It takes a lot to make Jake Herbert celebrate.
With a list of accomplishments like his, winning became less for Herbert to celebrate and more for him to expect.
He took three Big Ten titles, the 2006 National Championship, a Big Ten Wrestler of the Year award, the fifth-highest winning percentage of any collegiate wrestler since 1975 and a 65-match winning streak into his 184-pound match against Ohio State’s Mike Pucillo.
After sealing a second national title with a 6-3 victory in his final match as a Northwestern wrestler, the senior was giddy. He smiled, raised his arms sky-high and let out a primal “Yes.”
“It felt great,” Herbert said. “This one felt great because it ended everything. I couldn’t believe that everything I’d worked for, it all wrapped up.”
With the victory on March 21 in St. Louis, Herbert capped his second consecutive undefeated season and became NU’s first two-time national champion at since 1932.
“Any time you win a title once, that’s something special,” coach Tim Cysewski said. “When you come back and win it again, that’s something really special.”
The outcome of the match was never really in question: Herbert scored a two-point takedown on Pucillo only six seconds into the match, and rode Pucillo for 1:41 of the three-minute opening period.
“Right away, I knew once I got that first takedown, I knew that was the match,” Herbert said.
Pucillo’s only points of the match came off of one-point escapes from Herbert’s grasp.
Herbert’s style was considerably more aggressive than other wrestlers at the event, attempting to pin Pucillo for most of the first period and only relenting when victory seemed clear.
“I don’t care if it’s the national finals or the first round,” Herbert said. “I want to go out and get my points right away, start dominating, let my opponent know that they have no chance to win that match.”
With two championships in hand, Herbert leaves behind one of the greatest legacies in school history.
“He had a bigger target on his back every year,” Cysewski said. “He’s set the bar that everybody wants to shoot at in our program. When you add all that stuff up, he’s pretty much the best wrestler I’ve coached so far.”
With Herbert winning the 2007 and 2009 titles, and Dustin Fox winning the title in his senior year last year, NU is the only school to have had individual national champions in each of the past three years. Cysewski attributes many of the program’s positive improvements to Herbert’s successes.
“He sure made a big difference in the program,” Cysewski said. “The guys know that they can win national championships, and it’s not like it’s scary anymore. They can and will do that, and it’s expected.”
Herbert was joined at the National Championships by three other wrestlers, including junior Brandon Precin. He improved on last year’s seventh-place finish, rising to third place after beating Indiana’s Angel Escobedo. Precin was previously 0-7 against Escobedo, and also overcame Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, who had beaten him earlier in the tournament.
“You look at Brandon, and every year he’s gotten better,” Cysewski said. “I think he’s in a great situation to win it in his senior year.”
As for Herbert, his 34-0 season featured 15 pins, nine major decisions, four technical falls, and only six regular decisions. Those accolades won him the Revwrestling.com Wrestler of the Year award and put him in prime consideration for the Hodge Trophy, the so-called “Heisman of wrestling.”
Currently, Herbert is training for next week’s U.S. Open as part of his ongoing journey to earn a trip to wrestle the 2012 Olympics. While no longer affiliated with the Wildcats in terms of wrestling, his relationship with NU could not have ended any better.
“I was just pumped I got it done,” Herbert said. “Everything’s done. I finished it, and it’s how I wanted to go out: on top.”
