When the clock finally ticked down to :00 on Saturday night, fans rushed onto the mat and the Northwestern bench exploded. For the first time since 1968, NU beat Iowa, recording a remarkable comeback from a 16-point deficit.
“It’s a dream come true,” said coach Tim Cysewski, nearly in tears after the meet. “I’m probably going to pinch myself tomorrow.”
Despite falling behind 19-3 after the first five matches, the Wildcats (9-1, 2-1 Big Ten) responded, winning five straight matches to capture a 22-19 victory against the No. 8 Hawkeyes (6-4, 1-2).
The win was especially sweet for Cysewski, who was an All-American at Iowa in 1976.
After wins by redshirt freshman Jake Herbert, freshman Mike Tamillow, junior Matt Delguyd and freshman Dustin Fox brought the match to 19-19, all eyes were on the final match and on the shoulder of junior John Velez.
Velez did not expect to wrestle because of an injured shoulder, but when he saw the score and heard the crowd, he put his shoes on and stepped onto the mat.
“(The coaches) reserved a special spot, they said, just in case they needed me to go out there and wrestle, so it wasn’t a complete shock to me,” Velez said. “But quite frankly when it came down to making history and giving one up for my team, I decided the juice was worth the squeeze. I was willing to take the risk.”
Velez jumped to an early lead and won 10-8, despite a late charge by Iowa’s Charlie Falck. The crowd erupted after the buzzer sounded and Velez was swarmed by his teammates.
“John Velez shouldn’t be wrestling at all,” Herbert said. “His shoulder is messed up to hell, he didn’t plan on wrestling all day, and he came out here and he won that match. That’s all heart he won that on right there.”
The meet didn’t always appear headed to a climactic finish. Only sophomore Ryan Lang at 141 pounds won in the first six matches. After Iowa got two pins at 157 and 165 pounds, it looked like NU would suffer another loss.
But Herbert saw to it his team didn’t go down. The 2004 Midlands champion earned a pinfall at 174 pounds, pulling NU to within 19-9.
“Jake’s always been one of those guys that can help turn things around,” Cysewski said. “He just goes out there with a confidence of, ‘Hey guys follow me, I’ll get it done for us.'”
In the most exciting match, at 184 pounds, Tamillow faced No. 5 Paul Bradley. Tamillow jumped to a 2-0 lead but soon fell behind 3-2. He then evened the match at three, and with two seconds left, Tamillow took Bradley down. The referee gave two points to Tamillow and the freshman jumped and threw his headgear into the air as the crowd erupted.
“Mike is just a competitor,” Cysewski said. “He’s a true freshman wrestling (against) high caliber competition. I mean (Bradley) is a returning All-American. He’s doing a great job and I just want to keep him wrestling as well as he can, as long as he can.”
Delguyd continued the winning, beating Adam Feller at 197 pounds and making the score 19-16. Fox then scored an upset against Iowa’s seventh-ranked freshman Matt Fields, tying the meet at 19 and putting pressure on Velez.
But Cysewski wasn’t nervous handing the match over to the experienced junior.
“He knew it was all going to be on his shoulders and he’s got some strong shoulders, I don’t care how sore they might be,” Cysewski said. “It took a lot of guts for him to do what he did.
Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].
The individual matches
133 lbs. Mario Galanakis def. Daniel Quintela (NU) 6-0
141 lbs. Ryan Lang (NU) def. Alex Tsirtsis 10-4
149 lbs. Ty Eustice def. Jimmy Kim (NU) 15-6
157 lbs. Joe Johnston def. Mike Kimberlin (NU) Pin
165 lbs. Mark Perry def. Nick Hayes (NU) Pin
174 lbs. Jake Herbert (NU) def. Luke Lofthouse Pin
184 lbs. Mike Tamillow (NU) def. Paul Bradley 5-3
197 lbs. Matt Delguyd (NU) def. Adam Feller 10-2
Hwt. Dustin Fox (NU) def. Matt Fields 7-6
125 lbs. John Velez (NU) def. Charlie Falck 10-8
