July 27, 2010
The 2009-10 athletic year at Northwestern University was one to remember. Filled with memorable wins, honors and championships, there was much to be celebrated this past year in Evanston. Be sure to follow along at NUsports.com through August 6 as we take a look back at some of the very best highlights the Wildcats experienced last season.
Original Recap and Photo Gallery
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Tim Cysewski, the face of the Northwestern wrestling program for 20 years, announced on Dec. 11, 2009, that he would be handing off the head coaching reins at season's end. Two months later, Cysewski's wrestled an inspired final dual match of the year to rally past Michigan 20-16, send their head coach out a winner and account for the No. 9 moment in NU's end-of-the-year countdown.
A plethora of injuries during the season had left Cysewski, the winningest coach in program history, with a depleted lineup for much of the 2010 Big Ten dual campaign. But the Wildcats received a huge lift when one of those injured competitors, Robert Joyce, came back from down 4-1 early in his 125-pound bout to win by a 7-4 decision in his first match in over a month.
Senior Eric Metzler, the team's emotional leader wrestling for the final time at Welsh-Ryan Arena, kept momentum on NU's side with a dramatic 14-12 decision at 133 pounds in the ensuing match. True freshman Levi Mele then stole a 7-5 win in sudden victory at 141 despite wrestling up two weight classes, and suddenly Northwestern was on its way to taking a 14-4 lead.
"We were determined to win and beat one of our rivals, but more importantly, to do it for Timmy," said Northwestern 149-pounder Andrew Nadhir. "We were the underdogs again but every single guy came out and fought with heart."
Following an intermission ceremony honoring Cysewski that featured a host of his most distinguished former wrestlers and assistant coaches, Michigan briefly attempted a comeback before Northwestern locked up the dual win with victories at 165 and 174 pounds.
For Cysewski, the win was the 155th of a career in which he coached his wrestlers to four individual NCAA championships, placed 27 All-Americans and qualified 89 competitors to the national tournament. He twice guided NU to a program-best fourth-place NCAA finish, first in his debut season as head coach in 1990 and again in 2007.
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