The Eastern wrestling team will pack up and head to wrestling capital of the world Saturday for some of the nation’s toughest competition as the Panthers enter into the Northern Iowa Open tournament.

The 53rd annual UNI Open will start at 9 a.m. Sat. at the UNI Dome and will feature Big Ten powers Iowa, Michigan and Illinois.

The host team is ranked 19th and 20th in the respected national polls.

Around 300 wrestlers from the midwest in ally three college divisions will compete in the tournament, giving smaller schools the opportunity to face perennial powerhouses.

“Iowa, Michigan and Nebraska are some of the best programs in the nation,” Eastern coach Ralph McCausland said.

“It should be a good challenge for us.”

Despite the stiff competition senior Pat Dowty is positive about his teams chances at Northern Iowa.

Dowty placed fourth this year against some of the nation’s best wrestlers while at the Missouri Open which allows the two-time NCAA qualifier to have confidence going into the Hawkeye state.

“It’s our last open of the season and we’re going to be looking for six or seven wrestlers to place,” Dowty said.

At their last open at the Show Me state, the Panthers placed three additional wrestlers which included senior Matt Veach placing third at 157. Kenny Robertson and Pete Ziminski both had sixth-place finishes at the 165 and heavyweight respectively.

Despite the powerhouses attending the tournament Veach thinks keeping it simple will bring the Panthers success.

As a transfer from Iowa State, one of the most historically dominant programs in collegiate wrestling which has produced such legends as Dan Gable, Veach has seen repeatedly the country’s best talent and feels the Panthers stack up pretty solidly.

“We need to stick to our game plan. If we do this, we can compete with anyone,” Veach said.

After the UNI Open the Panthers will begin dual meets.

Eastern will open up against Indiana and will host Northern Iowa in its first home meet.

The NCAA tournament begins in March.