Wrestling Hosts Northern Illinois for Senior Day

Wrestling vs Northern Illinois
Date	Saturday, Jan. 30 \| 4 p.m.
Location	Convocation Center
Game Notes	PDF Notes
Twitter	@EMUWrestling
Live Results	Track Wrestling
Live Stream	Eagle All-Access

YPSILANTI, Mich. (EMUEagles.com) – The Eastern Michigan University wrestling team wraps up the 2015-16 home schedule when it hosts Northern Illinois University for senior day, Saturday, Jan. 30 at the Convocation Center. The meet is set to begin at 4 p.m. with the senior day ceremony taking place after the conclusion of the dual.

   The dual will be streamed live on Eagle All-Access, and can also be followed live on our Twitter page, @EMUWrestling. Live results can be found at TrackWrestling.com.

   Saturday's dual is part of a "Beauty and the Beast" event, where the meet will coincide with a gymnastics meet at the same time. Both squads will square off with the Huskies of Northern Illinois, and both meets begin at 4 p.m. inside the Convo.

ALL-TIME VS. NORTHERN ILLINOIS: Saturday marks the 33rd all-time meeting between the two teams, with NIU holding the decisive advantage in the series, 27-4-1. The first meeting occurred in the 1971-72 season. Eastern's last victory over NIU came Jan. 26, 2013 in a 22-17 triumph.

LAST TIME WE MET: Eastern Michigan was unable to secure a road victory as it fell to the Huskies 21-12, Friday, Feb. 6. The Eagles earned four bout victories, while the Huskies grabbed six bouts with one extra-point victory. Eastern won three of the first five bouts, but dropped four of the last five to lose the match.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES: NIU enters the dual sporting a 5-6 dual record and 0-3 ledger in conference. The Huskies wrestled four matches at the EMU Duals, going 2-2 on the day with wins over Clarion and Bloomsburg, while falling to Purdue and Edinboro. NIU also holds wins over Grand Canyon, SIUE and The Citadel.

   Individually, NIU has two wrestlers appearing in the national rankings. At 141lbs., Steve Bleise is ranked No. 17 by InterMat and No. 15 in the NCAA Coaches Panel. At 197 lbs., Shawn Scott comes in ranked No. 20 by InterMat and No. 16 by the Coaches Panel. In the MAC rankings, Bleise and Scott are both fourth at their respective weight classes, while Shaun'Qae McMurtry is fourth at 165 lbs.

SENIOR DAY: Saturday marks the final home dual in the careers of five EMU seniors. Here is a snapshot of each of their careers:

   Anthony Abro: Abro has stacked up an incredible 87 wins in 135 appearances in his EMU career as a four-year starter at both 197 lbs. and heavyweight. The 87 wins ranks sixth on the all-time wins list in program history. Abro earned an automatic bid into the 2015 NCAA Wrestling Championships after taking fifth place at the 2015 MAC Wrestling Championships. At the NCAA's, Abro notched two wins, and advanced into the round of 16 before bowing out.

   Chris Rau: Rau saw action on the mat 62 times for EMU in his five years, including four dual starts. The Deerfield, Michigan native found victory 28 times for the Green and White wrestling at both the 149 and 157 lbs. weight classes. Rau placed in the top-eight in four tournaments in his career, including a second place finish at the Alma Open in 2012.

   Derek Davison: Davison appeared in 49 matches over three seasons for EMU after transferring from the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. He totaled 23 career wins for Eastern, including two wins in duals this season.

   Michael Shaw: Shaw appeared in 115 matches as a four-year starter for EMU at both the 141 and 149 lbs. weight classes. In his career he racked up 45 total wins. He took sixth at the MAC Championships in 2013, notching two wins in the tournament.

   Vincent Pizzuto: Pizzuto appeared in 125 matches in his EMU career as a four-year starter, notching a stellar 81 total wins at the 125 and 133 lbs classes. His 81 victories ranks tied for ninth on the all-time wins list in program history. He earned an automatic bid into the NCAA Championships in the 2013-14 season after placing fifth in the MAC tournament.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Based on projected starting lineups, NIU returns six starters from last season's dual to the lineup for this dual. Of those six, four won their respective bouts. Meanwhile for EMU, they return four starters from last season in this weekend's lineup. Of those four, Nicholas Barber and Gage Hutchison won their matchup.

   Saturday sees a potential for two rematches from last season's dual. At 197 lbs., Anthony Abro will look to get revenge against Shawn Scott where he lost in a 7-5 tiebreaker. Both wrestlers enter the dual ranked in the Coaches Panel. The other scheduled rematch is at the heavyweight bout between Hutchison and Arthur Bunce, where Hutchison won in an 11-6 decision.

LOCAL CONNECTIONS: Saturday will mark a bit of a homecoming for a contingent of NIU Huskies. Eight grapplers hail from Michigan on NIU's roster. This includes redshirt freshman Steve Bleise, who is from Chelsea, Mich. located in Washtenaw County. Huskies Head Coach Ryan Ludwig is also a Chelsea native.

FOUR WRESTLERS RANKED BY COACHES PANEL: In the first of four NCAA Coaches Panel rankings, four EMU grapplers found themselves in the top-33. Nicholas Barber (No. 24, 149 lbs.), Jacob Davis (No. 32, 174 lbs.), Anthony Abro (No. 20, 197 lbs.) and Gage Hutchison (No. 28, 285 lbs.) were all ranked in the poll released Jan. 21. The Coaches Panel is one of three measurements used to determine qualifying spots in the NCAA Tournament in March, along with winning percentage and ratings percentage index (RPI).

LYSSIOTIS JOINS COACHING STAFF: EMU wrestling announced the hiring Tony Lyssiotis ('07) as a volunteer assistant coach, Jan. 21. He will join the team mat-side the rest of this season, primarily working with the heavier weight classes.

   Lyssiotis was a four-year letterwinning starter for the Eagles, starting at 197 lbs. from 2004-07. The Oxford, Mich. native finished third in the Mid-American Conference Tournament his senior year, while earning Academic All-MAC honors his junior and senior years.

DOUBLE TROUBLE: Entering the final season of their storied careers, redshirt seniors Anthony Abro and Vincent Pizzuto are near the top of the EMU record book in career wins. Abro has 87 career wins, while Pizzuto has 81. This is good for sixth place and a tie for ninth place on the all-time list, respectively. Steve Brown is the program leader in victories, racking up 117 from 1984-88.

NATIONAL RANKINGS: Anthony Abro is currently ranked in the top-20 by almost every major wrestling outlet. He is 17th (InterMat), 17th (The Open Mat), 17th (WIN Magazine) and 18th (WrestlingReport). Two other Eagles are ranked nationally as well, with Gage Hutchison coming in at 20th by WIN Magazine and 30th by WrestlingReport. Nicholas Barber is also ranked 27th by WrestlingReport.

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Abro

Nick Barber

Jacob Davis

Derek Davison

Gage Hutchison

Vincent Pizzuto

Chris Rau

Michael Shaw

Eastern Michigan Athletics