Tim Cysewski — team captain, All-American and NCAA Champion at Iowa– will be visiting his old home this weekend. Almost 30 years removed from his role in building the Hawkeyes’ wrestling dynasty, Cysewski will lead his team under the banners he helped hang in Carver-Hawkeye Arena with the chance to record his 100th victory as Northwestern’s head coach.
While he said it would be exciting to reach this milestone at his alma mater, Cysewski added that 100 wins has never been a serious goal for him.
“If I wanted to load up the schedule with easy teams, I could have had 100 wins years ago,” said Cysewski, a Glenview, Ill., native. “I judge success at the end of the year — if you don’t have All-Americans and national champions at the end of the year, (100 wins) doesn’t mean anything.”
The Big Ten conference, the state of Iowa and the Hawkeyes all are considered centers of the wrestling universe, but it wasn’t until Cysewski’s sophomore year, in 1974, that Iowa began building its reputation. That year the Hawkeyes won the Big Ten Tournament and finished in the nation’s top five. During his junior and senior years, Iowa won both the Big Tens and the NCAAs.
“Our class built the monster,” Cysewski said.
A driving force behind Iowa’s success was assistant coach Dan Gable, who won the gold medal in wrestling at the 1972 Olympics in Munich just days before returning to coach at Iowa.
Like Gable used to do, Cysewski works out daily with his team. He does the drills and works on technique — on the mat with the Cats (8-1).
“It gives me a good feeling of where we are as a team,” Cysewski said. “I like to wrestle — it’s my recreation. It beats playing racquetball.”
Following Gable’s example, Cysewski shows the NU wrestlers little mercy.
“If I can do it, they should be able to do it,” he said. “Any time you can wrestle someone older or a little better, you get better, too.”
On his return to Iowa City, Iowa, this weekend, Cysewski said he expects to see some former teammates who now coach at local high schools or live in the area. Even Gable, who is still involved in Iowa wrestling, is likely to attend.
“You want to show off what you got,” Cysewski said. “You want to let them know that you are able to take the success that you learned from Iowa to other places.”
The Hawkeyes (5-2) have an all-time record of 59-6-1 against NU, including wins in the last 34 meetings, and have suffered only 10 losses at home since 1983. Despite the intimidating history, Cysewski enters the match with confidence. Iowa lost to No. 1 Oklahoma State, 30-10, at home last weekend, and Cysewski said it was the Hawkeyes’ worst loss since his freshman year.
“Iowa wrestles the best teams — that’s how you get good,” Cysewski said. “Fortunately, in the Big Ten they’re all good.”
NU junior John Velez (125 pounds) will compete against senior Luke Eustice, whom Velez lost to at the Midlands Tournament in December. Velez was winning that match until the last 10 seconds, and Cysewski said Velez has a good shot at beating Eustice this time around.
“The guys are going to have to take the cheers and put them in their corner,” said Cysewski, who predicted there could be 8,000 spectators at Saturday’s meet. “We’re going to be in their face and in good shape. To beat us they’ll have to be at the best level of their career.”
