Northwestern University Athletics
Moment No. 2: Herbert Collects NCAA's Most Prestigious Hardware
8/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Wrestling
Aug. 7, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern's No. 2 most memorable story of 2008-09 came courtesy of one of the most dominant performers in any sport that the school has ever produced. Jake Herbert returned for his senior season on the wrestling mat and managed to win a third Big Ten title, second NCAA championship, college wrestling's Hodge Trophy and the Jesse Owens Award as Big Ten male athlete of the year.
After missing the 2007-08 campaign during his attempt to qualify for the Beijing Summer Olympics, Herbert rejoined Northwestern an even more polished and focused wrestler than the one that posted an undefeated season as a junior in 2006-07. Herbert marched through his senior season with a perfect 34-0 record--ending his career on a 66-match winning streak--and defeated the 2008 184-pound national champion, Mike Pucillo of Ohio State, in the 2009 NCAA finals.
Herbert's dominant, attacking style of wrestling was apparent to all who watched him and made him the easy choice as the recipient of the Hodge Trophy, college wrestling's equivalent of football's Heisman Trophy. He also cemented his place in Big Ten Conference lore by being named the league's male athlete of the year, joining former NU golfer Luke Donald (1999) as the only male Wildcats to win the award.
Herbert--who left NU with a 149-4 career record and a school-record .973 winning percentage--has continued to prove himself on the mat since graduating from Northwestern, winning a U.S. Freestyle championship and a spot on the USA World Team that will compete at the World Championships in Denmark this September.
Coupled with Dustin Fox's heavyweight championship in 2008, Herbert's two titles leave NU as the only school in the nation to win an NCAA individual championship each of the last three seasons.
Watch Herbert's interview with Brent Stover of the Big Ten Network following his selection as the 2009 Hodge Trophy winner.
