Jake Herbert and Brandon Precin wrestled Sunday for one of a precious few spots on the United States Olympic Wrestling team heading to London in July.

The Wildcats got their first ever wrestling alumnus into the an Olympic Games with an exciting victory for Herbert in the 84-kilogram final over Travis Paulson. Herbert picked up a bye in the first round and cruised into the finals with wins over Max Askren and Phil Keddy.

In the best-two-out-of-three format for the finals, Herbert dropped the opening match on a last-second push out, but came back strong to win the second match with relative ease. That set up a winner-take-all showdown, which Herbert nearly ended in the first period with a pin but won 3-0 with the points. The second period was a tight affair, with Paulson striking first on a push out. However, Herbert struck back with a takedown and added another point with 25 seconds left to win the second period and a spot on the United States World Team headed to London.

Precin, wrestling at 55 kilograms, started off the tournament with a familiar foe in Iowa’s Matt McDonough. The Hawkeyes grappler got the best of Precin 2-0, 3-0 to end the former Cats wrestler’s hopes of representing his country in London. The volunteer assistant coach lost his next match to Ben Kjar in the consolation round 6-0, 1-0, eliminating him from the trials.

Precin finished his Cats career last year as a three-time All-American after finishing third at the NCAA Championships. Herbert was a four-time All-American and two-time NCAA champion at NU, winning the 2009 Hodge Trophy in his senior year as the nation’s best wrestler.

– Josh Walfish