March 17, 2006
OKLAHOMA CITY -- No. 2 seed Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) earned a decision over Iowa's third-seeded Mark Perry Friday evening at the Ford center to advance to the 174-pound finals at the 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships. Northwestern stands in 12th place in the team race with 44 points and has two wrestlers still alive in the championships, as Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) advanced to the wrestleback semifinals as well. The 'Cats have three wrestlers who earned All-America honors with their performances Friday, the most since 1998. ESPN will air the championship finals live beginning at 6:30 p.m. Saturday, March 18.
Herbert, who was facing Perry for the third time this season, controlled the match from the very beginning. He tallied a takedown early in the first period and rode Perry 1:58 to close out the first.
Herbert started the second period down and quickly increased his lead to 3-0 with an escape. He then shot and hit on Perry's left leg, rolled him over and scored his second takedown of the match to make the score 5-0. Perry got in an escape before the end of the period, but Herbert carried a 5-1 lead into the final round.
The two traded escapes to start the third, but Herbert notched yet another takedown to push his lead to 8-2. Perry managed one more escape before the end, but Herbert took the 9-3 decision to advance to the finals.
There, Herbert will face Missouri's Ben Askren in one of the most anticipated bouts of the year. Askren has been the No. 1 ranked wrestler at 174 lbs. for the entire season, while Herbert has spent the entire season ranked No. 2. In addition, Askren is the only wrestler ranked in the top six according to the USA Today/NWCA/Intermat poll that Herbert hasn't faced this season. Askren stands at 43-0 this year while Herbert is 36-0 -- their final bout will be the only championship finals match featuring two undefeated wrestlers.
Sixth-seeded Lang rebounded from his quarterfinal loss with a convincing win over Northern Iowa's C.J. Eddelson in his first wrestleback match, securing All-America honors. Lang got on Eddelson from the beginning and was relentless throughout the match. Lang tallied a takedown and a three-point nearfall in the first while recording 2:32 of riding time. Eddelson got on the board with a two-point nearfall in the second period, but Lang slipped out underneath the hold and scored a reverse to take a 7-2 lead and the match.
Lang then continued his winning ways and advanced to the wrestleback semifinals with a 7-1 win over Iowa's seventh-seeded Alex Tsirtsis. Tsirtsis defeated Lang in a dual match earlier this season, but Lang made sure history wouldn't repeat itself by wrestling aggressively right off the bat. Lang went up 3-0 in the first period after being awarded a point for a Tsirtsis technical violation and scoring a takedown. He took more than one minute of riding time with him into the second period, then took a 4-0 lead with an escape early in the third. After another takedown and the riding time, Lang took the 7-1 decision.
Lang returns to action when he faces Michigan State's fourth-seeded Andy Simmons in the wrestleback semifinals. Lang is 1-2 this season versus Simmons, with his win coming in the final bout at the Michigan State Open.
After dropping his very first match of the championships, eighth-seeded John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) has come back to become a bright spot for the Wildcats. Velez tore through the consolation bracket, winning four-consecutive matches to earn All-America status for the first time in his career.
In his fourth-round consolation match, Velez dominated Bloomsburg's Michael Sees and pinned him just 2:20 into the match -- his second pin of the season. Velez got in on Sees early, turned him on his back and kept the position until he heard the emphatic slap from the referee on the mat.
In his fifth-round wrestleback matchup, Velez fell to Cal Poly's ninth-seeded Chad Mendes. Velez fell behind early in the first period, trailing 5-0 entering the second round. There, he tallied an escape and went into the final round trailing 5-1. Velez cut it to 5-3 with a takedown midway through the third, then was awarded an additional point when Mendes was whistled for stalling. Mendes increased his lead to 6-4 with another escape, however, and walked off with the 7-4 decision with riding time. Velez faces Stanford's 12th-seeded Travis Gardner in Friday's seventh-place match.
After falling back to 16th place following session three, the 'Cats have bounced back to 12th place with 44 points and trail 10th-place Hofstra by just two points. Oklahoma State remains in the lead with 106 points, followed by Minnesota with 72.5. Oklahoma is in third with 64.5, while Iowa is in fourth with 61.5. Arizona State rounds out the top five with 56 points.
The 2006 NCAA Wrestling Championships resume Saturday at 10 a.m. with the wrestleback medal rounds. The championship finals begin at 6:30 p.m.
Championship Notes:
Jake Herbert is only the 11th wrestler in Northwestern history to earn multiple All-America honors.
If Herbert wins in the finals versus Missouri's Ben Askren, he will become only the second wrestler in program history to win a Midlands, Big Ten and NCAA title in the same season (Jack Griffin, 1990).
Three wrestlers earned All-America honors (Jake Herbert, Ryan Lang and John Velez) for the Wildcats this year, the second-most single-season All-Americans in program history. Northwestern has previously posted three or more All-Americans only four times in the program's 78-year history.
SESSION FOUR SUMMARYChampionship Bracket Jake Herbert (NU) dec. Mark Perry (Iowa) 9-3
Consolation Bracket Ryan Lang (NU) dec. C.J. Eddelson (NIU)-4th rd. 7-2 Ryan Lang (NU) dec. Alex Tsirtsis (Iowa)-5th rd. 7-1 John Velez (NU pinned Michael Sees (Bloomsburg) 2:20 Chad Mendes (Cal Poly) dec. John Velez (NU) 7-4