By David Herder
In 1990, his first year coaching Northwestern wrestling, Tim Cysewski had his work cut out for him.
The previous year's Wildcats had finished eighth at the National Championships, with three wrestlers being named All-Americans, the most in program history. Mark Whitehead, who had won the Big Ten title at 190 lbs. and was the Wildcats' top finisher at the national tournament, had graduated.
Fortunately, the two other All-Americans, Jack Griffin and Mike Funk, were returning to Cysewski's team. Griffin was the reigning 118 lbs. Big Ten champion, fresh off a fifth place national finish. Funk already had a pair of top-five national finishes at 177 lbs., in 1987 and 1989, wrapped around a season lost to a knee injury.
After splitting their first two conference duals, the new coach and his team got their first trial at the Midland Championships. In a field of 52 collegiate and club teams, Northwestern finished third, behind only one other college team: Iowa State. While no 'Cats won their events, four earned spots on the podium. Griffin and Funk came in second and third in their respective classes, while sophomore Toby Williams and senior Brad Traviolia each finished third.
Riding the momentum, the Wildcats thrashed Michigan State, before coming up against No. 3 Iowa, where the roles were reversed in a 33-8 loss at the hands of the Hawkeyes. But Cysewski wasn't worried.
"We're going to get better and keep making improvements," he told the Daily Northwestern after that match. "Certain teams peak too quick, but we seem to peak at the right time.
"You can have a great season, but everyone looks at how you do those last two tournaments."
Just as he predicted, Northwestern flipped a switch, winning nine of their remaining 11 matches to finish 11-4. As a team, the Wildcats rose to as high as ninth in the national rankings, while the individual performances that got them there were of note as well. Griffin and Traivolia each tallied 40 wins, tied for fifth in program history, while Funk posted 35, good for ninth at the time.
In the last Big Ten dual of the year against Illinois, Griffin defeated Paul Sullivan 19-5 to post his 147th career win, passing Steve DePetro to take the program record for career victories. But in his senior season, he still had those final two tournaments to add to his tally and put a cap on his career.
He took the first step at the Big Ten Championships, hosted by Northwestern. With a slew of victories, he topped Steve Martin of Iowa to retain his conference title. Traivolia finished his conference career in the same manner, topping Bart Chelesvig of Iowa to claim his first conference crown. Funk finished second, while Matt Case finished third in the 190 lbs. class. With a fourth place finish at 158 lbs., Toby Willis claimed a fifth spot at the National Championships for the Wildcats, the most the team had sent since the 1970 team that saw 10 Wildcats vie for a national title. The team garnered 84.5 points, tying for third, the fourth best result in program history, a mark unequaled since.
In College Park, Maryland, the five 'Cats were looking to do what no Northwestern wrestler had done in 17 years: win a national championship. Traivolia reached the title match, facing Arizona State's Dan St. John, falling in a 6-3 decision. Funk and Case also earned All-American nods, each finishing fourth.
Griffin, who was given the 4 seed, got off to a hot start in his class, dominating his way to the semifinals, where he pinned Iowa State's Gary McCall in 1:28. In the finals, he came up against Arizona State's Zeke Jones, who'd been ranked #1 the entire season. Griffin won a 12-4 major decision against the Sun Devil, taking the national title.
"It's great," Griffin said after his win. "It's always been a dream for me. It sure beats losing."
Adding Griffin's performance on top of those of his teammates, Northwestern amassed 99 points, a program record, good enough for a program best fourth place national finish.
"They say, 'Well, Northwestern will never be any better than this good,' but we're breaking that mold," Cysewski told the Daily Northwestern.
"We're breaking that mold by a mile."