and freshman Mel Heckman hit on all cylinders as the duo led the Huskies (8-10) past Eastern Illinois by a 25-17 count at Chick...

When the Huskies host Eastern Illinois Wednesday at 7:30 p.m., the meet may not mean much for the standings. However, an impressive showing by the Huskies may help earn important seeds in the upcoming NCAA regionals. "There are nine teams in a regional,...