Northwestern University Athletics
Erwinski Highlights 2003 Season With NCAA Appearance
3/25/2003 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 25, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - Better days are on the horizon. For the first time since 1999, NU fielded three competitors with 20-plus wins and two others that were one win shy of 20. Though NU started only two seniors in 2002-03-NCAA qualifier Jason Erwinski (Tinley Park, Ill./Mt. Carmel) and John Giacche (Flemington, N.J./Blair Academy)-it showed a marked improvement from the recent past.
Erwinski, who posted a 24-15 overall record and placed seventh at the Big Ten Championships, went 3-2 at the NCAA Championships. All three of his wins there came against ranked opponents, as he fell just one win shy of becoming NU's first All-American since 2000 (Scott Schatzman). The fifth-year senior started the season at 174 pounds and responded with a 15-8 mark. He made the switch to 165 pounds Jan. 24 against Michigan State and recorded a 5-3 Big Ten dual mark thereafter. He recorded a team-best 12-5 overall dual clip en route to earning the No. 6 seed at the Big Ten Championships.
NU, which went 5-12 overall, started the season at the Michigan State Open, where five 'Cats placed in the top six of their weight classes. Freshman Matt Delguyd (Mayfield, Ohio/Mayfield), who was expected to start during his first year on college, lived up to his high billing from the get-go. Delguyd, a 197-pounder, placed third at his first collegiate tournament. Sophomore Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop McNamara), who tied Erwinski with a team-high 24 wins (against 17 losses), also finished third at the MSU Open.
Delguyd followed suit at the Missouri Open two weeks later, again placing in the top six. Two others joined Delguyd, including freshman Joseph Gulotta (Meraux, La./Brother Martin) who took home the frosh/soph title at 174 pounds. NU traveled to the Northern Iowa Open two weeks later, where Giacche and Brendan Curran (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) placed second and third, respectively.
Giacche, who placed seventh at the 2002 Big Ten Championships, fell short in his bid for a second consecutive berth in the NCAA Championships. Giacche went 19-17 overall, including 7-10 in dual competition. He got off to a hot start, winning 14 of his first 18 matches. Kimberlin also began the year 14-4, including a team-best nine-match winning streak in that span.
The Wildcats entered dual competition riding the momentum of 10 placewinners over the previous month. With that in mind, NU welcomed Wisconsin-Parkside and Eastern Illinois to Welsh-Ryan Arena for the season-opener. The 'Cats responded, knocking off the Rangers, 28-21, and coming from behind against the Panthers for a 21-20 win. Brendan Curran, a redshirt junior, garnered two wins by fall in his first two duals to lead the way.
With a 2-0 record, NU hosted the 40th Midlands Championships. The Wildcats placed 25th at the Midlands and closed out the tournament with 17.5 points. Iowa defended its title, scoring 129.5 points. Giacche advanced to the second day, but his bid to place came up short after losing 4-3 to Josh Wooton of Northern Illinois. Giacche trailed 4-0 in the third period and rallied to a within one before finally succumbing.
NU left the cold behind for a trip to Arlington, Texas, where it competed in the Lone Star Duals on Jan. 4. After falling to Cal Poly, 27-10, to open the duals, NU knocked off Navy and Harvard in convincing fashion. NU won its third straight dual Jan. 12 against Gardner-Webb at the Wendy's Duals in Ashland, Ohio. At 5-1 with a number of winnable duals in sight, no one expected what would transpire the rest of the way.
Following a matchup with Gardner-Webb, NU met then-No. 21 Purdue at the Wendy's Duals. The Boilermakers prevailed, 27-12, and the Wildcats did not see the win column again. Head coach Tim Cysewski's bunch finished above-.500 (5-4) against nonconference foes, but they went winless versus the Big Ten. The 'Cats nearly upended Wisconsin and then-No. 9 Ohio State. NU won four matches against UW, and it led by as many as 10 against OSU. Erwinski had the team's best conference dual mark at 5-3. His only losses came against top-ranked Matt Lackey of Illinois, sixth-ranked John Clark of Ohio State and ninth-ranked Jacob Volkmann of Minnesota.
Despite the struggles with wins and losses, the numbers show a marked improvement from last season. Several NU wrestlers posted win totals that ranked in the upper echelon of collegiate wrestling. With 20 wins, Delguyd finished the season in the top-five in the country for freshmen at 197 pounds. Freshman John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings) recorded 19 wins at 125 pounds, a number that ranked in the top-10 in the nation for first-year competitors. Kimberlin's 24 wins ranked in the top-five nationally among sophomore 157-pounders.
Five Wildcats ended the season with above-.500 records, one more than 2002. However, when you look a little further, the records show two others finished one win below that mark and one other was two wins shy of .500.
The improvement did not stop there. In 2002, the 'Cats recorded only six wins by technical against 13 losses. The team went 8-3 this season, led by Giacche's 2-0 technical fall mark. Northwestern had 10 more wins by major decision than all of last season, as well. In 2002, the 'Cats went 18-42 in matches decided by major decision. NU went 28-28 this season. Velez led the team with a 8-2 MD mark, and Erwinski was 4-3. Moreoever, seven of the 12 returnees who saw action this season set personal bests this year for wins in a season.
NU sent nine representatives to the Big Ten Championships. Besides Erwinski, Delguyd and Andrew Curran (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) picked up wins for the 'Cats. Andrew Curran, the brother and teammate of Brendan, earned NU's first win of the tournament en route to an eighth-place finish. Delguyd also placed eighth at 197 after posting a 1-3 mark at the championships.
Erwinski and Giacche closed out their careers with solid records. Giacche went 76-61, including 36-34 in dual matches. Erwinski notched a 55-49 overall mark and a 37-27 dual record.
