This wrestling season has been different for John Giacche.

Compared to last year, when the senior participated in the NCAA tournament and qualified for the World University Games, Giacche has had a quieter, less-touted season in 2003.

Although he’s tied for the third-most wins on his team, he has left every match disappointed and frustrated as time ticks down on his collegiate career.

And while he isn’t winning as many matches or claiming as many pins as he once did, there is something else missing. And it isn’t anything that can be recorded in the scorebooks.

It’s his father.

From the time John began wrestling in the fifth grade, Nick Giacche was a fixture at his son’s matches — and there couldn’t have been a prouder father.

“He’s given me so many wonderful memories and enjoyments,” Nick Giacche said. “More than just watching him wrestle, I just love being with him.”

During John’s senior year of high school, his father was diagnosed with cancer, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma to be exact. Luckily, his treatments were effective and he was able to attend a lot of John’s high school meets in New Jersey and eventually his collegiate matches in Evanston as well.

But this year, both father and son received news they didn’t want to hear: John tore the cartilage in his knee, called the meniscus, in the summer, requiring surgery, and Nick’s cancer was creeping back into the picture.

“Any time you are dealing with cancer, it’s scary, but this year all his counts went down,” John said. “He has been getting a bunch of transfusions, but it’s not so bad that he has to get chemo or anything.”

In addition to the emotional toll this took on John, the senior also had to get back in shape as quickly as possible. He began walking again only a couple weeks after the surgery, but he missed out on important preseason training and conditioning drills.

“At that time of year, you really want to work on getting your fat percentage down,” John said. “By the time we were going to Michigan State (on Nov. 9 and 10), I was working out a lot extra to make weight, and I was really tired.”

John struggled throughout the season, dropping matches to opponents he had beaten before and knew he could still dominate. And while he worried about his father, he used wrestling to deal with his emotions.

“That’s one of the great things about wrestling,” John said. “When you love something that much, it takes your mind off of things. (But) I definitely had a couple of days when I came down and my head wasn’t in the wrestling room, and that was tough.”

But John isn’t the only frustrated person — his father is unable to travel because of his treatments.

“Up until this year, I went to as many matches as I could,” Nick said. “I’m ill — that’s the only reason why I haven’t made every match.”

There will be an empty seat in the stands this weekend at the Big Ten Tournament, but John isn’t going to let that bother him. Right now, his focus is finishing his last season wrestling the way he knows he can.

And his dad echoes the same sentiments.

“We are so proud of him,” Nick said. “I know he is having a tough time right now, but he’ll be there.”