2008-09: Winner of the 2009 Hodge Trophy, presented annually to the nation's best college wrestler ... Ranks fourth all-time in career wins at Northwestern (135 in four varsity seasons) ... Became Northwestern's second winner of the Jesse Owens Award as the most outstanding male athlete in the Big Ten in 2008-09 ... Completed the most decorated career in Northwestern wrestling history with a perfect 34-0 season and his second NCAA Championship at 184 pounds, becoming NU's first two-time champion since 1931-32 ... Named 2009 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year ... 2009 RevWrestling.com Wrestler of the Year ... Defeated 2008 national champion Mike Pucillo of Ohio State in NCAA final, 6-3 ... Second four-time All-American in Northwestern history ... Finished his career with the fifth-best four-year winning percentage (.972; 135-4) among all Division I wrestlers since the 1974-75 season ... Ended career on a 66-match winning streak and with a 21-2 record at the NCAA Championships ... Won 18 dual matches and all eight Big Ten duals ... Did not surrender a takedown in his senior season ... Won his third Big Ten title with an 8-1 decision over third-ranked Phil Keddy of Iowa in the final ... Led the team with 15 pins, nine major decisions and four tech falls ... 10 of his pins came in first period ... Began the year ranked second to Pucillo before moving ahead of him in the polls on Jan. 6 ... Defeated 11 wrestlers ranked in the top 20 of his weight class by the end of the year ... Became the first Northwestern wrestler to win three Midlands championships on Dec. 30 when he defeated Keddy in the final by major decision, 15-1 ... Unanimous selection for Dan Gable Outstanding Wrestler Award at 2008 Midlands ... Scored 91 points in 18 dual matches (5.1 points per match) ... First match back for Northwestern following his Olympic redshirt season was a 14-second pin vs. Hunter Collins-Montoya of Michigan at the Michigan State Open (11/9), earning him Big Ten Wrestler of the Week honors ... Three-time Hilton Garden Inn Athlete of the Week honoree ... Academic All-Big Ten ... One of five 2009 NCAA champions and one of 17 All-Americans to be named to the NWCA All-Academic team.
2007-08: Spent one year training for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and did not wrestle for Northwestern ... Granted another year of eligibility by NCAA.
2006-07: Became NU's first NCAA champion since 1990 ... Put together one of the best seasons in program history with perfect 32-0 mark ... Won 19 dual matches and all eight Big Ten duals ... Moved to fifth in program history with 115 career wins ... Team-leading nine pins, 10 major decisions and four wins by technical fall ... Named BigElevenWrestling.net Wrestler of the Year ... Topped Iowa State's Jake Varner in NCAA finals ... Did not give up a takedown through the entire tournament ... Scored four major decisions ... Won 184 lbs. Big Ten Championship for second career Big Ten title ... Named tournament's Most Outstanding Wrestler ... Topped fourth-ranked Tyrel Todd of Michigan in the semifinals and Minnesota's second-ranked Roger Kish in the finals ... Won a 8-1 decision over the second-seeded Kish ... Captured Eastern Michigan Open by pinning all of his opponents up to the final ... Won NWCA All-Star Classic with a major decision over Kish ... Went 5-0 at the NWCA/Cliff Keen National Duals to help NU to eighth-place finish and was named the tournament's Outstanding Wrestler ... Named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week for the week of 1/17 ... Defeated 15th-ranked John Dergo of Illinois in first Big Ten dual ... Scored a major decision against Tyler Branvold of Wisconsin with 16-5 win (1/27) ... Won by another major decision against Penn State's Brian Cantalupi (2/2) ... Defeated third-ranked Mike Pucillo of Ohio State, 11-5 (2/4) ... Downed Michigan's fourth-ranked Tyrel Todd by 10-8 decision in final dual of the season (2/18).
