Herbert Earns All-America Honors, Wins Two in Session Four of NCAA Championships
March 18, 2005
ST. LOUIS, Mo. - When freshman Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) recorded his third-consecutive pin of the day at the NCAA Championships, he assured himself a top-eight finish at 174 lbs. Translation: he's an All-American -- the first Wildcat to achieve the honor since Scott Schatzman in 2000. "It feels awesome," Herbert said. "This has been a goal of mine for a while. I just wish I had wrestled yesterday like I did today. I want to be gunning for the title, but I'll take a shot at third place as a freshman." Head Coach Tim Cysewski has now coached 10 Wildcats to 16 All-America certificates in his 15-year tenure at Northwestern. "It's overdue. For us to get our first all-American since 2000 is great." Cysewski said. "We had five guys right there tonight in the round of twelve, and a few guys dropped some really close matches. They've all tasted the waters now though, and I fully expect everybody to be back in the Championships next year." Herbert clinched All-America status by pinning Cal-State Fullerton's Leonel Sanchez at 4:42. He did not rest on the accomplishment though. Herbert piggy-backed his pin of Sanchez with a decimating technical fall over Daniel Waters of American University. Herbert rode Waters for 3:47 and the 15-0 victory. Every wrestler Northwestern sent to the Championships was one win away from becoming an All-America Friday night, but Herbert was the only Wildcat to wrap up the honor.
Junior John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) barely fell to Cal Poly's Vic Moreno, 3-1. The two were tied, 1-1, heading into overtime. There, Moreno scored a takedown 31 seconds into overtime for the 3-1 victory.
Junior Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) was down, 5-4, to Oklahoma's Joel Flaggert late in the third round, and the Sooner competed the upset with a late takedown for the 7-4 decision. Freshman Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) suffered his second close defeat of the Championships, falling 3-2 to fifth-seeded Matt Feast of Pennsylvania. Fox's two losses were by a grand total of three points. Freshman Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edwards) was pinned by seventh-seeded Daniel Frishkorn of Oklahoma State.
Herbert returns to the mats Saturday morning in session five, where he will take on fifth-seeded Joe Mazzurco of Cornell. A win there, will put him in the third-place bout. Illinois' Pete Friedl is still alive on the other side of the bracket, set to face Eric Huaan of Northern Iowa. A Herbert and Friedl win will set up a rematch of the Big Ten Championship.
Team Standings after Session 4
Wildcats' Session 4 Results
Wildcats' Session 5 Matchups
NCAA Championship Matchups
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