Northwestern and the Big Ten Conference announced on Thursday that the 2011 Big Ten Wrestling Championships, previously scheduled to be held at Purdue, have been moved to Welsh-Ryan Arena on the campus of Northwestern. The tournament is set for Saturday-Sunday, March 5-6, 2011.


"I speak for the entire Northwestern Athletic department when I say we are 100 percent committed to hosting an outstanding Big Ten Championships," said first-year Wildcat head coach Drew Pariano. "We will work endlessly to create an exceptional environment for the student-athletes and thousands of fans arriving in Evanston this March.

"Our team could not be more excited about the news of our hosting this event," Pariano continued. "It gives our seniors a chance to compete in Welsh-Ryan Arena one final time before heading to Philadelphia for the NCAA Championships."


Northwestern, which has hosted the Big Ten Wrestling Championships on 13 prior occasions, last held the event in its home arena in 2001. Welsh-Ryan Arena now will be the site of two of college wrestling's premier events in 2010-11, with NU also set to host the 48th annual Midlands Championships Dec. 29-30, 2010.