Northwestern University Athletics
The 2000-01 Wrestling Season in Review
3/21/2001 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 21, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern wrestling team took one on the chin in 2000-01, so to speak, as they fought through injury and inexperience. With a bevy of young wrestlers trying to compete in the toughest conference in the nation, NU fell even further behind the eight-ball with a pair of critical injuries at the beginning of the campaign and never recovered.
The trouble began when two of the wrestlers head coach Tim Cysewski was counting on to lead the way this season -- senior Tom Ciezki and junior Matt Huebner -- fell victim to season-ending injuries in the first week of the season. Ciezki sustained a neck injury while Huebner had knee surgery, ending their respective bids for a second consecutive NCAA tournament appearance.
With Ciezki and Huebner out, 184-pounder Will Marcantel was forced to wrestle the remainder of his senior season at a weight class heavier than anticipated. Marcantel, who would normally wrestle in the 174 or 184-pound weight classes, jumped to 197 to take over for the injured Huebner. Marcantel's jump left 184 pounds open for Brendan Curran, a sophomore from Chicago's Mt. Carmel High School. With Ciezki injured at 174, Brendan's brother Andrew -- a freshman -- stepped in and learned the ruggedness of the Big Ten the hard way.
As the injury-plagued Wildcats went through the schedule, two juniors -- Jason Erwinski and Josh Saul -- emerged as the team leaders. Erwinski went 18-7 on the season including a 7-1 record in the Big Ten. Saul, who was 9-8 overall, went 4-4 in conference matchups. Saul was also ranked as high as 16th during the season according to InterMat's collegiate wrestling rankings.
Redshirt freshman Ryan Cumbee and true freshman Josh Ballard both produced double-digit win seasons. Cumbee ended his season with a 17-13 record while Ballard went 15-16 in his first year of collegiate wrestling.
As a team, NU had to use its youngest lineup in recent years and the inexperience showed. With just one senior in the lineup, the Wildcats ended the year with a 4-13-1 record, losing all eight of their Big Ten duals. At the Big Ten Championships, NU failed to qualify any wrestlers for the national tournament and placed just one wrestler in the top eight of their respective weight divisions.
