Northwestern University Athletics
Fantastic Foursome Heads to NCAA Championships
3/16/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 16, 2004
NCAA Championships Game Notes
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125 lbs. drawDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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157 lbs. drawDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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165 lbs. drawDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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197 lbs. drawDownload Free Acrobat Reader
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EVANSTON, Ill.--Northwestern's wrestling team will have four of its members compete this week at the NCAA Championships, held March 18-20 in St. Louis. The Wildcats are sending the most representatives since 2000, when they also had four.
"(Sending four) shows that the program is back on the upswing, and all the kids who qualified are young and will be back next year," said head coach Tim Cysewski. "The four all have a chance to do well at the NCAA Championships and to qualify as All-Americans."
Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) paced the 'Cats at the Big Ten Championships two weeks ago with his fourth-place finish at 197 lbs., which qualified him for a berth in the NCAA Tournament. The sophomore's 24-8 record, which includes four wins by fall and two by technical fall, is best on the team in terms of percentage (.750).
Delguyd, who is unseeded, will face No. 3 seed Sean Stender of Northern Iowa in the Round of 32.
Freshman Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) weighs in at 165 lbs., where he stormed to a 14-8 record, including a team-best 5-3 conference mark. He qualified for the postseason by picking up seventh at the Big Ten Championships. With a first-round bye, Hayes will square off against Virginia Tech's Zac Fryling in the Round of 32; both are unseeded.
Also taking seventh at the conference tournament was junior Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop McNamara), who avenged an earlier loss to Wisconsin's Tyler Turner by taking out the then-18th-ranked wrestler 3-2 at 157 lbs. Kimberlin is scheduled against unseeded Scott Garren of North Carolina State in the Round of 32.
Rounding out the young foursome is redshirt sophomore John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings), who earned one of two wildcard bids after the conference coaches picked him amongst all eighth-place finishers. Velez, who did not earn a seed despite being ranked 20th in the nation, got a first-round bye and will take on Ryan McClester of The Citadel in the Round of 32.
"Even though this is a new experience for these guys, they all will go in with confidence knowing they can win matches," said Cysewski. "They will simply take it one bout at a time."
First round action will begin at 11 a.m. March 18, followed by preliminaries, wrestle-back preliminaries and wrestle-back first round at 6:30 p.m. At 10 a.m. the next day, the quarterfinal round will take place, as well as the wrestle-back second and third rounds. The semifinal round will start at 6 that evening, and the third- through eighth-place matches will be held at 10 a.m. March 20.
The championships will begin at 5:30 p.m. that same day, and they will be televised live.
A brief season recap of the Wildcats follows:
125 lbs.--John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings), R-S Sophomore, 26-11 overall, 1-4 Big Ten: Velez has had a successful season, winning the Beast of the East Invitational and claiming fourth place at the Michigan State Open. From November to December, he had a 14-match winning streak. Velez, ranked 20th by InterMat, also was 10-0 in nonconference duals and had four wins by technical fall.
157 lbs.--Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop Martin McNamara), Junior, 22-13 overall, 3-5 Big Ten: Kimberlin is one of three NU wrestlers that reached the 20-win plateau this season, and five of those victories came by major decision. Kimberlin's accomplishments include taking fourth place at the Beast of the East and advancing to the third session of the Midlands Wrestling Championships.
165 lbs.--Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central), Freshman, 14-8 overall, 5-3 Big Ten: Hayes' conference record is best on the team. He strung together seven-consecutive wins from January to February, including an upset of a 20th-ranked opponent from Illinois.
197 lbs.--Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield), Sophomore, 24-8 overall, 4-4 Big Ten: Delguyd had an 11-match winning streak from November to December, en route to having the best record on the team. He also finished second at the Beast of the East and went undefeated in nonconference dual action.