2005-06: Simply had one of the finest seasons of any wrestler in program history, going 36-1 overall, including a perfect 14-0 dual and 8-0 Big Ten mark ... Finished a career-best second at the NCAA Championships, falling to Missouri's Ben Askren in the title bout for his only loss of the season ... Earned his second-consecutive All-America honor after qualifying for his second-straight NCAA Championships ... Became only the 11th wrestler in program history to earn multiple All-America honors ... Won the Big Ten Championship at the 174-pound weight class ... Won an NU record 42-straight matches dating to the 2005 NCAA Championships ... His 42-match winning streak was the second-best active win streak in the country, trailing only eventual NCAA champion Ben Askren's streak of 44 ... Ranked No. 2 all season long according to all four major wrestling polls ... Beat every wrestler ranked in the top-6 according to the four major wrestling polls except for Askren ... With his 83-4 record and .954 winning percentage, he is on pace to become Northwestern's all-time winningest wrestler, shattering Don Evans' career mark of .896 ... Recorded a team-best 15 pins on the season ... Set an NU record for fastest fall with his pin at :17 over Rider's Doug Umbehauer in the first round of the NCAA Championships ... Went 5-0 at the Midlands Wrestling Championships, becoming the first wrestler in NU history to win back-to-back Midlands titles (12/30) ... Named the Midlands Wrestling Championships' Champion of Champions ... Began the season by pinning Ohio State's Dominic Mehling en route to his second-straight Michigan State Open title ... Took first place at the Reno Tournament of Champions (12/18) ... Out of 37 total matches, he won by fall, technical fall or major decision 24 times ... Invited to the NWCA Marines All-Star Classic--an exhibition showcase of the nation's top wrestlers--where he beat Nebraska's then-fifth-ranked Jacob Klein ... Twice named Big Ten Wrestler of the Week (12/21 and 1/25) ... Three-time Hilton Garden Inn Athlete of the Week (12/19, 1/3 and 3/5) ... Twice recorded three-straight wins by fall, from 2/12-3/4 and 3/5-3/16 ... Took victories over 11 ranked wrestlers on the season ... Swept the team awards for the second-straight season, winning the Jack Riley Fall Trophy, Lupton Takedown Award and Stuteville High Point Award ... Named Academic All-Big Ten ... Named to the NWCA All-Academic Team.
2004-05: 33-3 overall, 14-1 in duals and 7-1 in Big Ten ... All-American ... Put up a 7-1 mark at his first-career NCAA Championships, tearing through the consolation bracket for three-straight pins, one technical fall and two decisions en route to claiming third place with a 6-3 win over Illinois' Pete Friedl ... One of three freshmen to crack 20-win plateau ... Posted 3-1 record at Big Ten Championships, finishing second ... Won first 22 matches, before falling to Pete Friedl of Illinois ... One of six 'Cats to go perfect 4-0 at Beast of the East Invitational, claiming first place ... As the No. 7 seed at the Midlands Championships, upset the No. 2, 5 and 6 seeds en route to becoming NU's first individual champion since 1974 ... Won 22 straight matches over a two-and-a-half month period, from start of the season (12/3) to dual match with Illinois (2/17) ... Perfect 7-0 in nonconference duals ... Recorded five major decision victories, four technical falls and nine pins.
2003-04: Redshirt season ... Compiled a 14-0 overall record while wrestling unattached ... Won 174-pound championship at MSU Open.
High School: 2003 Pennsylvania state champion ... Placed all four years at state meet ... Three-time WPIAL Conference champion ... Two-time Powerade champion ... Two-time Allegheny County Champion, winning Most Falls award ... Competed in Dapper Dan Wrestling Classic and Dream Team Classic ... Compiled a 141-18 overall high school record ... Honor Roll student senior year, also won Concept of Physics Student of the Year award.
Personal: Born Jacob John Herbert ... Son of Jim and Kelly Herbert ... Majoring in communication studies.
Herbert's Stats
| Yr. | Overall | Dual | |
| 2004-05 | 33-3 | 14-1 | |
| 2005-06 | 36-1 | 14-0 | |
| 2006-07 | 32-0 | 19-0 | |
| 2008-09 | 34-0 | 18-0 | |
| Career | 135-4 | 65-1 | |