It was a rough senior sendoff for the Northwestern wrestling team, which dropped its last two regular-season meets this weekend.
NU (7-13, 0-8 Big Ten) landed three individual wins in a 29-12 defeat at No. 18 Wisconsin (11-10, 3-5) on Friday, but the Wildcats managed only one win from 174-pounder Jason Erwinski in a 36-3 dismantling Sunday against Indiana (10-11, 1-7).
Sophomore Mike Little earned his first career Big Ten win Friday, holding on for a 6-5 victory. The heavyweight has struggled through a season of hard knocks in the most competitive wrestling conference in the nation, but he said the experience has been invaluable.
“It’s a tough deal to cope with, coming into a tough conference and getting thrown in with the best of the best,” Little said. “Every week you go out and learn from what’s happened. You learn from your mistakes and you capitalize on them at the end of the year.”
Erwinski, the lone bright spot on Sunday, showed signs of regaining the skills that propelled him to an 18-7 record last year at 157 pounds. The redshirt senior has fought back from an off-season anterior cruciate ligament tear and been forced to adjust to moving up two weight classes.
As all eyes now turn to the Big Ten tournament, held at the Illinois in two weeks, Erwinski is positioning himself for a run at nationals. The top seven finishers in each weight class qualify for the NCAA tournament.
“I had trouble adjusting at first,” said Erwinski, who returned to action in January. “Now I’m just looking forward to Big Tens. It’s definitely been a frustrating year, losing to guys I shouldn’t be losing to, guys I beat in high school. … But the nice thing about wrestling is, now we have a clean slate.”
But while the regular season means nothing come tournament time, the Cats have had only two consistent contributors this year.
No. 18 John Giacche’s 11-match winning streak was snapped Friday, as the redshirt senior lost to Wisconsin All-American Grant Hoerr 4-1. Giacche dropped another tough match Sunday 6-5 to finish 6-2 in Big Ten action.
Sophomore Ryan Kane also came up big for the Cats this year, but he sat out the weekend matches to heal various injuries before the Big Ten tournament. The 165-pounder has won 13 of his last 15 matches, making significant strides from his 7-9 finish a year ago.
For departing seniors John Friedstadt and Robert Potashnick, the starter at 125 pounds, it’s a nostalgic last run through the Big Ten tournament, where anything is possible.
“It doesn’t really hit you because I feel like I just started a year ago,” Potashnick said. “I never thought the time would really come that it would be over.
“In the next two weeks, all we’re going to do is bust our butts trying to accomplish our goals of qualifying to NCAA’s. I know I can do it and I know everyone else can do it, so it will be a good challenge. I’m looking forward to it.”
