Brandon Precin finished his Northwestern career two wins shy of winning a national title Saturday.
The redshirt senior finished third in the 125-pound weight division at the 2011 NCAA Wrestling Championships. The redshirt senior was one of NU’s three All-Americans, including redshirt sophomore Jason Welch and redshirt senior Andrew Nadhir, competing in Philadelphia.
“Three All-Americans is huge,” Pariano said. “It’s very hard to get three All-Americans.”
Precin lost a tight 3-1 match in the championship semifinals to Iowa’s Matt McDonough, the only wrestler to beat him this season. Precin did not give up though, edging Zach Sanders of Minnesota in the wrestleback semifinals to earn a spot in the third-place match. Precin made the most of his opportunity, defeating Utah Valley’s Ben Kjar 5-0 to finish third for the second time in his career and become only the fifth wrestler in NU history to be a three-time All-American.
“In my mind I’m disappointed that I didn’t win,” Precin said. “But at the same time being a three-time All-American is a testament to the hard work I put in.”
Precin will end his NU career as one of the best competitors in program history. His 138 wins places him third on the all-time wins list and his .821 winning percentage is seventh best all-time. Precin qualified for the NCAA Championships all four years of his career and won the Midlands Championships twice.
Nadhir, a fellow redshirt senior, staged an impressive, albeit less anticipated, tournament run.
Nadhir (149) came into the tournament as the 11-seed, but was upset in the first round when he was pinned by Joseph Napoli of Lehigh with a minute to go in the match.
Nadhir bounced back though, starting a magical streak through the wrestlebacks in which he won four straight matches to earn All-American status for the first time in his career. After losing in the wrestleback semifinals to Ganbayar Sanjaa of American, Nadhir faced Oklahoma State’s Jamal Parks for fifth place. Nadhir was unable to get any offense going against Parks, losing 6-2, but said he was pleased with his overall showing.
“It feels great,” Nadhir said. “I’m very happy. It’s almost surreal. It validates my hard work and the work the coaches put in. I proved that I was gritty and tough. It proved to me that hard work pays off and being mentally tough is very important.”
The Michigan native’s spirited NCAA run was a fitting cap to a career that has included its fair share of ups and downs. After redshirting his first season, Nadhir started at 157 pounds his freshman season and finished with a 10-18 record. He moved to 149 pounds for the next season and finished with a 14-12 record, including a run through the Big Ten Championships where he upset Lance Palmer of Ohio State and nearly upset Bubba Jenkins of Penn State.
Nadhir qualified for the NCAA Championships for the first time his junior year and finished one win away All-American honors.
Welch (157) also qualified for the championship semifinals after an upset of top-seed and previously undefeated Adam Hall of Boise State courtesy of a takedown as time expired. The victory earned Welch his first All-American honor. In the semifinals, Welch grappled with the fourth-seeded Jenkins, who currently wrestles at Arizona State. Welch got the first takedown of the match to lead 2-0, but the score was quickly tied at two as Jenkins picked up two escapes. Welch assumed the lead on his early escape in the third period, but he was taken down three times in the period to lose 8-5.
“I’m obviously happy with being an All-American,” Welch said. “I just need to continue to work hard and get better. It never gets easier with people graduating, but I just need to focus on working hard and getting better.”
In the wrestlebacks, Welch lost a 6-1 decision to Derek St. John of Iowa, sending him to the fifth place match and a rematch with Hall. After a scoreless first period, Hall got an escape to take a 1-0 lead and extended it to 2-0 when Welch was assessed a penalty for shaking his foot out of Hall’s grasp after a stalemate was called. Welch got an escape to start the third, but was taken down seconds later and ended up losing 5-1 after a point for riding time.
Sophomore Levi Mele (133) and freshman Kaleb Friedley (141) both qualified for their first NCAA Championship. Mele won his first round match, before being pinned by top-seeded Jordan Oliver of Oklahoma State in the second round. Mele won his first wrestleback over Oklahoma’s Jordan Keller, but lost by major decision to Virginia Tech’s Devin Carter in the next round. Friedley went 0-2 in his first national tournament, losing 7-2 to Matthew Mariacher of American and 11-8 Anwar Goeres of Binghamton.
“It’s the experience of going through the process,” Pariano said. “Both of those guys will be All-Americans. They have that x-factor: They want to win.”
Welch, Friedley and Mele all return for the Cats next season and Pariano said he is excited for next season.
“We were fortunate enough to redshirt the second best recruiting class in the nation,” Pariano said. “How can you not be excited? I wish the season started tomorrow.”
