Wrestling
As No. 17 Northwestern cruised to an easy 37-9 win over unranked Indiana, Jason Tsirtsis extended his record to 24-0 this season and Pierce Harger upset Taylor Walsh, the No. 4 ranked wrestler at 165 pounds. The Wildcats won eight of the ten matches against the Hoosiers.
Tsirtsis hasn’t lost a match since January 10, 2014.
Grade: Dominant performance. A
Fencing
Northwestern won seven of seven dual matches at the Western Invitational in Colorado Springs this Saturday, and is now 19-0 on the season. The perfect weekend also marked the 1,200th victory for head coach Laurie Schiller.
The Wildcats beat out Brandeis, UC San Diego, Air Force, Florida, Stanford, Cal Tech and Duke by an average score of 21.5-5.5.
Grade: Fencing is absolutely destroying opponents this season. A+
Men’s and Women’s Swimming
In the men’s 137-98 Senior Day victory over Milwaukee, Northwestern was all over the podium, winning every single event. Jordan Wilimovsky took a break from dominating the 1000 free to win the 200 free, and an all senior squad took first in the 400 yard medley relay.
The women’s team controlled the meet from start to finish, winning all 11 swimming events on their way to a 153-81 win. Ellen Stello won the 500 free and the 200 fly, and diver Mashal Hashem placed second in both 1 and 3 meter diving. The 72-point victory was topped off with a Wildcat squad setting a new pool record in the 200 free relay.
Grade: Combined, the men’s and women’s teams were only two events away from sweeping the meet. A
Men’s Tennis
Northwestern started its season with two road trips in one weekend. While No. 28 NC State beat No. 34 NU 4-3 on Friday, the Wildcats finished their weekend with a 4-3 win over No. 19 Vanderbilt.
No. 108 Strong Kirchheimer won all his matches over the weekend, and Sam Shropshire upset NC State’s No. 128 Robbie Mudge while Logan Staggs upset Vanderbilt’s No. 77 Rhys Johnson.
Grade: The upset over Vanderbilt covers for the loss to NC State. B-
Men’s Basketball
The Wildcats have now dropped four straight games, including losses to Illinois and Michigan this past week, leaving Northwestern at 1-4 in the Big Ten.
While Alex Olah has been playing how he needs to (18 points and 9.5 rebounds per game this past week), the Wildcats are turning the ball over too much. At Michigan, NU held the Wolverines to 34 percent field goal shooting, but the Wildcats' 12 turnovers often led to easy transition buckets. By not forcing turnovers themselves, NU is essentially giving opponents an extra eight to 10 possessions a game.
Grade: Losing four straight in the Big 10 doesn’t help your NCAA resume. Olah’s performance keeps them from an F. D-
Women’s Basketball
Northwestern has lost two games in a row, this week losing to No. 22 Iowa on the road and falling to Michigan at home. At least three players have scored in double digits during their losses over the past seven days, but the bench only added 12 points at Iowa and 9 vs. Michigan.
The Wildcats are racking up a ridiculous amount of blocks, but their opponents this week still averaged 46 percent shooting. What did remain consistent is the team’s abysmal free throw shooting, which was 60 percent during both losses.
Grade: Beyond free throw shooting, NU played wildly different games during the week, making it appear to be more of a slump than being consistently bad. C-