No. 18 Northwestern ended the 2011-12 regular season on a positive note Friday night, defeating Indiana 27-7 at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Despite dropping the first two matches of the evening, NU rattled off eight-straight wins to end the regular season with five-straight dual victories, an 11-4 overall record and 4-4 mark in Big Ten action.

Northwestern volunteer assistant coach Brandon Precin is competing overseas this weekend at the Vladimir Semenov International tournament in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The three-time NU All-American is one of five U.S. wrestlers participating in the freestyle competition that runs from Feb. 17-19.

Northwestern closes out the 2011-12 dual campaign Friday, hosting Big Ten foe Indiana at 7 p.m. inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. NU and Indiana are wrestling the final Big Ten dual of the season as the rest of the conference teams wrapped up their Big Ten schedules Feb. 3-5.

Northwestern had a successful day in Buies Creek, N.C., defeating two teams from the state of North Carolina to finish the nonconference season a perfect 7-0. The 'Cats started the day with a 20-15 win over North Carolina and then dominated the host team, Campbell, 32-5 at the John W. Pope Convocation Center. Northwestern now has won four-straight duals and improved to 10-4 on the season.

Northwestern embarks on its last regular season road trip, facing two final nonconference opponents Saturday, Feb. 11. The 'Cats begin the day taking on the ACC's North Carolina at 3:30 p.m. and then meet Campbell out of the SoCon (Southern Conference) at 5:15 p.m. Both matches will take place inside the John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center on Campbell's campus in Buies Creek. N.C.

No. 19 Northwestern took a break from its Big Ten dual schedule Friday night at and won its eighth match of the year, defeating Northern Illinois, 24-18, at Welsh-Ryan Arena. The Wildcats won six of 10 bouts, including four with bonus points, improving to a perfect 5-0 in nonconference action.

Northwestern takes a break from Big Ten action and hosts nonconference opponent Northern Illinois at 7 p.m. Friday inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. This is the first of three-straight nonconference duals for the 'Cats before they close the regular season hosting Indiana on Feb. 17.

Jason Welch and Lee Munster made quick work of their Purdue opponents Sunday and scored key bonus points for Northwestern as the 'Cats hung on for a 21-18 victory over the Boilermakers. Welch and Munster both recorded first-period falls (Munster's came in 13 seconds, the fastest fall this season for any NU wrestler) while Pat Greco, Pierce Harger and Lee Munster also won their bouts Sunday. With the win, NU improves to 7-4 in dual action and 3-4 in the Big Ten.

No. 18 Northwestern visited in-state rival No. 8 Illinois Friday and scored a number of key wins but the Illini captured the 26-10 dual victory at Huff Hall. No. 9 Levi Mele won his Midlands rematch against No. 5 Jesse Delgado, Jason Welch improved to a perfect 16-0 on the season and Mike McMullan also scored a victory in the dual.

No. 18 Northwestern hits the road this weekend to wrestle two duals away from Welsh-Ryan Arena. The weekend begins at 5 p.m. Friday in Champaign, Ill., when the 'Cats take on the eighth-ranked Illini. Friday's dual will air live on the Big Ten Network. NU then heads to West Lafayette, Ind., for a match with Purdue at noon Sunday.

Northwestern got back to its winning ways Friday night at Welsh-Ryan Arena, defeating Michigan State 30-12. The 'Cats won six of 10 bouts with four of those wins coming by fall and scored another big victory at heavyweight as No. 17 Mike McMullan edged No. 10 Mike McClure. With the win, NU improves to 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the conference while Michigan State falls to 3-5, 1-3.

Seven Northwestern wrestlers made the cut in the first coaches' panel rankings that were released Friday by the NCAA. This is the first of three coaches' panel rankings for the 2011-12 wrestling season, which lists the top-33 wrestlers at each weight class. The final rankings will be one of the tools used as part of the selection process to determine the qualifiers for the 2012 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships in St. Louis, Mo.

After back-to-back weekends of home and away duals, No. 18 Northwestern wrestles just one match this weekend when the Wildcats host Michigan State at 7 p.m. Friday at Welsh-Ryan Arena. Friday night's match is the team's annual Alumni Night event and a number of former Wildcat wrestlers are expected to be in attendance.

Redshirt freshman Mike McMullan and senior John Schoen avenged their overtime losses to Iowa wrestlers from Midlands and two other Wildcats won their bouts, but No. 4 Iowa defeated No. 21 Northwestern 24-13 Sunday afternoon at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. The 'Cats picked up wins at heavyweight, 149, 157 and 197 in the dual.

No. 3 Jason Welch improved to a perfect 13-0 on the year and No. 21 Northwestern battled hard in the final bouts of the evening but No. 1 Penn State won Friday's Big Ten dual at in front of a big crowd Welsh-Ryan Arena, 38-3. NU's tough weekend of conference dual action continues at 1 p.m. Sunday when the Wildcats visit No. 4 Iowa at Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City.