Nov. 5, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern completed another historic, championship-laden season in 2008-09, but head coach Tim Cysewski--now in his 20th year as head coach of the Wildcats--has his team focused squarely on a brand new season. The 'Cats open competition this year at the Eastern Michigan Open at 9 a.m. Saturday in Bowen Field House in Ypsilanti.
Northwestern will be entering wrestlers in the varsity open division as well as the freshman/sophomore division on Saturday.
"I think we're ready to go to Eastern Michigan and get some work in against a lot of quality opponents," Cysewski said. "We have a team full of young guys who are anxious to start proving themselves so even though this is only first meet, nobody is taking it lightly by any means."
With the loss of two-time NCAA champion Jake Herbert to graduation as well as 2009 third-place finisher Brandon Precin and NCAA qualifier Jason Welch to their redshirt seasons, there will be plenty of opportunities for newcomers to earn a spot in the starting dual lineup.
Precin (33-4 in 2008-09) and Welch will both be among the field of competitors at the EMU Open this weekend.
Also looking to get their seasons off on a strong note will be Northwestern's pair of seniors, Eric Metzler (133) and Dominic Marella (165).
Read a full preview of Northwestern's 2009-10 wrestling season below:
If Northwestern head coach Tim Cysewski were to take a quick glance in his rear view mirror, he'd have a clear look at arguably the best three-year run in program history. It's a span that includes a trio of individual NCAA championships, a Hodge Trophy winner, eight All-Americans and three straight top-15 finishes highlighted by a fourth-place showing in 2007.
Cysewski, however, is too busy looking straight ahead, focused on keeping the momentum of the past three seasons rolling.
"Our guys see that what we do and the way we coach here can help you be successful and achieve your goals," Cysewski said. "You can have it all here if you put in the work the way Jake (Herbert) and Brandon Precin and other guys have."
Northwestern's returning letterwinners--a group that includes nine starters--also have their sights set on the future and committed themselves during the offseason to putting in the work necessary to maintain NU's recent levels of success.
"Ninety-five percent of our team spent their summers in the area and put a lot of time in the weight room and training with one another," Cysewski explained. "It's never a given that guys will go at their offseason regimens with the intensity they should but I saw firsthand that this team did."
Two Wildcat grapplers who featured prominently in Northwestern's 2008-09 success--Brandon Precin (125) and Jason Welch (157)--made the difficult decision to redshirt the upcoming season in an effort to fine-tune their technical skill and strength for future campaigns. Precin is a two-time All-American who posted a 33-4 record and placed third nationally in 2009 while Welch was a Big Ten finalist and RevWrestling.com national all-rookie team selection in his freshman campaign.
"Brandon certainly would have been one of the favorites to win a national championship at 125 this year and I think with another year of training under his belt he'll have an even better chance," Cysewski said. "For Jason it will really give him a chance to mature at 157. Last year he wrestled a lot of guys who were a bit stronger than him. Not that he can't beat those guys, but it definitely put him at a disadvantage. They'll each get about 25-30 matches this year and they'll be working harder than ever to try to win an NCAA title the following year."
Northwestern has a number of experienced starters at other weight classes it will be counting on to contribute significant points in dual match competitions. That group is spearheaded by junior Andrew Nadhir (149), who is coming off a breakout season in which he posted a 6-2 Big Ten mark and an impressive showing at the conference championships where he upset fourth-ranked Lance Palmer of Ohio State. NU also features a trio of redshirt freshmen--Robert Kellogg (165), Ben Kuhar (hwt.) and John Schoen (197)--who last season learned what it takes to be starters in the Big Ten and are looking to make the leap to NCAA qualifier.
"These guys have had some success and gained a lot of confidence last year," Cysewski said. "Now it's just a matter of continuing to develop them so they can step up and reach their potential."