Ashland University will host the Wendy's Duals this Sunday (Jan. 19) at Kates Gymnasium. As usual, this event will bring several NCAA Division I visitors to town.
Northern Illinois and Purdue will provide the competition for AU this year. Ashland will wrestle Northern Illinois at noon. At 1:30 p.m., Purdue and Northern Illinois will battle. The final dual of the day pits the Eagles and Boilermakers at 3 p.m.
AU has not wrestled a Division I foe this year. The Eagles are 0-2 all-time against Northern Illinois and 0-6 against Purdue.
The Eagles are ranked 17th in the country. Ashland hasn't wrestled since losing to Pitt-Johnstown, 21-15 on Jan. 10.
Two AU wrestlers - Michael Labry at 133 pounds and Bryson Hall at 184 pounds - are ranked third in the country. Labry is 23-2 and Hall is 14-0. Joe Brandt is 18-2 and ranked sixth in the country at 197 pounds, but may not wrestle this weekend due to injury.
Purdue is 3-4, 0-4 in the Big Ten. Northern Illinois is 4-6 and wrestles on Friday night at Eastern Michigan.
After the Duals, AU has one regular-season match left at Kates Gymnasium. That's a date with West Liberty on Feb. 11 (7 p.m.).
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