March 17, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) won his first career title and Northwestern's first individual title since 1990 -- and its seventh in program history -- as the 'Cats tied a program-best with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Championships. Herbert wrestled a dominating final match, downing Iowa State's Jake Varner by 6-1 decision. Junior Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) finished second at 141 lbs.
Herbert becomes Northwestern's first individual champion since Jack Griffin won his crown in 1990. The fourth-place finish matches NU's finishes in 1932 and 1990 for the highest ever in program history.
"We came from 50th in 2004 and now we're taking home some hardware this year," Herbert said. "That was our goal and why we all wanted to come to Northwestern to wrestle for Timmy (Cysewski)".
"We have a lot of individuals with different personalities," head coach Tim Cysewski said. "But they know that winning is important and good things happen when you have that mentality."
Northwestern opened the session in fifth place, but needed to win one more championship than Oklahoma State, who sat in fourth place with two wrestlers in the finals.
NU won one out of two, but received help from Penn and Iowa to earn the program-best finish. Penn's Matt Valenti topped OSU's Coleman Scott at 133 lbs. and Iowa's Mark Perry handed Johny Hendricks his first loss of the season at 165. Herbert's win vaulted the 'Cats into fourth, ahead of four-time defending champion OSU.
Team Standings
1. Minnesota - 98.0
2. Iowa State - 88.5
3. Missouri - 80.0
4. Northwestern - 71.5
5. Oklahoma State - 69.0
Northwestern earned four All-America honors for the first time since 1990 as Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) finished third at heavyweight, Lang finished second and Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) finished seventh at 197 lbs.
Herbert came out like a man with a plan in his 184-pound championship match, scoring a takedown over Iowa State's Varner a little less than one minute into the opening frame. He rode Varner for the rest of the period.
Herbert was down to start the second and he escaped quickly to extend his lead to 3-0. He added another takedown in the second and Varner received a point when Herbert pushed him out of bounds near the end of the period.
No more points were scored in the third and the riding time advantage gave Herbert the 6-1 decision.
#1 Herbert dec. #6 Varner (Iowa State), 6-1
Period 1:
2:13 TD Herbert (2-0)
Period 2:
1:30 escape Herbert (3-0)
1:27 TD Herbert (5-0)
0:11 one point Varner, push-out on Herbert (5-1)
3:18 riding time (6-1)
Lang started out the aggressor against UC Davis' Derek Moore in the finals, notching a quick two-point takedown in the first period against the lanky Aggie. It was the last time Lang would lead in the match. The Wildcat tried to ride his opponent out for the rest of the period - and stayed on top for just over a minute - but Moore reversed Lang with 1:03 left in the first to tie the score at 2-2.
The Wildcat could not escape and the first period ended in a 2-2 tie. Moore scored two-points on a swift reversal to start the second period and registered back-to-back three-point near-falls. Moore carried a 10-2 lead into the third period.
Moore ended the match by technical fall when he went up 17-2 with a takedown, two-point near-fall and then three-point near-fall.
The loss was Lang's first of the season and he ends the year at 29-1. He earned his second career All-America honor and his highest NCAA finish. Moore ended his season undefeated and won Most Outstanding Wrestler honors.
#2 Moore tech fall #1 Lang, 17-2
Period 1:
2:46 Lang converts a low leg attack for a takedown (2-0)
1:39 Moore reverses (2-2)
Period 2:
Lang defers; Moore chooses bottom
1:36 Moore stands, then executes switch for 2-reversal (2-4)
1:05 Lang rolls but Moore catches him w/half for 3-pt NF (2-7)
0:50 Moore cradle near-fall, 3-point NF awarded at 0:15 (2-10)
Period 3:
Lang chooses neutral
1:55 TD Moore (2-12)
1:45 Moore gets tilt for 2-pt NF (2-14)
1:29 Another tilt for 3-pt NF ends bout with tech fall (2-17)