Northwestern University Athletics
Dynamic Duo; Lang and Herbert Advance to Championship Semifinals
3/16/2007 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
March 16, 2007
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- Top-seeded Jake Herbert (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny) and Ryan Lang (North Royalton, Ohio/St. Edward) advanced to the Semifinals of the NCAA Championships. Herbert scored a major decision over Central Michigan's ninth-seeded Christian Sinnott to clinch his third All-America honor while Lang pinned North Carolina State's Darrion Caldwell in a thriller to seal his second.
After the championship quarterfinals, Northwestern sits in eighth place with 34.5 points.
Television Coverage
ESPNU will be producing and syndicating live coverage of the semifinals beginning at 6 p.m. CT Friday. On Saturday morning, for the first time ever, ESPNU will carry live the All-American rounds beginning at 9 a.m. CT. ESPN will air the championships live at 7 p.m. CT Saturday.
Mike Tamillow (Oak Park, Ill./Fenwick) and Dustin Fox (Galion, Ohio/Galion) fell in the quarterfinals and will be in consolation action tonight.
True freshman Brandon Precin (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) and junior Nick Hayes (Council Bluffs, Iowa/Lewis Central) have both been eliminated from the tournament. Precin took one match in the consolation bracket, but Hayes fell to Michigan's Steve Luke in his wrestleback match.
At 141 lbs., Lang took on N.C. State's Darrion Caldwell and the two wrestled the most entertaining match of the tournament -- and judging by the crowd's reaction -- the most exciting match wrestling fans have seen in a long time -- for a spot in the semifinals.
Caldwell struck first and continued to rack up points with multiple takedowns and a two-point near-fall. Lang scored two escape points and trailed 4-2 early. Caldwell continued to pressure the top-seeded Lang, registering another takedown and two-point near-fall to lead 8-2.
However, Lang would turn the tables and dropped a "cement mixer" to roll on top of the freshman Caldwell. The Wildcat scored his second pin of the championships and sealed All-America status with a fall 2:29 into the first period.
As the match ended, Lang and Caldwell, in a tremendous show of sportsmanship, embraced at the center of the mat as the crowd at The Palace rose to its feet and erupted into applause for the stunning spectacle they witnessed in the quarterfinals.
"As soon as all the points starting to rack up, my first reaction was that I was in trouble," Lang said. "After things calmed down a bit, I was thinking how I could set up my roll and even the match."
Lang faces Rider's unseeded Don Fisch in the semifinals. Fisch has topped fifth-seeded Dominick Moyer of Nebraska, Illinois' 12th-seeded Cassio Pero and Minnesota's fourth-seeded Manuel Rivera in his three matches.
Herbert blew past Central Michigan's ninth-seeded Sinnott to advance to Friday night's semifinals. The Wildcat rode four takedowns and a significant riding time advantage to the 11-1 major decision.
Herbert came out shooting, scoring a quick two-point takedown. Sinnott escaped to close to 2-1, but the junior scored the next seven points with an escape and takedown in the second and another takedown in the third.
The junior faces Michigan's fourth-seeded Tyrel Todd in tonight's semifinal match. Herbert has bested Todd three times this season and scored a 6-1 decision in their last encounter -- the semifinals of the Big Ten Championships.
Tamillow fell by 9-8 decision to Hofstra's 11th-seeded Chris Weidman in the quarterfinals. Weidman got on top of the junior early with a takedown in the opening stages of the first period. Tamillow responded with an escape and a takedown of his own to pull ahead 3-2.
Weidman fought back with an escape-takedown combination to retake the lead at 4-3, but Tamillow evened the match at 4-4 at the end of the first with a late escape.
The Wildcat appeared to have seized the match with a dominating second period where he racked up plenty of riding time and scored three points with an escape and a takedown. However, Weidman controlled the third.
Tamillow led 8-7 and held a riding advantage as the third period was coming to an end. Weidman converted on a low shot past the junior for the takedown. He stayed on top of the Tamillow for the rest of the period, taking away the Wildcat's riding advantage to win the match with a 9-8 decision.
The junior needs one win in the consolation bracket to clinch All-America status and he will face Wisconsin's Dallas Herbst. Tamillow won a 5-0 decision over the Badger during the dual season.
Fox fought a close match with Oregon State's fifth-seeded Ty Watterson at heavyweight, but Watterson scored a late third-period takedown to capture the upset victory over the No. 4 seed.
The first period ended scoreless and Watterson notched an escape point in the secod to take a 1-0 lead. Fox evened the score early in the third with an escape of his own, but Watterson connected with a shot in the closing seconds of the third to seal the 3-1 win.
Fox, like Tamillow, needs one win in the consolation bracket to gain All-America status and he will face Chattanooga's Matt Koz tonight.
In his first consolation match of the day, Precin cruised to an 8-2 decision over Army's Fernando Martinez. Precin got on the board early, scoring on one of his first shots with a two-point takedown. He notched two more points for a near-fall and registered escape points to take a 5-0 lead after one period.
The freshman added another takedown in the second and an escape in the third to take the 8-2 decision.
Hofstra's 11th-seeded David Tomassette downed Precin by 9-1 major decision to eliminate the freshman from the tournament.
Hayes fell in overtime to Michigan's third-seeded Steve Luke in his consolation match.
Session Four begins at 6 p.m. CT and the semifinals will be televised live by ESPNU. For updated schedules, results and brackets, visit ncaasports.com.
Northwestern Results:
#1 Lang Fall Caldwell (N.C. State), 1:40
Period 1: 2 TD (N.C. State), 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (N.C. State), 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (N.C. State), 2 NF (N.C. State), 1 Esc (NU), Fall 1:40
#1 Herbert (NU) maj dec. Sinnott (Central Michigan), 11-1
Period 1: 2 TD (NU), 1 Esc (CMU), 2 TD (NU)
Period 2: 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (NU)
Period 3: 2 TD (NU)
#11 Weidman (Hofstra) dec. Tamillow (NU), 9-8
Period 1: 2 TD (HOF), 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (NU), 1 Esc (HOF), 2 TD (HOF), 1 Esc (NU)
Period 2: 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (NU)
Period 3: 1 Esc (HOF), 2 Rev (HOF), 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (HOF)
#5 Watterson (Oregon State) dec. #4 Fox (NU), 3-1
Period 1: No Score
Period 2: 1 Esc (OSU)
Period 3: 1 Esc (NU), 2 TD (OSU)
Precin (NU) dec. Martinez (Army), 8-2
#11 Tomessette (Hofstra) maj dec. Precin (NU), 9-1
#3 Luke (Michigan) dec. Hayes (NU), 3-1 (OT)
