By Andrew Hershberger
Assistant Sports Editor

The good news for the Northwestern wrestling team is that they will likely be very good in two or three years. The 7-4 Wildcats have one senior and four juniors this year, along with seven sophomores and eight freshmen.

The good news for the 10-1 Boilermakers, who host the 'Cats in the Big Ten opener tonight, is that they are very good right now. No. 21 Purdue boasts four ranked individual wrestlers, including three in InterMat's top 10 poll.

Freshman Chris Fleeger is still dominating the 125-pound division at No. 4 in the nation. With his two wins at the Wendy's Classic, Fleeger stands at 17-1 with his only loss coming to top-ranked Stephen Abas of Fresno State. Senior heavyweight Jake Vercelli is undefeated at 17-0 and ranked fifth. Vercelli took two wins at the Wendy's Classic as well. Ryan Lange, a sophomore at 174, is ranked eighth and junior Jon Bush is No. 19 at 197.

Northwestern is not ranked and does not have any individuals ranked by InterMat. The young Wildcats do, however, possess some talent that could make things interesting for the Boilers.

At 141 pounds, junior John Giacche currently holds a 19-5 overall record including four technical falls, two major decisions and a pin. Giacche knows what it means to be ranked — he was twice the top high school wrestler in the nation and finished his career with a 154-17 record.

For the Boilermakers at 141, Randy Pursley, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, and Paul Sacquitne, a 5-8 sophomore, have been battling for the starting spot all season, splitting time almost evenly. Pursley has seen some success this season, including a 5-2 decision over Dan Elliott of Gardner-Webb and an 11-5 decision against SIU-Edwardsville.

Sacquitne has been on somewhat of a bad streak, losing his last six decisions dating back to the beginning of this season.

Another Wildcat who could cause problems for Purdue is sophomore Ryan Kane at 165. Kane has a 20-8 record this season including two pins, two majors and a tech fall. Kane also had success in high school. He was a two-time California state champion his junior and senior years.

The Boilers have junior Oscar Santiago to counter Kane. Santiago did not compete at the Wendy's Classic but has had success all season and the confidence necessary to hold the starting position. His highlights this season include a major decision 13-5 over Bryan Busby of Cal State-Bakersfield and a pin against SIU-Edwardsville at the Purdue Duals Dec. 16.

For the most part, the Boilermakers have been dominating this season. They haven't lost a meet since falling 18-16 to Missouri on Dec. 8. Purdue has outscored their opponents in their 10 wins by a combined 341-47. They have limited the majority of their opponents to less than 10 points in each contest. At the Wendy's Classic, they won 47-0 over Gardner-Webb.

Purdue coach Jessie Reyes wants to carry this momentum into the conference season.

"This is the opening Big Ten meet for us," Reyes said. "We just want to keep our momentum going … stay aggressive, wrestle smart, just like the way they've been doing"