"They say college is the best four to six years of your life and I think I'm proof of that," said Herbert, who has already earned his degree after taking a redshirt year in 2007-08 to train for the Olympics in Beijing. "College wrestling is an awesome lifestyle. I just have to thank (head coach) Tim Cysewski because I wouldn't have done any of this without him. I wouldn't have wanted to wrestle for anybody else and it's a special kind of guy that can handle me for six years."
With Herbert's win, Northwestern separated itself as the only wrestling program in the country to have had an individual national champion in each of the past three seasons. Herbert, who ends his college career on a 66-match winning streak, won his first title in 2007 while Dustin Fox brought home the heavyweight title in March of last year.
"We knew Jake was going to be special when we recruited him and every year Jake has just continued to up the ante for us as coaches," Cysewski said.
As a team, the 'Cats came in 13th for the second straight season (46.0 points) to record their fifth consecutive top-15 national finish. Iowa repeated as the team champions with 96.5 points.
Herbert (34-0), the 2009 Big Ten Wrestler of the Year, used the NCAA Championships to put the finishing touches on a four-year varsity career in which he posted a 138-4 record, good for the fifth-best winning percentage (.972) among all Division I wrestlers since the 1974-75 season.
Saturday's title bout marked the first time Herbert squared off against Pucillo, who moved up a weight class to 197 in NU's regular season dual match versus the Buckeyes and who lost in the Big Ten Championships before he could meet Herbert.
Nevertheless, Herbert dismissed the possibility of there being any feeling-out period by diving at and grabbing a hold of Pucillo's right leg just nine seconds into the match. After one restart, Herbert tilted the Buckeye and was on the verge of collecting back points when Pucillo managed to roll off onto his stomach.
Following an escape by Pucillo, Herbert distanced himself with a second takedown but Pucillo continued to hold strong, pulling to within 4-3 in the second on another escape. With Herbert leading 5-3 in the third, Pucillo got a great hold of Herbert's left leg with 30 seconds remaining but was unable to finish the move as Herbert completed his season without surrendering a takedown. His 1:53 of riding time brought his final winning margin at Northwestern to 6-3, setting off a celebration among NU's coaches and contingent of fans in the stands at the Scottrade Center.
"I thought it went well," Herbert said of the much-anticipated matchup against Pucillo. "I did what I needed to do but he made me work for it. He wasn't going to hand it to me and he wasn't going to roll over. I didn't give up a takedown which was good but I think Mike's a great wrestler and I can see him winning another national title."
Herbert concludes his career as one of the most decorated Wildcat wrestlers in NU history. He is the program's only four-time All-American, three-time Big Ten champion and three-time Midlands titlist and ranks second all-time in wins with 149 (including his redshirt season).
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