In wrestling, one or two matches can change the whole outcome and appearance of the dual. Thursday, after close losses by redshirt freshman Jake Herbert, ranked No. 3 in the nation, and freshman Dustin Fox, ranked No. 15, the Wildcats knew they would have trouble coming back to win.
For the fourth straight dual in a row, Northwestern lost. No. 3 Illinois claimed eight of 10 matches and downed NU, 29-6. But despite the seemingly lopsided score, NU wrestlers pointed to the close matches as the deciding factor in the meet.
In the first match of the night, Herbert was defeated by No. 4 Pete Friedl of Illinois, 11-4, ending his unbeaten streak and foreshadowing the rest of the night for No. 18 NU. Herbert’s loss may have caught the Cats off-guard and certainly didn’t help the momentum of the team.
“We wrestled a very good team,” NU coach Tim Cysewski said. “They’re second or third in the country for a reason and they did a nice job of beating us in some situations that we haven’t been beaten in this year.”
Herbert lost to Friedl in a match that was closer than the score indicated. Though Herbert had beat him 5-2 earlier this year, Friedl changed some things to make the difference, Herbert said.
Despite the loss Herbert’s teammates and coaches said they weren’t worried about how Herbert would respond, and the 174-pounder sounded optimistic that he would be able to rebound for the Big Ten tournament.
“It wasn’t my best performance, which is why I didn’t win,” Herbert said. “I just have to figure out what I did wrong and fix it. I have to figure out where he beat me because obviously he studied tapes and he brought a different style and it worked for him.
“It’s kind of good to lose. Not everyone can go throughout a career (without a loss). I was told you can’t get to the pinnacle of your career without a loss. So I’ll learn from it.”
Though Herbert may have suffered his first loss of the season the Cats did have two big victories during the loss. Junior Matt Delguyd, ranked No. 14 in the nation, upset No. 13 Tyrone Byrd (197). In the biggest upset of the match, junior John Velez, ranked No. 10 in the nation, defeated No. 2 Kyle Ott (125).
“He’s from my state, so I know this kid,” Velez said. “He’s a two-time state champion. He’s beaten me like three different times before and everyone in the entire state of Ohio knows him. He’s a good guy, but I’ve always wanted to beat him, so for me it definitely was a big victory.”
While no NU wrestler other than Delguyd and Velez won, Cysewski said he believes the match was a learning experience for the young team.
“It was one of those (meets where) whoever scored the first takedowns won the match and the dual,” Cysewski said. “We’ve won those before and we weren’t able to get it done today.”
Cysewski said the Cats will have to respond with a win against the No. 11 Badgers in their last home dual meet. The Wisconsin matchup also will be their final tune-up before the start of the Big Ten tournament in Iowa on March 5.
“It’s our last dual, it’s our last test and I think we match up well against this team again and I think we’ll be able to beat them,” Velez said. “I think it’d be great for us and great for our fans if we came out with a big victory.”
Reach Paul Tenorio at [email protected].
