Jake Herbert is arguably the most accomplished wrestler in the long history of Northwestern University. He completed his college career with a 66-match win streak, a 2009 Big Ten title and conference Wrestler of the Year honors, and the 184-pound championship at the 2009 NCAAs — his second national crown as a Wildcat. Now add to this impressive resume: 2009 Rev Wrestler of the Year.

Northwestern’s Jake Herbert won his second NCAA title at 184 pounds (Photo/Tech-Fall.com)

This award is presented each year to the nation’s best college wrestler across all divisions, and is based on a vote of RevWrestling.com writers and executives. With this award, Jake Herbert joins previous Rev Wrestler of the Year honorees Brent Metcalf of Iowa (2008), and Missouri’s Ben Askren (2006 and 2007).

Herbert garnered 60 votes, including five first-place votes, to land the 2009 Rev Wrestler of the Year award. Coming in a close second was 149-pound NCAA champ Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State, with 58 votes, including three first-place votes. Jordan Burroughs, Nebraska’s 157-pound national champ, was third with 34 votes, while 174-pound NCAA titlewinner Steve Luke of Michigan placed fourth with 15 votes. Rounding out the top five vote-getters: Arizona State’s 125-pounder Anthony Robles, the first Division I wrestler to earn All-American honors wrestling with one leg.

By John Huckaby

This year’s NCAA championships will be remembered for three things — North Carolina State’s Darrion Caldwell’s upset win over Iowa’s Brent Metcalf at 149 pounds, Metcalf’s unsportsmanlike push of Caldwell after losing and the courage and skill of Arizona State’s Anthony Robles, a fourth-place finisher. Let’s look at each.

Caldwell has wrestled Metcalf three times — a dual meet early in the 2007- 2008 season, this season’s All-Star meet (doesn’t count in NCAA records), and the finals on Saturday night. He’s beaten him twice.

The first time, Caldwell, from New Jersey, decked Metcalf. Then in the All-Star meet, Metcalf easily won a 19-3 technical fall. It was Caldwell 11-6 in the finals Saturday.

Caldwell took it to Metcalf — who had won 69 straight bouts including last season’s championship final — early and managed to tire out the Hawkeye to a certain extent with a tough ride in the first period, eventually building a riding time point for the match. Metcalf isn’t a strong technical wrestler on his feet and that’s where Caldwell made his hay. Here’s hoping we see a couple more of these matchups down the line.

Sources: Sunderland era over at PSU

Posted by ANDY ELDER, For The Patriot-News

CRAIG HOUTZ, Centre Daily Times

Nittany Lions wrestling coach Troy Sunderland won't be returning to the sidelines, sources say.

According to two sources close to the Penn State wrestling team, the Troy Sunderland era of Penn State wrestling is officially over. The 11-year coach of the Nittany Lions met with athletic director Tim Curley on Thursday morning and was told he could either resign or be fired. As of right now, no decision has been made by Sunderland.
The future of Sunderland and assistant coaches Matt Dernlan, Aaron Anspach and Mark Perry are uncertain as the new coach would almost assuredly want to bring his own people with him. Sunderland amassed a 115-90-2 record in his 11 seasons. He coached 27 All-Americans and guided three wrestlers to national championships. In addition, under his tutelage, seven other wrestlers were NCAA finalists.

Penn State was 8-11-2 overall this season and 1-6-2 in the Big Ten, where the Lions placed ninth in the 11-team standings. At the NCAA meet in St. Louis last weekend, Penn State finished 17th in the team race. This story was first reported on bwi.rivals.com.

BY RYAN YOUNG

ST. LOUIS — It definitely wasn’t the storybook ending Iowa expected at the conclusion of the NCAA wrestling championships.

The Hawkeyes received a 22nd team title to a storm of cheers and whistles, but the jubilant and prideful ovation at the end of the tournament might as well have been cricket chirps.

Without a champion, there just isn’t much to celebrate for the nation’s top program.

Iowa’s title came as a serendipitous byproduct of Ohio State’s failed efforts — not because the Hawkeyes manhandled their competition. And as a result, Northwestern senior Jake Herbert will forever be remarked in college wrestling lore as the guy who sealed the deal for Iowa in 2009.

