Northwestern University Athletics
Three Wildcats Compete at U.S. Senior Nationals
4/20/2006 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
April 20, 2006
LAS VEGAS -- After competing at the 2006 NCAA Championships just over one month ago, members of Northwestern's wrestling team re-entered the ring last week at the 2006 U.S. Senior Nationals April 12-15 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Sophomores Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny), Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) and Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) each competed at the event.
The senior nationals were broken into two days of competition, with wrestlers needing to win their way through the qualification round on day one in order to advance to the second day's championship bracket.
With offseason tournaments such as the U.S. Senior Nationals, the matches are scored differently than in the college ranks. Matches consist of three two-minute periods, and the wrestler who wins two of the three rounds in declared the winner. A technical fall is awarded if a wrestler reaches a lead of six points in a period.
"This (U.S. Senior Nationals) is the elite competition an amateur can participate in," assistant coach Andrew Pariano said. "In many cases these wrestlers are guys that train year-round in freestyle, but we just finished our NCAA season last month. For us to go 9-2 on the first day is a great indicator of our hard work."
Herbert, who earned his second-straight All-America honor this season, began the tournament on fire, earning wins in each of his four matches during the qualifying round.
Herbert earned his first win of the tournament by beating former Missouri All-American Tyron Woodley in round one. Herbert won a tight first round 1-0 before taking the match with a 5-2 win in round two.
Hebert earned a technical fall win over Navy's Matt Stolpinski - a wrestler Herbert pinned in 47 seconds in the second round of the NCAA Championships - in the tournament's second round. Herbert didn't allow a single point to Stolpinski, earning the 6-0, 6-0 win.
After recording a fall at 1:47 over Sunkist Wrestling Club's Greg Gifford in the third round, Herbert improved to 4-0 on the day, earning a spot in the championship bracket, by beating SMI's Tom Meester 5-0, 4-0.
While he had a great chance at placing at the tournament on the second day, Herbert withdrew from competition due to a minor injury. He finished the tournament with a 4-0 record, outscoring his opponents by a total of 27-2.
Tamillow, who qualified for his first NCAA Championships this season, went 3-0 on his first day of competition to advance to the championship bracket. Tamillow competed at the 96 KG/211.5-pound weight class, providing him the invaluable experience of competing against bigger wrestlers. Tamillow is expected to move up to 197 lbs. next season due to the graduation of senior Matt Delguyd (Mayfield Heights, Ohio/Mayfield).
After a first-round bye, Tamillow beat Army's Anton Telemontes 3-1, 5-5, 3-0. He then topped Brenden Mclean of the Falcon Club 4-0, 0-1, 3-1, advancing to the round of 32. There, Tamillow earned a spot in the championship bracket by beating Mikhail Abdul-latif of Burnaby Mountain. Tamillow won the first two rounds for the 3-1, 3-1 victory.
On day two, Tamillow fell in his first match to Kyle Cerminara, who was one of the nation's top-ranked wrestlers at 197 this season while wrestling for Buffalo. After the two wrestled to a 3-3 first-period tie, Tamillow shut out Cerminara in the second period to gain the advantage. Cerminara bounced back with a 4-0 performance in the third round, however, earning the 3-3, 0-3, 4-0 decision.
Tamillow then fell to Penn State's Phil Davis, the NCAA runner-up at 197 lbs. Tamillow came out on top after the match's first round, but Davis rallied to take slight victories over the next two periods. Davis won the match 2-3, 1-0, 2-1.
Lang, who earned his first All-America honor with a fourth-place finish at nationals last month, went 2-2 on the tournament's first day, missing the cut for the championship bracket by just one match.
After receiving a first-round bye, Lang beat Morgan Atkinson of the Titan Wrestling Club 0-2, 6-4, 2-0.
Lang fell in the third round to Tiger Style Wrestling's Josh Wagner 4-1, 1-2, 3-1, but rallied with a second-round pin over Air Force's Matthew Crippes to advance.
Lang met up with a familiar foe in the next round, Michigan State's Andy Simmons. The last time the two faced one another, Lang edged Simmons 3-0 to advance to the third-place match at the NCAA Championships.
Their match went back and forth, with Simmons taking the first round, but Lang rebounding with a second-round shutout of Simmons. It was Simmons, however, who would come out on top this time, taking the match 4-1, 0-3, 3-1, and ending Lang's run in the tournament.
"This tournament was a great experience for us," Pariano said. "We know how to compete at this level and we expect these wrestlers to be University National freestyle champions."
Northwestern's wresters can make that a reality as they return to action at the Fila Cadet/University Nationals April 28-30, at Northwestern's own Welsh-Ryan Arena.
