March 11, 2008

Northwestern Winter Weekly Release #15

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern has named Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) of wrestling and Hannah Nielsen (Adelaide, Australia/Brighton Secondary) of women's lacrosse as its Hilton Garden Athletes of the Week.

Fox won his first-ever Big Ten title in a defeat of Ohio State's top-seeded J.D. Bergman in heavyweight action. Fox became Northwestern's first heavyweight Big Ten champion since 1961. His 23.5 team points over the weekend were good for second-most by any individual at the tournament.

Fox breezed through the heavyweight bracket, but had his work cut out for the title. In a tight match, Fox went to the third, leading 1-0 and starting on top. Bergman could not escape his hold enough to gain the crucial one minute of riding time, and Fox capped off an impressive tournament with a 2-0 win in the championship match.

Nielsen recorded five goals and eight assists in a pair of wins over the weekend, including eight points (four goals, four assists) against 14th-ranked Boston University on Sunday. In five games this season, Nielsen is averaging 5.8 points per game and leads the Wildcats with 29 points (14 goals, 15 assists).

Nielsen already has recorded four goals and four assists in three different games, including two eight-point performances. She has scored at least three points in every game this season and has been a large contributing factor to the success of the Wildcats, who have won 26-consecutive games.