Northwestern’s stay at the two-day NWCA Cliff Keen National Duals lasted only one, as the Wildcats were eliminated after losing two of three dual matches.
The Cats (5-2) fit a 26-13 win over No. 19 Hofstra in between losses to No. 8 Iowa State and No. 18 Arizona State at the tournament, held last weekend in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
NU went into the tournament seeded 10th out of 16 teams in the Division I bracket but was quickly knocked down to the consolation bracket after falling to the Cyclones, 20-16. The Cats still had a shot at fifth place after defeating Hofstra but were sent packing by the Sun Devils, 22-17.
“I think we came out with a good work ethic,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “We were short on a couple of matches and that happens, but we got some good experience. You’d like to be in a position to place in the top eight, and we were one match away from having a chance to do that.”
The biggest bright spot for NU was sophomore Jake Herbert’s continued dominance in the 174-pound weight class. By winning all three of his matches in the tournament, Herbert improved to a perfect 20-0 for the season and extended his overall winning streak to 26.
His most impressive performance came against fourth-ranked Mike Patrovich of Hofstra. Herbert, ranked second in the nation in his class, fell behind 2-0 but roared back to win with a pin at 2:15.
“He took me down first but I escaped and got him into my positions,” Herbert said. “I was able to catch him on his back and roll him to his head. Then I got him into a half-nelson, which is like slow poison.”
In his first match of the day, Herbert almost saw his streak come to a shocking end against Iowa State’s unranked David Bertolino. The back-and-forth battle was locked at five with just 30 seconds remaining before Herbert finally secured the match with a late takedown, winning 8-5.
“He’s a real tough wrestler and he has a funky style that works well against me,” Herbert said about Bertolino. “He took me out of my game early but I came back at the end.”
Herbert’s third match of the day, against Arizona State’s Jaime Robbins, provided an exclamation point to another fine day for NU’s All-American. Herbert thoroughly dominated Robbins, winning the match by technical fall after taking a 21-5 lead at 4:53.
The Cats, whose two losses were by nine total points, clearly missed the services of sophomore Ryan Lang, who is ranked sixth at 141 pounds.
Lang had been expected to compete but suffered an injury late in the week at practice and was unable to wrestle. His replacement, freshman Marty Gould, went 0-3 in the tournament.
“We didn’t get blown out in any of the matches,” Herbert said. “If we had a full lineup and if Lang had been in there, I think it would have made a difference.”
Despite coming up a little short, the Cats got solid performances from its veterans. Seniors Matt Delguyd (197 pounds), Will Durkee (165 pounds) and John Velez (125 pounds) all won two of their three bouts. Sophomore heavyweight Dustin Fox went 3-0, with two victories by forfeit.
Reach Andrew Simon at [email protected].
