May 14, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Northwestern head coach Tim Cysewski announced the signing of two wrestlers to National Letters of Intent for the 2003-04 season. Cysewski and the 'Cats inked Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central), a top-25 senior nationally at 152 pounds, and Jarred Mercado (Pitman, N.J./Pitman), a three-time New Jersey placewinner at 130 pounds.
Hayes checks in as the 2003 Iowa state champion. He went 46-1 as a senior, including 16 wins by fall. Hayes also finished in the top eight at the state tournament as a junior, posting a 33-8 record at 160 pounds. He is projected to wrestle at 157 or 165 pounds at NU.
Mercado finished second in the state of New Jersey in 2003, showing improvement throughout his high school career. He placed fourth in 2002 and sixth and 2001. Mercado is expected to compete for time at 133 or 141 pounds at NU.
Hayes and Mercado join Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) and Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), a pair of top five wrestlers nationally, as well as local product Jim Friend (Libertyville, Ill./Libertyville) in what is shaping up to be one of the best recruiting classes in NU history.
"Nick Hayes comes from a great high school program in Iowa," Cysewski said. "He'll come in and make an immediate impact at either 157 or 165 pounds. Jarred Mercado comes in as the New Jersey state runner-up. He has tremendous untapped talent and will contribute for us right away.
"Along with the three early wrestlers, we'll have the best class we've had here in a long time. It was already a strong class, but with these two guys it'll be that much better."
WrestlingUSA.com recently ranked the top-25 recruiting classes in the nation and NU checked in at No. 7. The Wildcats have the third-best Big Ten rating (Minnesota, No. 1; Michigan, No. 6).