Northwestern
Big Ten Championships
Northwestern Gets Four NCAA Qualifiers at Big Ten Championships
3/7/2004 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 7, 2004
COLUMBUS, Ohio--With three placings and a wildcard, Northwestern's wrestling team will send four of its own to the NCAA Championships after a successful appearance at the Big Ten Championships held at Ohio State.
"I am very happy with our results," said head coach Tim Cysewski, who will be sending the most NU wrestlers since 2000, when the team also had four. "Of course, I wish we were sending everybody, but everyone wrestled well in my opinion."
No. 8 seed Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield) paced the Wildcats by taking fourth at 197 lbs. The sophomore reached the third-place match by pinning Ohio State's No. 3 seed J.D. Bergman in 6:10, but then Delguyd in turn was pinned in 3:32 by Indiana's fourth-seeded Pat DeGain.
Freshman Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) and junior Mike Kimberlin (Bradley, Ill./Bishop McNamara) both took seventh in their respective weight classes. The former, a No. 6 seed, pulled out a 2-0 decision over Michigan State's Matt McCarty while the latter, a No. 8 seed, topped No. 3 seed Tyler Turner of Wisconsin with a 3-2 decision.
The fourth and final NCAA qualifier for the Wildcats was redshirt sophomore John Velez (Kings Mills, Ohio/Kings), who earned the wildcard bid after the conference coaches picked him amongst all eighth-place finishers.
"All the guys who qualified are young and will be back next year," said Cysewski on his prospects for the 2004-05 Wildcats. "These guys will gain great experience at the NCAA Tournament, which will boost their confidence for next season."
The 'Cats, who accumulated 33.5 team points, were edged by Michigan State's 36.0 points to end up in 11th place. Iowa rallied from Day 1 to claim the championship with 129.5 points, 5 points better than second-place Minnesota.
The four NU wrestlers will have a week to prepare before competing in the NCAA Championships, held March 18-20 in St. Louis.
