The fall has been a busy one for the Wildcats as the coaching staff saw new additions, preseason rankings placed the Wildcats among the nation's elite and two wrestlers, Herbert and Lang, received invitations to the NWCA All-Star Classic.
Bill Scherr, a former World Champion and Olympic bronze medalist, joins Tim Cysewski's staff for 2006-07. The 'Cats recently announced the addition of Ryan Bertin as assistant coach. Bertin, brother of Northwestern freshman Kyle Bertin, won two NCAA Championships at 157 lbs. for Michigan.
Wildcat wrestlers make multiple appearances in the 2006-07 preseason rankings. Herbert and Lang are both ranked No. 1 in their respective weight classes and Fox is a top-five heavyweight. Tamillow comes into the season ranked No. 13 at 197 lbs., Nick Hayes is No. 24 at 174 lbs. and Greg Hagel is No. 30 at 165 lbs. As a team, Northwestern enters 2006-07 ranked top-10 in several polls, placing as high at sixth.
Herbert and Lang recently received invitations to the NWCA All-Star Classic, an event that features matches between the No. 1 and No. 2 wrestlers at each weight class. This is the first time Northwestern received two invitations in the same year.
Head coach Tim Cysewski sat down with NUSports.com to talk about the upcoming season.
NUSports.com: Coming off a 13th-place finish at the 2006 NCAA Championships, what are the expectations for the 2007 season?
Cysewski: Our goal is to definitely improve over what we did last year. This team has a core group that can challenge for national championships, and with that we can challenge for championships both in the Big Ten and nationally.
NUSports.com: Jake Herbert and Ryan Lang are returning All-Americans; what are they trying to do to improve for this year?
Cysewski: Both are ranked No.1 in their weight class coming into this year. I would rather have them ranked that high than not at all. I think that puts pressure on them, but I think that's good for them. They both like coming in at the beginning of the year knowing they are "the guy." They both worked hard in the off-season to live up to that ranking.
NUSports.com: You mentioned having a solid "core." Talk a little bit about the rest of the guys expected to lead this team.
Cysewski: Fox is ranked in the top-five in heavyweight and Nick Hayes will be coming in at 174. He's in the rankings and a national qualifier. He'll be critical in the upper weight classes. Greg Hagel is returning at 165 and he's in the rankings. Mike Tamillow had a great year at 184 and is moving up to 197, replacing Big Ten champion Matt Delguyd. But Mike will easily compete in that class. He's ranked in the top-10 and will continue to improve at that weight. He'll be one of the top guys in the Big Ten at the end of the year.
NUSports.com: Give a breakdown by weight class.
Cysewski: At 125, Brandon Precin is a freshman and should be the starter, but he'll be challenged by James Kohlberg and Robert Joyce. Whoever fills that spot will have big shoes to fill. John Velez graduated in the spring. But whoever is at 125, we expect them to challenge to be an All-American.
At 133, Eric Metzler, who redshirted last year, should start. True freshman Keith Sulzer could easily find himself in the starting lineup as well. Lang, who is preseason No.1, finished fourth in the NCAA's and was an All-American, is right where he should be at 141. We expect him to take more of a leadership role and really anchor the lower weights.
We really have some depth at 149. Vince Colletti redshirted last year with injuries and Jamie Smith, who redshirted last year, could be in the thick of things. Marty Gould will probably be the starter. He was the Big Ten representative at that weight and has a lot of experience as a true sophomore. He is very exciting and we are confident he will be the guy. Brandon Lozdoski is a 149/157 guy. He's a "tweener," but that spot has a lot of depth.
It will probably be Dominic Marella at 157, a redshirt freshman who showed a lot of promise in open tournaments. We like how he is developing. Lozdoski could move up as well. There is freshman Kyle Bertin, who will be ready to go if he gets the call.
At 165, Greg Hagel is moving up from 157. This is his third weight class, but he has gotten bigger every year and should be comfortable. His experience should help him.
At 174, Nick Hayes is coming off a redshirt and has worked hard to get himself ready for that weight class. We are looking for him to qualify for NCAAs and challenge for All-American.
Of course, No.1 ranked, NCAA runner-up, Big Ten Champion and All-American Jake Herbert will be at 184. He is looking to win the national championship and will be a key to our team success. He is a big-time team leader and has proved he can succeed both in the classroom and on the mat. Tamillow is at 197. He wrestled 184 the last two seasons, but we expect him to make a difference at this weight and challenge for not only a Big Ten title, but an NCAA title.
At heavyweight, Dustin Fox should also challenge for Big Ten and NCAA titles. As he moves up the ranks, everybody should be talking about him. team-wise, we will match up well with any team we wrestle against this year. We should go into any dual thinking we can win.
NUSports.com: Do you think there is any extra pressure on the Wildcats to really make some noise this year with proven championship contenders returning?
Cysewski: I think people look at our program and see us moving up the ranks the last few years and are curious to see how we do this year when we have to re-load a little bit. They see that if some of the younger guys can continue to improve, we as a program, should be on our way to competing for those titles we are looking at. It's an important year for our older guys to continue to improve, but there is pressure on our younger guys to step up and put points on the board.
The 'Cats begin the season Saturday, Nov. 4, at the Eastern Michigan Open.
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