Sure, three Hawkeye wrestlers in the consolation semifinals won and moved on to vie for third with heavyweight Dan Erekson unexpectedly scoring mad team points on a first-period pin against top-seeded big man David Zabriskie. But only 165-pounder Ryan Morningstar earned bronze in the wrestle-back finals, finishing to his No. 3 seed.

So where are the uplifting positives?

Out of the nine NCAA qualifiers, only Erekson placed higher than he was forecast to be, and he took fourth as the seventh-seeded heavyweight.

University of Maryland head wrestling coach Kerry McCoy was voted the Atlantic Coast Conference Coach of the Year and Terrapin wrestlers Brendan Byrne, Steven Bell, Alex Krom and Hudson Taylor were selected to the all-conference team, the league announced Friday.

McCoy is the second consecutive Maryland coach to win coach of the year honors and fourth, overall. Former head coach Pat Santoro won the award last year and John McHugh won it in 1990 and 1993. It is McCoy’s first-ever coach of the year award as a Division I head coach.

“This is very humbling. It feels awesome,” McCoy said. “The ACC had a great year and I am very fortunate to be a part of it. This award goes to my assistants, as well. I could not do it without them. It’s also an honor to be associated with the other great Maryland coaches that won the award before me.”

In his first year in College Park, McCoy guided the Terps to a 10-8-1 dual-meet record and 3-2 mark in conference competition. The Terps finished the regular season strong, winning six of their final seven duals heading into the ACC Championship. After a third-place regular-season finish, Maryland peaked at the ACC Championship, repeating as conference champions with Byrne, Bell and Krom winning individual championships.

Among several Vikings and other football prospects working out for seven NFL scouts Wednesday at the Gophers’ indoor facility was Kole Conrad, a two-time NCAA heavyweight wrestling champion for the Gophers.

Conrad, 24, who has received interest from the New York Jets, checked in at 6 feet 3, 316 pounds. He gave up football as a high school freshman in Wisconsin to focus on wrestling but now wants to become an NFL guard or center. He would love to play for the hometown Vikings but would welcome a chance anywhere.

“I wanted to be the best at what I was doing (wrestling), but I got to the point in my life where I wasn’t sure I wanted to continue, which means I definitely should not continue,” Conrad said. “Football has always interested me, so I figured I’d give it a shot and see where I stand.”

None of the two dozen prospects who worked out were overwhelming, which is why the best they probably can hope for is to be a late-round pick in next month’s NFL draft or to get free-agent opportunities.

INDIANAPOLIS— The NCAA announced the 52 at-large selections for the 2009 NCAA Division I Wrestling Championships.

These wrestlers, listed in alphabetical order by weight class, join the other 278 student-athletes that qualified automatically through their conference and regional qualifying tournaments. The at-large selections were made by the NCAA Division I Wrestling Committee using the selection criteria without priority order, which consists of head-to-head competition, qualifying event placement, quality wins, results against common opponents, winning percentage, rating percentage index, coaches ranking and number of matches contested at that weight class.

By JOHN MILLEA, Star Tribune

LUVERNE, MINN. — Saturday was a big day for high school wrestling across Minnesota, as section tournaments determined the 672 individuals who will compete at this week’s state tournament.

For 671 of them, advancing to state is a major accomplishment. For one of them, it is history.

Elissa Reinsma, a pony-tailed 103-pound sophomore from Fulda/Murray County Central, became the first female qualifier in the 72-year history of the state tournament Saturday. She placed second in the Class 2A, Section 3 tournament at Luverne High School and will take a record of 32-8 to the state tournament, which begins Wednesday at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

She will join her brother Justin, a senior 130-pounder, in St. Paul. Justin, who has finished fifth in Class 2A twice, will compete at state for the fifth time.

Elissa said she has been dreaming about the state tournament for four years, beginning when she made her first trip to cheer for Justin in St. Paul.

“I went up to watch him and said, ‘That’s where I want to be,”’ she said Saturday.