Teams: UC Davis vs. No. 10 Northwestern
Where: The Pavilion
When: Sunday at 6 p.m.
Who to Watch: Sophomore Ricky Alcala is off to a great start this year in winning his first two matches against Embry-Riddle and Arizona State.
The Arvin, Calif. native has great expectations this year after tying for the team lead with seven dual wins and nine victories in Pacific-10 Conference action last season. His goal is to qualify for the NCAA Division I Championships this season.
Did you know? All but three wrestlers on this year’s 33-man roster are from California. Junior Charles Hinriksson is from River Forest, Ill., sophomore Brandon Low is a native of Honolulu, Hawaii and sophomore Rory McBryde hails from Eagle River, Ala.
Preview: Led by eighth-year head coach Lennie Zalesky, and one of the best recruiting classes in program history, the Aggies are looking to live up to great expectations this year.
Coming off a loss in their first Pac-10 meet at Arizona State on Nov. 8, the Aggies are looking for a different outcome this Sunday against the Wildcats in their first home dual of the year.
UC Davis currently stands at 1-1, with its first victory coming in the form of a 39-6 rout of Embry-Riddle on Nov. 7. The Aggies are looking for similar success this Sunday at the Pavilion, which will be a difficult task to come by, as Northwestern enters at No. 10 in the country.
“They will be pretty solid all the way through the lineup,” Zalesky said. “I would like us to compete well with them. We want to see these top-notch teams during the season to help test our wrestlers and improve our chances of qualifying for the national meet. We have to wrestle very well and pull off some upsets to win, but we’ll just go after them.”
– Kyle Hyland
