The Eastern wrestling team will taking a break after weeks of tournament competition to engage in its first dual match of the season against the University of Illinois at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Eastern and Illinois have not met in regular season competition for a number of years because of scheduling conflicts.

However, McCausland is expecting a tremendous showdown in Champaign.

“It’s going to be tough,” Eastern head wrestling coach Ralph McCausland said. “They are a strong team. They have no weak weight classes.”

The Panthers will have to adapt to the change of training for dual matches instead of tournaments.

“They are getting ready,” McCausland said. “Training is a little different for duals compared to tournaments. They are modified individually.”

The Panthers will hit the mats against Illinois with the same general lineup, but there are a few challenge matches scheduled for this week which will lock the roster.

“The lineup is basically the same,” McCausland said. “We are not sure what we are going to do with heavyweights right now. Joe Gleissners’ ankle is still giving him some problems.”

This is the Panthers against a team ranked in the top 20, the Panthers are in for a tough match up.

“This is one of a few teams ranked in the top 20 that we will be facing this season,” McCausland said. “We are going to have to work hard, rise to the occasion and take advantage.”

McCausland and his crew have been working strenuously in order to be able to rise to the challenge that is ahead of them this week.

“This will set the stage of where we stand and what we need to work on,” McCausland said. “We have been working on situations and continuing to wrestle through those situations. We need to wrestle matches through from start to finish.”

The determining factor for the match according to McCausland, is depends on which weight class the meet will start off with.

The first three matches are crucial in dual,” McCausland said. “It depends on where we start. We want some quick wins and to gather momentum as the matches progress.”

“Everything has to be keyed in, especially during individual situations,” he said.

After the Panthers wrap up with the Illini, they will have a weeks training session to prepare for the prestigious Midlands tournament that takes place on Dec. 29 and 30.

“Midland is a smaller version of the national tournament,” McCausland said. “It is definitely the premiere tournament of the holiday.”

The team will have all next week to train during finals, but will be given some time off for the holiday before the Midlands tournament.

“We’ll train next week during finals, but then I will turn them loose for a little while,” McCausland said. “We’ll meet back here on Dec, 27 or 28 before the tournament. We will work out a few times and then shove off for the Midlands tournament.”

“After that it will be nonstop when we get back,” he said.